01:050:101Introduction to American Studies (3) Introduces the American studies method through the use of primary documents including novels, autobiographies, paintings, photographs, and films.
01:050:102Introduction to Race and Ethnicity in America (3)Examines the logics of race and racism within political, legal, and cultural discourses both in and beyond the United States.
01:050:200,201Topics in American Studies (3,3)Varied field topics in American studies that lend themselves to interdisciplinary treatment. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
01:050:202American Regionalism (3) Multidisciplinary study of the regions of the United States, with focus on their literature, folklore, music, and other arts.
01:050:203The American West (3)Introduction to the American West through the classic Western film genre, Native American literature, and American Western writers.
01:050:204American Environmental History and Thought (3)
Connections among America's natural environment, its national development, and how Americans thought about both. Classic readings to understand the formation of environmental ideas and their influence on environmental action.
Credit not given for both this course and 10:762:297:01.
01:050:210The American Dream (4)The change in the "American Dream" over time and the stories we tell about it. How our assumptions about American identity shape challenges on such broad issues as democracy, freedom, and social justice.
01:050:215Springsteen's American Vision (3)The changing persona of Bruce Springsteen and his representation in photography, documentary, and autobiography.
01:050:216America in the Arts (3) What is "American" about American art and design; examination of the architecture as well as fine, folk, and industrial arts and artifacts of the United States. Normally a craft project required of students.
01:050:218Visual Culture in the United States (3)Examination of visual culture in the United States in terms of picture theory including print, advertising, and digital media.
01:050:223Learning from the Past: Early America and the 21st Century (3)Twenty-first century challenges--climate change, income inequality, epidemic disease, border
disputes, identities, new technologies--were faced by early America (c. 1500-1865), where diverse peoples navigated a rapidly changing world.
01:050:225Thought and Society in the American Past (3)Examines American cultural constructions from the Revolutionary era to the eve of World War I. Analyzes a variety of historical, visual, literary, and performance texts from the era.
01:050:227Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture (3)Examines classic 19th-century texts written by Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Hawthorne, Twain, Whitman, and Dickinson, among others, with attention paid to the social and cultural context
of these writings, including Transcendentalism, the Abolitionist movement, and the whaling industry.Credit not given for both this course and 01:350:227.
01:050:228The Contemporary American (3) The emerging American of our times. Forces shaping American culture as revealed in literature, the media, social criticism, and psychology.
01:050:230Transforming Bodies and American Identities (3)Examines identities through the lens of gender, sexuality, race, socioeconomic class, ability, and culture. Social media, film, art, comics, fashion, and pop culture as sites and spaces of American body formations.
01:050:240Latina/o Literature and Culture (3)Survey of Latino/a literary voices drawn from the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, and other Latin American migrations to the United States.
Discussion of exile, resistance, and assimilation; political presence and identity formation; race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; and examination of literary modes and genres (autobiography, poetry, novel, film, music).Credit not given for both this course and 01:595:240.
01:050:244American Land Patterns (3)Exploring the diverse connections between America's national development and its land environment. This is essentially a course in
ecological history.Credit not given for both this course and 10:762:244.
01:050:245Asian American Experience: Identity and Ethnicity (3)General introduction to history and culture of Asian America and major debates in Asian American studies. Credit not given for both this course and 01:098:262.
01:050:247History and Culture of Hip-Hop (3)
Historical, social, political, and aesthetic roots of hip-hop culture and music. The place of hip-hop in a larger global commercial exchange, advertising, fashion, cinema, music video, and popular literature.
01:050:248 Native American Experience (3)Introductory survey of Native American history,
cultures, literature, language, and current issues. Themes include colonialism, racism, and federal Indian policy but especially Indian political activism, resistance, and cultural continuity and revitalization.
01:050:250Cultures of the Portuguese-Speaking Communities in the United States (3)Discussion of sociocultural issues concerning the diverse Portuguese-speaking communities of the United States.Course taught in English; will count for the Portuguese major or minor if all written work is done in Portuguese. Credit not given for both this course and 01:810:250.
01:050:253 Asian American History (3)Introduction to the political, economic, and sociocultural aspects of immigrants from Asia and their descendants in the United States from the 16th to the 21st century. Credit not given for both this course and 01:512:253.
