JOY KASSON, Chair
Robert Allen, Michael Green, Philip Gura, John Kasson, Joy Kasson, Theda Perdue.
Timothy Marr, Rachel Willis.
Marcie Ferris, Tol Foster, Jay Garcia.
W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Robert Cantwell, William Ferris, Peter Filene, Jon Finson, Joseph Flora, Larry Griffin, Michael Lienesch, Donald Madison, Thomas Tweed.
Laurie Maffly-Kipp.
William Andrews (English), Laurence Avery (English), Jan Bardsley (Asian Studies), Gretchen Bataille (General Administration), Erin Carlston (English), John Covach (Music), Tyler Curtain (English), Maria DeGuzman (English), Connie Eble (English), Reginald Hildebrand (African and Afro-American Studies), Fred Hobson (English), Sylvia Hoffert (Women's Studies), Michael Hunt (History), Jocelyn Neal (Music), Rosa Perelmuter (Romance Languages), Linda Wagner-Martin (English), Harry Watson (History), Thomas Warburton (Music), Gang Yue (Asian Studies).
Townsend Ludington.
The Curriculum in American Studies was established in 1968 as one of the first interdisciplinary programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since then, American Studies has developed a tradition of vigorous teaching and innovative curriculum that offers stimulating opportunities to study the United States and the diversity and influence of its peoples, institutions, texts, performances and places. The curriculum's commitment to interdisciplinary approaches empowers students to value the nation's complexity by engaging with a variety of historical, literary, artistic, political, social and ethnic perspectives. American studies majors graduate with a comprehension of the dynamics of American culture that prepares them to make a responsible and critical difference in the variety of professions they choose to pursue.
At the core of the undergraduate major are two required courses in interdisciplinary cultural analysis: AMST 101 The Emergence of Modern America (or AMST 334 or 335 Defining America) and AMST 201 or 202 Approaches to American Studies. Majors also choose at least two advanced seminars in the curriculum that focus readings and research on topics representative of both the talents of its faculty members and emergent directions in American cultural scholarship. For the remainder of their requirements, majors select a series of relevant electives offered by over a dozen different University departments and curricula. These courses deepen their interdisciplinary awareness of American traditions, institutions, literature and arts as well as expose them to a broader diversity of American experiences and perspectives. Students interested in more specialized study can elect to concentrate their electives in Southern studies or Native American studies. The Southern studies concentration focuses critical attention on the history, society, culture and expression of the American South with its regional, state and local distinctiveness. The Native American studies concentration (and minor) emphasizes the ethnohistory of Native American peoples and cultures and their relations with settler societies.
The degree offered is bachelor of arts in American studies. Majors may select concentrations in Southern studies or Native American studies. Minors are offered in American studies and Native American studies.
Regular Concentration Requirements
The major in American studies consists of nine courses, with one from each of the following categories (courses listed more than once can be counted for only one category):
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 334 or 335
Approaches: AMST 201 or 202
Topics (one of the following): AMST 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 266, 268, 269, 275, 277, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293
Seminar (one of the following): AMST 286, 336, 375, 378, 381, 384, 385, 390, 393, 482, 483, 486, 499
Literature (one of the following): AMST 256, 257, 290, 286, 675; ENGL 343, 344, 345, 347, 367, 369, 374, 446; RELI 240
Ideas and Traditions (one of the following): AFAM 262, 263, 408, 550; AMST 269; ECON 330, 443; EDUC 441; JOMC 448; HIST 362, 364, 365, 368, 369, 561, 563, 564, 573, 578, 581, 582, 584, 622, 624; PHIL 274, 428; POLI 274, 280, 410, 411; RELI 241, 340, 341, 440, 441, 442; WMST 375
Expressive Arts and Popular Culture (one of the following): AFAM 259, 276, 287; AMST 260, 268, 375, 499; ART 286, 287, 387; HIST 579; MUSC 143, 144, 145, 281, 286; RECR 311
Regionalism, Transnationalism and the Public Sphere (one of the following): AFAM 278, 371, 474, 487; AMST 259, 275, 277, 285, 293, 385, 394 and 394L, 398, 486; ANTH 205; COMM 573, ENGL 315, 475; FOLK 340; GEOG 260, 261, 262, 454; HIST 232, 278, 366, 367, 374, 534, 568, 570, 577, 586, 587, 621; JOMC 242; POLI 231, 405, 418, 443, 459; SOCI 115, 468
