American Studies

This course examines how the 1960s saw enormous transformations in both the matter and the forms of American prose writing. It considers how writers and artists battled for new freedoms, and sex and sexuality began to be featured in books published by mainstream publishers for the first time. Accompanying the famous revolutionary political movements that marked the decade, and responding to many of the same cultural and political pressures, were various revolutions of the word. The 1960s saw a widespread reaction against a now-institutionalized modernism, and the first great statements of what would come to be thought of as literary postmodernism (Thomas Pynchon, John Barth). This course discusses how critics like Susan Sontag argued for the continued validity of the modernist project, and for the need to extend it; and novelists like Saul Bellow and Mary McCarthy sought to extend the traditions of realism and modernism in novels like Herzog (1964) and The Group (1963). American prose writing of the 1960s was also shaped and informed by the sexual revolutions that marked the decade, and writers such as Ursula Le Guin began to use the tools of imaginative writing to interrogate embedded cultural assumptions about gender, sexuality, patriarchy, and power. This course considers how in many ways, all of the key streams of 20th century American literature converged in the 1960s. The decade and its key texts explores issues central to American studies more broadly: American exceptionalism, the utopian promise underwriting the American experiment, the legacies of modernism, the meaning(s) of postmodernity, the political transformations of the postwar era, and the “hangover” of the early 1970s.

This anthropology/history course taught in Spanish focuses on civilizations in America from the 18th to the 20th century. It focuses on the economic, technological, and political developments that led to the conquest of America by European civilizations, specifically from the point of view of the Spanish Empire.  

From Amazon.com to the Mall of America - some of the world's most sophisticated selling technologies emerged in the United States. In fact, some have called consumption America's true national pastime. But how did this culture of consumption take shape? And what does it mean for a global community today? Surveying the transformation of America's consumer culture, this course explores what power the consumer has commanded in American society. The course examines how critiques of consumption shaped the course of American politics, economics, and social order. 

The current uncertain times are marked by political upheavals, rapid technological change, and ecological loss and crisis. Yet, this perception of uncertainty is not unique to the present. How have people made sense of the unknown in the past? How have they tried to predict, control, or survive uncertain futures? This seminar explores how individuals, communities, and institutions have historically responded to uncertainty, in North America and beyond. Seminar topics therefore include religious beliefs and prophecies, narratives of destiny and utopia, science and statistics, social planning, bureaucracy and record-keeping, violence and exclusion, art, sports, as well as turns to history itself. Furthermore, the class discusses how historians themselves deal with uncertainty in their work: from gaps in the archives and collective memory, to epistemological questions, biases in historical research, and contested interpretations of the past. Through these themes, students are introduced to the foundational skills of studying history: how to ask critical questions, develop an argument, read primary and secondary sources, and how to write (about) history. A field trip to a local archive offers practical insights into what it means to work as a historian, and the uncertainties that come with it.

This seminar examines American cities over the past 150 years through major theoretical traditions and empirical themes. It explores housing markets, racial segregation, immigration, suburbanization, gentrification, policing, gender, finance, education, and urban politics. Throughout, it maintains a comparative lens, juxtaposing American patterns with European experiences. The course has two goals. First, to familiarize students with major theoretical frameworks in urban sociology, building a conceptual toolkit for analyzing cities. Second, to develop critical analytical skills through engagement with classic texts and contemporary research.

Over the course of the 19th century, North Americans in the United States and its territories experienced overwhelming social, political, technological, and economic change. At the same time, they faced significant health challenges from epidemic disease to unfamiliar environmental ills, to feuding physicians. This course addresses such changes in context and introduces students to the debates surrounding the American public's health.

This course introduces students to the main institutions of the American political system: Presidency, Congress, Judiciary. In the process, we learn about the way in which the members of these institutions are selected, the functions played by each of these institutions, and the way in which they interact under the checks and balances system of the United States. Special attention will be given to the historical development of these relationships. The course also covers the institutional structure of the US, such as the Constitution, the federal system, and the party system.

By the end of this course, students have a critical understanding and comprehensive knowledge of the government and politics in the US, as well as the processes through which policy making takes place. Through discussions of current and past events and a close following of the Congressional electoral campaign taking place during the term students are familiarized with examples of how these institutions and processes interact.

The course discusses contemporary U.S. American graphic memoirs, exploring how comics serve as a powerful medium for autobiographical storytelling. It examines how artists narrate personal and intimate experiences through the interplay of image and text. Students analyze how image and text work together to visualize trauma, self-representation, memory, and resilience—and learn what makes the comic medium such an affective space for narrating stories of illness, displacement, queerness, race, and coming of age. The exploration focuses on both the form and content of these works, analyzing how issues of gender, class, and race are portrayed within these narratives and how they engage with broader U.S. American cultural, social, and political contexts. Readings include a diverse range of voices and styles, from graphic memoirs like Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, to more recent works by George Takei, Cece Bell, Nora Krug, and Kindra Neely. As part of the course, students have the opportunity to create their own short graphic memoirs, using accessible tools such as Making Comics by Lynda Barry, Canva, or StoryboardThat. This activity is planned to invite students to experiment with visual storytelling and reflect on their own experiences—no artistic background or drawing skills required.

This course provides an overview of some of the major developments in American culture since 1840. It introduces the basic methods of cultural history and teaches them how to place cultural developments within broader economic, political, and social contexts. Some of the themes discussed in the module include: the way culture has shaped racial, gender, and class conflicts and identities; the role of popular music in American life; the growth of advertising and consumer culture; the role of culture in debates over immigration and multiculturalism; and how the conquest of the American West was registered in American culture.

This course provides an extended overview of American cultural history ranging from the period of British settlement in the 17th century to contemporary issues in US society. Students read influential texts (speeches, legal documents, essays, etc.) by authors such as John Cotton, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King, Betty Friedan, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Throughout the readings, the class explores public rhetoric as a key factor shaping the cultural trajectory of the United States. After a brief introduction to basic methodologies of cultural analysis, students investigate the rhetorical, structural, and discursive features of the primary texts through close readings. The course explores select representations from the fields of visual culture, art, and film, and a selection of key terms that are essential for understanding the evolution of American public discourse and intellectual history.