01:050:259Popular Culture (3) How popular culture shapes and reflects society in advertising, music, popular entertainment, fads, fashion, radio, television, sports, and games.
01:050:260On the Road: Mobility in America (3)Considers mobility, mainly physical but also
social, as a singularly American trait if not obsession. Includes films as well as literature (both fiction and nonfiction) and music.
01:050:261The American Best Seller (3) Representative best-selling novels of recent decades and what they and their popularity indicate about American values and assumptions.
01:050:262American Film and American Myth (3) American film and its relationship to American myths, society, and culture. Representative classic films screened.
01:050:263American Folklore (3) Traditional verbal and material lore. American folk narratives, myths, legends, tales, ballads, and songs. How folklore functions in American society and institutions.One field trip: $10.
01:050:264American Folklife (3) Examination of the lifestyles of American folk groups with emphasis on artifacts: folk architecture, handicrafts, art, costume, and foods.One field trip: $10.
01:050:265American Experimental Film and Video (3)Survey course on history and development of American experimental cinema movements from beginning to present. Filmmakers include Andy Warhol, Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Sidney Peterson, Kenneth Anger, Yoko Ono, and others.Credit not given for both this course and 01:175:265.
01:050:266Cult Films in American Culture (3)Focus on the American "cult" film from its origins in the
1920s and its evolution in American culture. Close analyses of cult films will
be paired with critical readings in film, theory, and cultural history.This course previously given as a 300-level topics course. Credit not given for that course and 01:175:266.
01:050:267American Film Directors (3)In-depth analyses of the structure and content of
films of Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, John Frankenheimer, David Lynch, Val Lewton, Andy Warhol, and others. Emphasis on the mise-en-scène, narrative form, set design, sound, and special effects in the films of these celebrated filmmakers.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:175:267.
01:050:268David Lynch and the American Film Avant-Garde (3) Focuses on the surreal films of David Lynch and the
American Film Avant-Garde. Includes
in-depth analyses of the structure and content of many of Lynch's bizarre and
unique films, including Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, and Blue Velvet.Credit not given for both this course and 01:175:268.
01:050:269 The Concept of Home (3)Examination of the concept of "home" in the United States, and the competing cultural, political, and
economic meanings that have been attached to American domesticity. Historical examination of the place of "home" in the way Americans think about
gender, sexuality, race, legal rights, and the organization of labor.
01:050:272 American Food, Past and Present (3)A history of the collision of people, animals, plants, recipes, and flavors from all over the globe and encounters between Native American, enslaved Africans, and immigrants that created a national cuisine that is as diverse and varied as its people.
01:050:281,282,283,284Topics in American Studies (1.5,1.5,1.5,1.5) Half-semester minicourses given each year on topics of contemporary interest that lend themselves to interdisciplinary treatment. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
01:050:285Independent Study/Project: Media Culture (1.5)For students undertaking an independent study project in media culture.
01:050:291Jerseyana: New Jersey as a Culture (3) Interdisciplinary, regional approach to New Jersey, examining its landscape, the peculiarities of its history, its folklore and myths, arts and architecture, music, and literature.
01:050:295Latino and Caribbean Cultural Studies (3)Comparative study of Latino and Caribbean
cultures by reviewing key definitions of
culture, paying attention to the historical and disciplinary development of the
term, as well as the key debates on cultural studies in the humanities.
Reading knowledge of Spanish recommended. Credit not given for both this course and 01:595:295 or 01:195:295.
01:050:300,301,302Topics in American Studies (3,3,3) Topics of contemporary interest that lend themselves to interdisciplinary treatment. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
01:050:303A Decade in American Culture (3) Interdisciplinary approach to understanding a particular decade in American culture, employing the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Decade studied depends on the instructor.
01:050:304The American City (3) Interdisciplinary approach to the origin, development, and problems of the American city.
01:050:305Images and Narratives of War (3)Examination of the various ways that wars, post-WWII (such as Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, and others), have been represented in American popular culture. Material includes films, novels, memoirs, reportage, and histories.
01:050:306American Detective Fiction and Film (3) Examination of the distinctively American literary genre of the hard-boiled detective novel and the many films that this genre has inspired, including a look at film noir.