Ethnicity and Diversity (one of the following): AFAM 190, 266, 267, 269, 342, 392, 428; AMST 231, 233, 234, 235, 253, 258, 336, 486; ANTH 230, 350; ASIA 350; HIST 232, 569, 589; JOMC 342; POLI 217, 218, 419; RELI 141, 142, 225, 242, 243, 423, 540
Southern Studies Concentration
The major in American studies with a concentration in Southern studies consists of nine courses, with one from each of the following categories (courses listed more than once can be counted for only one category):
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 334 or 335
Approaches: AMST 201 or 202
Topics (one of the following): AMST 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 266, 268, 269, 275, 277, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293
Seminar (one of the following): AMST 286, 336, 375, 378, 381, 384, 385, 390, 393, 482, 483, 486, 499
Southern Literature and Language (one of the following): COMM 274, ENGL 367, 373, 374
History of the South (one of the following): AFAM 258; AMST 375; HIST 232, 565, 568, 569, 570, 586, 587, 588, 589, 621, 670
Expressive Arts and Popular Culture of the South (one of the following): AFAM 342; AMST 375; ENGL 587, 589; FOLK 610; MUSC 144, 145, 286
State and Local Culture (one of the following): AFAM 395; AMST 394, 398, 486; ENGL 375; GEOG 262; HIST 366, 367; POLI 405
Southern Society (one of the following): AFAM 550; AMST 253, 275, 486; ANTH 205, 230, 350; FOLK 340; GEOG 261; SOCI 115
Native American Studies Concentration
The major in American studies with a concentration in Native American studies consists of nine courses from the following categories (courses listed more than once can be counted for only one category):
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 334 or 335
Approaches: AMST 201 or 202
Topics (one of the following): AMST 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 266, 268, 269, 275, 277, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293
Seminar (one of the following): AMST 286, 336, 375, 378, 381, 384, 385, 390, 393, 482, 483, 486, 499
Native American Studies: AMST 110
Native American History (three of the following): AMST 231, 233, 234, 335; HIST 232
Native American Culture (one of the following): ANTH 230, 350
International American Studies Concentration
The major in American Studies with a concentration in International American Studies consists of nine courses from the following categories:
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 334 or 335
Approaches: AMST 201 or 202
Up to four approved American culture courses taken at an American studies international partner institution or other study abroad program. These courses should deal primarily with the United States, or with the interaction between American culture and one or more other cultures, or with the impact within the United States of other cultures. Courses must be approved by the American studies chair or director of undergraduate studies before the study abroad experience.
The remainder of courses should be taken at UNC, with at least one from each of the following categories:
America in the World: AMST 259, AMST 277, AMST 378, AFAM 430, CMPL 379, HIST 212, HIST 213, HIST 281, HIST 373, HIST 570, HIST 577, INTS 512, POLI 231, POLI 443, POLI 456, POLI 459
The World in America: AMST 258, AMST 388, AMST 685, AFAM 278, AFAM 293, AFAM 297, AFAM 340, AFAM 371, AFAM 474, ART 487, ASIA 350, ASIA 452, ASIA 455, ENGL 265, ENGL 361, ENGL 364, ENGL 365, ENGL 578, GEOG 452, HIST 278, POLI 450, PLCY 249, RELI 423, RELI 445, RELI 580, SLAV 469
The undergraduate minor in American studies consists of five courses in American studies, with courses chosen one from each of the following categories (courses listed more than once can be counted for only one category):
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 334 or 335
Approaches: AMST 201 or 202
Topics (one of the following): AMST 253, 256, 257, 258, 259, 266, 268, 269, 275, 277, 285, 290, 291, 292, 293
Seminar (one of the following): AMST 286, 336, 375, 378, 381, 383, 384, 385, 390, 393, 482, 483, 486, 499
Elective (one of the following): One AMST course above AMST 202
The minor in Native American studies consists of five courses.
AMST 110/HIST 110 Introduction to the Cultures and Histories of Native North America, is required.
Students should select four additional courses from those currently available:
AMST 231/HIST 231 Native America: The East
AMST 233/HIST 233 Native America: The West
AMST 234/ANTH 234/HIST 234 Native American Tribal Studies
AMST 235/HIST 235 Native America in the 20th Century
AMST 336 Native Americans in Film
ANTH 230 American Indian Societies
ANTH 350 Archaeology of North American Indians
HIST 232 History of the Native Americans of the Southeast
HIST 576/WMST 576 Ethnohistory of Native American Women
The minor in International American Studies consists of five courses.
Introduction (one of the following): AMST 101, 201, 202, 334, 335.
