Courses

American Studies Courses

• AMER 1002: Introduction to American Studies
  An interdisciplinary approach to American culture, character, and life.
• AMER 2075: Conspiracy Culture in America
  Conspiracy theories in American culture and history. Topics include witch trials, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, the red scare, UFOs, and the Kennedy assassination. Relation of conspiracy theories to broader cultures of knowledge.
• AMER 2100: Sports, Culture, and Society
  Multifaceted role of sports in culture and society, past and present. Cross-cultural perspectives on U.S. sports and related practices.
• AMER 2500: American Cultures: Past, Present, Future
  American cultural history from earliest contact between North American indigenous peoples and Europeans to the present. Popular norms and beliefs as well as literature, art, and philosophy. Ideas of exceptionalism, democracy, and the marketplace; struggles over inclusion and citizenship; and the U.S. role in globalization
• AMER 3200: Global Perspectives on the U.S.
  This seminar course will explore the migration and resettlement of Black Americans To, From and Within the United States in response to war, promises of freedom, and in response to oppression. During various moments in America’s history, people of color seized opportunities to move to another state, create community, or to simply leave the United States altogether. The course explores the social political and economic forces within American society that served to push and pull black Americans towards the promises of freedom and self-determination that irrigation offered.
• AMER 3890: Topics in American Studies – Writing the Blues
  Writing the Blues – Blues Narratives and the Written Word: This course will explore the tradition of blues literature. How do we define the blues and its work? What is a blues poem? A blues novel? Over the course of the semester, we will seek to navigate the liminal spaces between the blues as a feeling (I have the blues), the blues as a genre of music inspired by said feeling, and the rich body of literature inspired by the intersection of the two. This online class will be offered synchronously.
• AMER 8000: Graduate Workshop in American Studies – Rhetoric of Inq. In American Studies
  This course will explore the past, present and future of American Studies through the language, symbols, and discourse that shape its interdisciplinary inquiry. Beginning with a brief history of the field, the course will feature the scholarship of (and discussions led by) Vanderbilt faculty from across the university. In addition, the course will offer students the chance to continue working on projects already begun in their home departments but this time in the context of peer-led, interdisciplinary writing groups.
• AMER 3890: Topics in American Studies – Faith, Politics, and Polarization
  This seminar course will explore the complex relationship between religion (primarily Christianity) and partisan politics in the United States. It will analyze religious beliefs and values in American culture and the impact on voting patterns. Divisive issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty, euthanasia, immigration, access to health care, medical ethics, and religious liberty will be debated. This class will coincide with the 2020 presidential election and will pay close attention to the issues being debated. A strong emphasis will be placed on practical methods for encouraging civility, mutual respect, and robust dialogue despite foundational and ideological differences.
• AMER 4000: Research Methods Workshop
  Interdisciplinary method for qualitative research. Examines approaches to the study of culture, history, and aesthetic experience. Students will have an opportunity to apply methods through projects.

Related Courses in Other Departments

• AADS 1010: Introduction to African American and Diaspora Studies
• CMA 1600: Introduction to Film and Media Studies
• CMST 3110: Women, Rhetoric, and Social Change
• ECON 3150: Topics in the Economic History of the U.S.
• ECON 4520W: Seminar on Globalization
• ENGL 2320: Southern Literature
• ENGL 3646: Poetry Since World War II
• ENGL 3654W: African American Literature
• ENGL 3664: Jewish American Literature
• ENGL 3680: Twentieth-Century Drama
• ENGL 3898W: Special Topics in English and American Literature – History & Theory of the Novel
• GER 2581: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
• HART 1400: U.S. Icons and Monuments
• HIST 1370: Colonial Latin America
• HIST 1383: Slave Resistance in the Americas
• HIST 1390: America to 1776: Discovery to Revolution
• HIST 1410: U.S. 1877-1945: Reconstruction through World War II
• HIST 1420: US Post-1945: Cold War to the Present
• HIST 1640: History of American Capitalism
• HIST 1730: The U.S. and the Cold War
• HIST 2510: Reform and Revolution in Latin America
• HIST 2580: American Indian History before 1850
• HIST 2855: Women and Gender in the U.S. to 1865
• JS 1111: First-Year Writing Seminar – FYS: Black-Jewish Relations
• JS 2420W: American Jewish Songwriters
• LAS 2101: Introduction to Latin America
• MHS 1930: Social Dimensions of Health and Illness
• MHS 1940: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
• MUSL 1600: American Popular Music
• MUSL 1640: Country Music
• MUSL 1650: History of Rock Music
• MUSL 2320: Exploring the Film Soundtrack
• PHIL 2104: Nineteenth-Century Philosophy
• PSCI 1100: Introduction to American Government and Politics
• PSCI 2245: The American Presidency PSCI 2263: Religion and Politics
• PSCI 2262: The Judicial Process
• PSCI 3260: Introduction to American Law
• RLST 3142: Slave Religion and Culture in the American South
• SOC 3223: Schools and Society: The Sociology of Education
• SOC 3301: Society and Medicine
• SOC 3322: Immigration in America
• SOC 3602: Change and Social Movements in the Sixties
• SOC 3604: American Social Movements
• SOC 3611: Women and the Law
• SOC 3621: Criminology
• SOC 3624: Prison Life
• SPAN 4741: Spanish-American Literature of the Post-Boom Era
• And more!