01:050:307The Culture of the 1960s (3) Examination of the culture of the 1960s, with emphasis on the civil
rights movement, the war in Vietnam and student radicalism, Woodstock,
women's liberation, and the sexual revolution, using social history,
literature, music, and film.
01:050:308The Culture of Metropolis (3) Examination of the urban culture of New York City in the 19th and 20th centuries, emphasizing the impact of race, class, gender, and ethnicity on developing subcultures.
01:050:309Nineteenth-Century Architecture in the United States (3)
Overview of the social and intellectual history of architecture in the
United States to 1900. Role of architecture in societal transformations
(the development of nationhood, industrialization, and urbanization).
Emphasis on the invention of new building types, including
universities, government buildings, prisons, hospitals, railroad
stations, and the architecture of World's Fairs.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:082:391.
01:050:310Approaches to American Studies (3)Introduction to interdisciplinary approaches in American studies. Examination and analysis of debates that have shaped and transformed the discipline.
Prerequisite: 01:050:101. Required for the major. Restricted to majors, or with special permission.
01:050:311Seminar in Black Diasporic Media (3)Examines a range of visual media by black cultural producers. Offers a diasporic framework as an opportunity to trace how technologies, genres, styles, and issues circulate through various historical moments, media, conceptualizations of blackness, and locations.Credit not given for both this course and 01:014:303.
01:050:312Sports in American Culture (3) Examines the place of sports in American life and how sports may be thought of as "the American religion," as a metaphor for American ideals and values. Figures from the world of sports (players and coaches) will be regular guest speakers.
01:050:313America as a Business Culture (3)Interdisciplinary approach explaining how living in a market-based society impacts various aspects of everyday life--spending, savings, and investing. Examine social, cultural, and political underpinnings of economic constructs such as money, the market, and consumption.
01:050:314Technology and Culture in America (3) Cultural responses to the growth and elaboration of American technology as reflected in literature, art, and popular culture.
01:050:315Documentary Expression in America (3) Relationship between the social and aesthetic functions of documentary in film, photography, journalism, biography, and the nonfiction novel.
01:050:316Twenty-First Century Expression: On and Off the Net (3)Introduction to new genres of writing--blogs,
graphic novels, and Twitter feeds--that characterize the 21st century, along
with a consideration of some familiar genres that remain strong, such as
postmodern fiction, writings around 9/11, and the memoir.
01:050:317Law and American Culture (3)Exploration of law in the United States in literature, popular culture, feminism, postmodernism, and political philosophy.
01:050:318Money and Modern America (3)Cultures of materialism and ostentatious displays of consumption; the ethics of money, from the meaning of an "honest day's work" to the gray areas of bribery, insider dealing, and profiting from the misery of others; recent financial crises and their impact on American life. Credit not given for both this course and 01:790:332.
01:050:320American Life During the Cold War (3)Examines American domestic life during the Cold War (roughly 1945-1991), when U.S. culture was shaped decisively by its geopolitical rivalry with the Soviet Union.
01:050:321American Conservatism (3)Exploration of the conservative tradition in U.S. politics and culture, from the American Revolution to the present day. Investigation of the major impulses and ideas associated with the political right and discussion of how conservatism has been manifested in American politics, government, literature, and culture.
01:050:322 Science Fiction Film (4)Introduction to science fiction cinema that explores the relationship between the human and the inhuman, the fantastic and the realistic, the familiar and the "other", and the present and the future. Credit not given for this course and 01:1775:322 or 01:354:374.
01:050:324Wayward Americans (3) Exploration various normal/abnormal dichotomies within American culture and how normal is determined. Examination of groups that have been described as different, weird, deviant, strange, abnormal, disobedient or unnatural and the historical, sociological and psychological underpinnings of the cultural norms from which these groups are/were excluded.
01:050:325Women on the Fringe: Perceptions of Women as Social and Sex-Role Deviants in American Civilization (3) Societal reaction to female behavior deviating from social and feminine norms. Use of historical narratives, literature, and film to treat such themes as heresy, madness, prostitution, adultery, criminality, political protest, and lesbianism.