Up to two approved American culture courses taken at an American studies international partner institution or other study abroad program. These courses should deal primarily with the United States, or with the interaction between American culture and one or more other cultures, or with the impact within the United States of other cultures. Courses must be approved by the American studies chair or director of undergraduate studies before the study abroad experience.
The remainder of courses should be taken at UNC, with at least one from each of the following categories:
America in the World: AMST 259, AMST 277, AMST 378, AFAM 430, CMPL 379, HIST 212, HIST 213, HIST 281, HIST 373, HIST 570, HIST 577, INTS 512, POLI 231, POLI 443, POLI 456, POLI 459
The World in America: AMST 258, AMST 388, AMST 685, AFAM 278, AFAM 293, AFAM 297, AFAM 340, AFAM 371, AFAM 474, ART 487, ASIA 350, ASIA 452, ASIA 455, ENGL 265, ENGL 361, ENGL 364, ENGL 365, ENGL 578, GEOG 452, HIST 278, POLI 450, PLCY 249, RELI 423, RELI 445, RELI 580, SLAV 469
The American studies interdisciplinary major offers a two-course honors program: AMST 691H, fall semester, and AMST 692H, spring semester. Students with a 3.2 grade point average are eligible to register for AMST 691H. With the approval of the Honors Office, a student with a slightly lower average may participate in honors work under certain conditions. During the two semesters devoted to honors work, students conduct individual research and prepare an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty member.
Experiential Education
The American Studies Curriculum offers a seminar on Service Learning in America (AMST 398) and offers credits for approved projects in Internship (AMST 397) and Independent Study (AMST 396). Students have learned about American studies by serving the community in museums, schools, social agencies and other cultural institutions.
Study Abroad
The American Studies curriculum encourages its majors to consider a semester or more of study abroad and has developed close relations with several American studies programs in different countries. Studying American experience in international contexts is an integral part of understanding the place and influence of the United States in the world. Student learning is enhanced by the perspectives gained by examining how American subjects are taught in universities around the globe as well as encountering the international students who enroll in American studies courses in Chapel Hill. Students can receive American studies major credit for selected study abroad programs and are encouraged to make study abroad part of their academic plans. Study abroad courses can count toward the international American studies major or minor. Students interested in this experience should consult with the Study Abroad Office about foreign exchange programs sponsored by UNC-Chapel Hill or with the director of undergraduate studies.
Undergraduate Awards
The Peter C. Baxter Memorial Prize is awarded annually to the outstanding senior majoring in American studies.
Undergraduate Research
American studies majors can develop a two-semester honors thesis project in consultation with an advisor. Students have received summer undergraduate research fellowships, earned research support and travel awards and presented their work at the Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research each spring.
American studies is an excellent liberal arts major for students interested in graduate and professional school study. The major prepares students for graduate work in fields such as American history and literature. After receiving their baccalaureate degree, American studies majors have been consistently accepted in law and business schools, which are interested in students with a broad, interdisciplinary undergraduate background. American studies provides a solid basis for a variety of career choices, including public service, business, teaching and journalism.
Director of Undergraduate Studies, 227 Greenlaw Hall, CB# 3520, (919) 962-4062, fax (919) 962-3520.
AMST
050 [006I] First-Year Seminar: American Culture in the Era of Ragtime (3). Interdisciplinary seminar exploring American culture in the first two decades of the 20th century. Material includes film, music, photography and musical theater as well as fiction and autobiography.
051 [006E] First-Year Seminar: Navigating America (3). Analyze American journeys and destinations, focusing on how resources, technology, transportation and cultural influences have transformed the navigation and documentation of America. Multimedia documentation of personal journey required.
052 [006E] First-Year Seminar: The Folk Revival: The Singing Left in 20th-Century America (3). Enlisting fiction, film and recorded music, this course will acquaint first-year students with the cultural and historical contexts of a range of American traditional musics and explore the social, political and cultural meanings of these musics in a revivalist movement.
053 [006I] First-Year Seminar: The Family and Social Change in America (3). This course uses changes in the American family over the past century as a way of understanding larger processes of social change.
054 [006E] First-Year Seminar: The Indians' New Worlds: Southeastern Histories from 1200 to 1800 (ANTH 054) (3). This course uses archaeological and historical scholarship to consider the histories of the Southern Indians from the Mississippian period to the end of the 18th century.
055 [006I] First-Year Seminar: Birth and Death in the United States (3). This course explores birth and death as essential human rites of passage that are invested with significance by changing and diverse American historical, cultural, ethnic and ethical contexts.
