American Studies
American Studies
204 Greenlaw Hall, CB# 3520
(919) 962-5481
First Session, 2024
AMST 110 Introduction to the Cultures and Histories of Native North America (HIST 110) (3)
An interdisciplinary introduction to Native American history and studies. The course uses history, literature, art, and cultural studies to study the Native American experience.
AMST 220 On the Question of the Animal: Contemporary Animal Studies (3)
MAYMESTER. This course is an introduction to “animal studies,” through animal rights, animal welfare, food studies, and the human/animal distinction in philosophical inquiry. We will read work from dog and horse trainers and explore the history of the American racetrack. This course builds a moral and ethical reasoning skill set.
AMST 222 The Death Penalty in American History (3)
MAYMESTER. This course explores the history of the death penalty in America between the colonial era and the present.
AMST 268 American Cinema and American Culture (3)
Examines the relationship between cinema and culture in America with a focus on the ways cinema has been experienced in American communities since 1896.
AMST 275 Food and American Culture (3) ***Canceled***
MAYMESTER. In this course, we will explore the ways in which food shapes the politics and ethics of individuals and communities and is an increasingly important marker of social and cultural identities. Lessons for this course focus on the symbolic functions of food in the construction of personal, cultural, political, and community identity.
Second Session, 2024
AMST 110 (HIST 110) Introduction to the Cultures and Histories of Native North America (3)
An interdisciplinary introduction to Native American history and studies. The course uses history, literature, art, and cultural studies to study the Native American experience. Also offered as HIST 110.
AMST 278 Crime and Punishment (3)
This course explores the social history and culture of crime, deviant behavior, and punishment in America between the pre-revolutionary period and today. It traces the history of longstanding institutions; examines elements of American history from a criminal justice perspective; and seeks historical origins and continuities for contemporary problems.
AMST 283 American Home (3)
Examines themes in the history and design of the most intimate and most public of objects – the house. Residences, from tract house mansions to apartment buildings, are powerful statements about how we see our society and how circumstances and choice lead us to house ourselves.