01:050:326The Culture of American Women (3) Construction of feminine culture as distinct from the dominant patriarchal culture, examining social history, religion, psychology, sociology, oral history, literature, and film.
01:050:327Latino Ethnography (3)Cultural description of U.S. Latinos and their communities; introduction to reading,
writing, and theorizing ethnography; ethnographic film; ethnography of migration and diaspora; testimonio as ethnography; locating anthropology within Latino studies.Credit not given for both this course and 01:070:321 or 01:595:307.
01:050:329The United States as Seen from Abroad (3) United States as perceived by foreign commentators, such as Dickens, Trollope, and Waugh, and American expatriate intellectuals and artists, such as James, Hemingway, and Baldwin.
01:050:330American Cults and Communes (3) Examination of historic and fictional communal and religious experiments, illuminating their surprising similarities and what they tell us about American society and culture. From the Shakers and the Oneida community through Jonestown and the Hare Krishnas. Texts include novels and feature films.
01:050:331Ethnic America (3) Examination of cultural pluralism and the means by which ethnic groups such as Irish, Italians, Jews, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics have constructed their ethnic identities and the political and cultural forces that shaped those constructions.
01:050:332American Jewish Culture (3) Examination of the evolution of Jewish identities through the prisms of acculturation, religion, race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality though literature, film, and other visual media.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:332.
01:050:333The Cultures of Consumption (3) Examination of the development of mass society, mass production, and consumption from the 1880s to the present. Areas considered may include industrialization and the development of work in relation to leisure, the development of the advertising industry, television, technology, and popular and mass production and consumption. Credit not given for both this course and 01:512:333.
01:050:335Jewish-American Women: Contested Lives (3) Explores the Jewish-American female identity in autobiography and memoir, social history, literature, and film. Examines interplay of religious belief, secularism, social mobility, and acculturating influences within American experience. Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:335 or 01:988:334.
01:050:336American Jews and the Media (3)Examines the roles that the news media (film, recordings, radio,
television, and computers) played in American Jewish life throughout the 20th
century.Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:306.
01:050:337Contemporary Jewish Culture (3)Study of contemporary Jewish life, especially in America--in
communities, institutions, rituals, personal histories, etc.--through the
approach of fieldwork and ethnographic writing.Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:346.
01:050:340Race Matters (3)How "race" is represented and narrated as a political,
cultural, and critical category. Discussions on racial formations in
contemporary American culture; race as social construction; race as "natural"
and as a "performance"; inquiry and debate on self-hatred, racisms, whiteness,
Orientalism; race, gender, and queer intersectionality; and color.
01:050:341American Childhoods (3) Evolution of concepts of childhood and adolescence in America and of child-rearing practices through an examination of social history, religious tracts, novels, poetry, film, and child care manuals.
01:050:342American Sexuality (3) Changing American attitudes toward sexual expression and changes in sexual behavior. Examination of literature, film, 19th- and 20th-century advice manuals, and reports on sexual behavior such as the Kinsey Report and the works of Masters and Johnson.
01:050:344Islam in/and America (3)Explores the polycultural presence of Islam in the Americas from the early colonial period to the present, issues of gender and sexuality, U.S. foreign policy and its consequences, pre- and post-9/11 racializing practices, and the contemporary terrains of Muslim-American culture. Credit not given for both this course and 01:840:373 or 01:988:315.
01:050:350Festival Curation Seminar (3)Fundamentals of public humanities curation and communication to multiple audiences through original research that will provide the basis for curation of a future New Jersey Folk Festival.
01:050:351American Art, 1776-1913 (3)Visual and material culture of
the United States from the American Revolution to the Armory Show. Survey of painting, sculpture,
photography, and print culture in relation to American social, political, and
cultural history. Prerequisite: 01:082:105 or 106 or permission of instructor. Credit not given for this course and 01:082:351.
01:050:353 American Animated Cinema (4)Explores how American animated films by everyone from Winsor McCay in the early 1900s to Walt Disney and Tim Burton have shaped and been shaped by national and international visual cultures. Reflects essential questions about the medium's potential as an art of movement and transformation, an art of time, and an art of dreams. Credit not given for both this course and 01:175:353.