056 [006I] First-Year Seminar: Exploring American Memory (3). This course examines the contested and changing role of memory in constructing historical meaning, creating political ideologies and imagining cultural communities.
AMST 057 [006E]: First-Year Seminar: Access to Higher Education (3). This course explores barriers to access to American colleges and universities. Success in application, admission, matriculation, and graduation requires ability and experience, and is also a function of other advantages.
AMST 058 [006I]: First-Year Seminar: Cultures of Dissent: Radical Social Thought in America Since 1880 (3). This course examines the history of radical social thought in American history, focusing in particular on examples from "leftist" and "collectivist" traditions and emphasizes the many forms radicalism has taken by exploring different radical thinkers' dissenting critiques of dominant political, economic and social arrangements.
101 [020] The Emergence of Modern America (3). Interdisciplinary examination of two centuries of American culture focusing on moments of change and transformation.
110 [010] Introduction to the Cultures and Histories of Native North America (HIST 110) (3). An interdisciplinary introduction to Native American history and studies. The courses use history, literature, art and cultural studies to study the Native American experience.
201 [040] Literary Approaches to American Studies (3). A study of interdisciplinary methods and the concept of American studies with an emphasis on the historical context for literary texts.
202 Historical Approaches to Native American Studies (3). A study of interdisciplinary methods and the concept of American Studies with an emphasis on historical and cultural analysis.
231 [072A] Native American History: The East (HIST 231) (3). Covers the histories of American Indians east of the Mississippi River and before 1840. The approach is ethnohistorical.
233 [072C] Native American History: The West (HIST 233) (3). Deals with the histories of Native Americans living west of the Mississippi River. It begins in the pre-Columbian past and extends to the end of the 19th century.
234 [072D] Native American Tribal Studies (ANTH 234, HIST 234) (3). This course introduces students to a tribally specific body of knowledge. The tribal focus of the course and the instructor changes from term to term.
235 [072E] Native America in the 20th Century (HIST 235) (3). This course deals with the political, economic, social and cultural issues important to 20th-century Native Americans as they attempt to preserve tribalism in the modern world.
246 Introduction to American Indian Literatures (3). Students will develop a working knowledge of American Indian cultural concepts and historical perspectives utilizing poetry, history, personal account, short stories, films, and novels.
253 [053] A Social History of Jewish Women in America (JWST 253, WMST 253) (3). Course examines the history and culture of Jewish women in America from their arrival in New Amsterdam in 1654 to the present and explores how gender shaped this journey.
256 [056] Anti-'50s: Voices of a Counter Decade (3). We remember the 1950s as a period of relative tranquility, happiness, optimism and contentment. This course will consider a handful of counter-texts: voices from literature, politics and mass culture of the 1950s that for one or another reason found life in the postwar world repressive, empty, frightening or insane and predicted the social and cultural revolutions that marked the decade that followed.
257 [057] Melville: Culture and Criticism (3). Investigates the significance of Herman Melville as a representative 19th-century American author. Includes issues of biography, historical context, changing reception, cultural iconography and the politics of the literary marketplace.
258 [058] Captivity and American Cultural Definition (3). Examines how representations of captivity and bondage in American expression worked to construct and transform communal categories of religion, race, class, gender and nation.
259 [059] Tobacco and America (3). Explores the significance of tobacco from Native American ceremony to the Southern economy by focusing on changing attitudes toward land use, leisure, social style, public health, litigation and global capitalism.
266 [066] The Folk Revival: The Singing Left in Mid-20th-Century America (3). Emphasizing cultural stratification, political dissent and commercialization in American youth and popular movements, this course will map the evolving political and cultural landscape of mid-20th-century America through the lens of the Folk Revival, from its origins in various regionalist, nativist and socialist traditions of the 1920s to its alliance with the civil rights and anti-war movements of the '60s.
268 [068] American Media and American Culture (3). Examines American film and television production, texts and reception as instances of American culture. The particular time period, genre, media form, audience and set of cultural issues may change from year to year.
269 [069] Mating and Marriage in American Culture (3). Interdisciplinary examination of the married condition from colonial times to the present. Themes include courtship and romance; marital power and the egalitarian ideal; challenges to monogamy.
275 Documenting Communities (3). Covers the definition and documentation of communities within North Carolina through research, study and field work of communities. Each student produces a documentary on a specific community.
277 [077] Nationhood and National Identity (3). How is a nation more than a state? How do rituals, symbols, memorials and celebrations help to create national identity? What is patriotism? Nationalism? What are alternative notions of nationhood?
