American Studies

This course explores the major developments in United States history in the 20th century. The course examines general issues such as the cycles of conservatism and liberalism in the United States in the domestic front and the rise of the United States to superpower status. Topics include WWI, the Jazz Age, the New Deal, WWII, Civil Rights, Vietnam, and the Clinton presidency.

This introductory seminar approaches two intertwined questions: 1. What is the study of history? 2. How does gender figure into it? Over the course of the semester, this course explores these questions from several perspectives. This includes introductions to the theories and methods of historical scholarship and gender studies, as well as specific historical events and developments to which the theories and methods can be applied. The topics of investigation covers the United States from the colonial period until the Cold War, focusing on issues of femininity, masculinity, and queerness, as well as concepts such as indigeneity, blackness, and imperialism. The course discusses how to find and analyze scholarly literature and primary sources and how to write the seminar’s final research paper.

Indigenous people have inhabited the North American continent for thousands of years. Using primary sources from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors, this course examines the experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in what is now termed Canada and places particular focus on the construction of Indigenous identity in settler colonial society. Foregrounding Indigenous resistance and agency, the course explores societal structures, Indigenous economies, and interactions between First Nations and settlers, beginning with the period before contact with European settlers and continuing through Canadian Confederation. Themes include treaty-making, theories of settler colonialism, the Indian Act, Indian Status and its impact on Indigenous women, and the movement for Truth and Reconciliation (TRC).

With the divide between mass culture and high art disappearing, popular culture has become a prolific field of study. This seminar considers the many facets and dimensions of pop culture, including its cultural history and the possibilities hidden within what is often assumed to be nothing more than entertainment. Some of the topics addressed are popular culture’s reflection of discourse, its capability of criticizing or affirming the status quo, and the various modes of ideology within. The course covers all relevant pop culture representations: film, television, comic books, fiction, music, paintings etc. and discusses their significance within the historical frame of reference as well as their international social impact. Secondary texts introduce a range of theoretical perspectives through which pop culture may be explored, analyzed, questioned, and understood. The course also discusses the function of pop culture in the public sphere, its representations in texts, images, and music.

The course provides a survey of U.S. history and culture from the country's origins through the end of the 18th century. It examines concepts of diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in the United States using a critical approach. Topics include: Indigenous American cultures; the meeting of cultures with the arrival of Europeans and African slave population; the Enlightenment and Great Awakening; the American Revolution and declaration of independence; formation of the national government (US democracy and the constitution).  

This course introduces students to current trends and discussions in American sociology. By looking at a variety of topics (exceptionalism, political sociology, constitutional framework, community, social capital, multiculturalism, religion, urban sociology, popular culture) students get an overall impression of the main developments in American society and how the social sciences have tried to analyze and understand them.