01:050:355Museums, Monuments, and American Culture (3)Introduction to museum studies. Theories of societal roles of museums, monuments, and
historical sites: history versus heritage, preservation laws, restoration, and
governmental censorship. Includes field trips and collaborative projects.
01:050:359Race, Culture, and Politics: Blacks and Jews in America (3) How black and Jewish identities have evolved in
relationship to one another through an examination of social and political history, literature, and film.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:512:359 or 01:014:359 or 01:563:359.
01:050:365American Folk Song and Ballad (3) Social concerns in folk songs--sources and circulation in oral tradition, with reference to lyrical folk songs, narrative folk songs, traditional ballads, broadside ballads, and Native American ballads.
01:050:366Folklore of American Occupational and Regional Groups (3) Folklore of occupational groups such as sailors, lumbermen, cowboys, and miners, and of regional groups such as southern mountaineers, Mississippi Delta blacks, Louisiana Cajuns, and Jersey Pineys.
01:050:370The Black Community and Social Issues (3)Examines a variety of social issues that impact the life
chances of African Americans in the United States.Credit not given for both this course and 01:014:384.
01:050:376Native American Literatures in English (3)Fiction, poetry, and autobiography by such writers as Apes, Momaday, Welch, Silko, and Erdrich. Attention to issues of Native American representation.Credit not given for both this course and 01:351:376 or 01:358:388.
01:050:377Asian-American Literatures in English (3)Theme or genre-based study of selected Asian-American
writing in English. Topics chosen by individual instructors; consult departmental
announcement. Credit not given for both this course and 01:351:377 or 01:358:389.
01:050:380,381Internship in American Studies (3,3)Professional, supervised work in an approved organization or
agency; an appropriately designed academic project required.Prerequisite: Permission of the department before registration. No more than one internship can count toward the major or minor.
01:050:389Junior Seminar in American Studies (3) A required interdisciplinary seminar for majors. Theme dependent on instructor. Prerequisites: Two 300-level American studies courses, or one American studies 300-level course and one approved section of 01:355:201 (Research in the Disciplines). To be taken by American studies majors in their junior year.
01:050:390,391Special Problems in American Culture (3,3) Independent study of an interdisciplinary nature, which may be expressed in a paper, audiovisual project, or other creative enterprise. Prerequisite: Permission of department during preceding semester required. May be repeated for credit with permission of department.
01:050:400,401Advanced Topics in American Studies (3,3)Advanced topics and readings in American studies. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
01:050:449 Principles of Folk Festival Management (3)Introduction to the folk festival's organizational structure, approaches to project management, technical skills, and key processes and philosophies of the project. Students learn to develop project plan. Prerequisite for the 3 credit spring semester course Folk Festival Management (01:050:450).
01:050:450Seminar: Folk Festival Management (3) Designed to accompany presentation of the New Jersey Folk Festival. Readings in histories of folk performance and fieldwork in folklore, as well as planning and production of public event. Prerequisite: 01:050:449 or Permission of instructor during preceding semester required.
01:050:455Maritime Culture (3)Uses a number of
disciplines to explore the influence of the sea on American life. A study of
marine policy that embraces both economic and environmental issues, as well as
current policy regarding world trade and regulatory reform, conservation and
fisheries, national defense, and admiralty law.
01:050:465Cultures of U.S. Imperialism (3)An exploration of American
nation-building through the imperial projections of the United States. Topics include the economic, political,
social, and cultural dynamics between the United States and its colonies, both
formal and informal. Focus might be on a single location or on a comparative
approach to imperialist projects.
01:050:487,488,489Seminars in American Studies (3,3,3) Interdisciplinary seminars for majors. Themes dependent on instructor. Prerequisite: For American studies majors who have completed 01:050:389.
01:050:490Senior Essay or Senior Project in American Studies (3)Independent study of an interdisciplinary nature, which may be expressed in a paper, audiovisual project, or other creative enterprise. Prerequisites: Permission of department and instructor during preceding semester required. May be repeated for credit with permission of department.
01:050:491Independent Study/Project in American Culture (BA)For students undertaking an independent study project.
01:050:495 and 496Honors in American Studies (3,3)Research essay or project, designed by the student and prepared under faculty supervision. An oral defense is required.Prerequisite: Permission of department. Open only to seniors.