285 [064] Access to Work in America (ECON 285) (3). Focus on systemic and individual factors affecting access to work including gender, race, age, disability, transportation, international competition, technological progress, change in labor markets, educational institutions and public policy.
286 [313] Nature Writing (ENGL 286) (3). Journey into the tradition of nature writing in America. Course will consider the historical, philosophical and cultural backdrop for the practice of nature writing in America. Students will read several classic prose works in the tradition.
290 [060] Topics in American Studies (3). Special topics in American studies.
291 [061] Ethics and American Studies (3). An interdisciplinary seminar in American studies addressing ethical issues in the United States.
292 [062] Historical Seminar in American Studies (3). Topics in American history from the perspective of American studies.
293 [063] American Studies Junior Seminar Aesthetic Perspective (3). Topics in arts and literature from the perspective of American studies.
334 [034H] Defining America I (3). An interdisciplinary seminar that considers the changing understandings of what it meant to be American up through the U.S. Civil War.
335 [035H] Defining America II (3). An interdisciplinary seminar that investigates the changing meanings of being American since the U.S. Civil War.
336 [070] Native Americans in Film (3). This course is about Hollywood's portrayal of Indians in film, how Indian films have depicted Native American history and why the filmic representation of Indians has changed over time.
375 Cooking Up a Storm: Exploring Food in American Culture (FOLK 375) (3). Course will examine the history and meaning of food in American culture and will explore the ways in which food shapes national, regional and personal identity.
378 Nation Building and National Identity in Australia and the United States (3). This course compares the cultural and social histories of two settler societies: the United States and Australia. Focus on selected topics, including landscape, indigenous peoples, national identity, exploration.
384 [084] Myth and History in American Memory (3). Examines the role of memory in constructing historical meaning and in imagining the boundaries of cultural communities. Explores popular rituals, artifacts, monuments and public performances.
385 [065] Women and Economics (ECON 385, WMST 385) (3). Survey of women's time allocation patterns, labor force participation trends, earnings, occupational selection and economic history.
390 [080] Seminar in American Studies (3). Seminar in American studies topics with a focus on historical inquiry from interdisciplinary angles.
393 [085] Back to the Future: Chicago, 1893 (3). This course will explore Chicago at the end of the 19th century from the perspective of our own post-industrial, "postmodern" condition.
394 [094] The University in American Life: The University of North Carolina (3). This team-taught course is for juniors and seniors and is multifaceted in its inquiry into the role of the university in American life. UNC-Chapel Hill is used as the case study.
394L Role of the University (1). Pre- or corequisite, AMST 394. Field laboratory explores UNC campus sites and Triangle-area universities. One four-hour laboratory a week.
396 [096] Independent Study in American Studies (3). Prerequisite, permission of the chair. Directed reading under supervision of a faculty member.
397 [099] Internship (1-3). Prerequisite, permission of chair and supervising faculty. Internship. Variable credit.
398 [098] Service Learning in America (3). Explores history and theory of volunteerism and service learning in America. Includes a weekly academic seminar and placement in a service learning project.
482 [082] Images of the American Landscape (3). This course will consider how real estate speculation, transportation, suburbanization and consumerism have shaped a landscape whose many representations in art and narrative record our ongoing struggle over cultural meaning.
483 [083] Seeing America: Visual Culture and American Studies (3). Examines the ways in which visual works - paintings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, film, advertising and other images - communicate the values of American culture and raise questions about American experiences.
486 Shalom Y'all: The Jewish Experience in the American South (JWST 486) (3). This course explores ethnicity in the South and focuses on the history and culture of Jewish southerners from their arrival in the Carolinas in the 17th century to the present day.
499 [150] Advanced Seminar in American Studies (3). Prerequisite, graduate or upper-level undergraduate standing. Examines American civilization by studying social and cultural history, criticism, art, architecture, music, film, popular pastimes and amusements, among other possible topics.
685 Literature of the Americas (CMPL 685, ENGL 685) (3). Prerequisite, two years of college-level Spanish or the equivalent. Multidisciplinary examination of texts and other media of the Americas, in English and Spanish, from a variety of genres.
691H [090] Honors in American Studies (3). Directed independent research leading to the preparation of an honors thesis and an oral examination on the thesis. Required of candidates for graduation with honors in American studies who enroll in the class once permission to pursue honors is granted.
692H [091] Honors in American Studies (3). Directed independent research leading to the preparation of an honors thesis and an oral examination on the thesis. Required of candidates for graduation with honors in American studies who enroll in the class once permission to pursue honors is granted.