School of Interdisciplinary Studies
American Studies Courses
Listed below are the courses in American Studies (AMST) taught within SIS.
There are many additional courses across the College of Liberal Arts that contribute to the American Studies plan of study.
- Fall 2026
- AMST 101- America and the World
- AMST 201- Interpreting America
- AMST 201- Interpreting America Black Foodways
- AMST 220- Technology and Play
- ASMT 301- Introduction To Asian American Studies
- ASMT 699- Research PhD Thesis
- Summer 2026
- AMST 101- America and the World
- Spring 2026
- AMST 101- America and the World
- AMST 201- Interpreting America
- AMST 220- Technology and Play
- AMST 301- Sport and Feminism(s)
- AMST 301- Asian American Popular Culture
- Fall 2025
- ASMT 101- America And The World
- ASMT 201- Interpreting America
- ASMT 220- Technology And Play
- ASMT 301- Introduction To Asian American Studies
- ASMT 301- North African Lit & Culture
- ASMT 320- Understanding The NFL
- ASMT 699- Research PhD Thesis
- AMST 10100 - America And The World
- This course examines the evolution of American culture as the United States transitioned from a relatively isolated country at the end of the 19th century to an active shaper of a global community by the 21st century. We will examine ways in which American Culture shaped and was shaped by international relationships that transcend nation states. We will explore reactions to, and the results of, the spread of American culture both inside and outside the United States. By studying traditional cultural forms like art, music, design, literature, film, and technology the course will build a foundation from which to understand the configuration of American culture. Yet the course will also emphasize American culture expression, that in the forms of television, advertising, sport, cartoons, social media, video games, fashion, food, drugs, and automobiles, have transcended the geographical boundaries of the United States to engage in global interplays of material cultural exchange.
- AMST 20100 - Interpreting America
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- Introduction to the interdisciplinary study of American culture, history, and society in its national and global contexts.
- AMST 21000 - Sport In American Culture
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- This course engages critical questions regarding sport and its role in American culture. It examines the ways sport serves as a key site for the study of larger social issues and social problems, including how race, gender, social class and other social locations are simultaneously reproduced and challenged in and through sport. The course also explores the relationships between sport and other major social institutions, such as the economy, education, politics, and media.
- AMST 22000 - Technology And Play
- This course introduces students to games, as well as investigating innovations and controversies in the gaming industry. It will explore theories of play, how technological innovations and business practices in both digital and analog gaming (through board games, video games, tabletop games, and esports) mediate or structure the experience of play. It will also survey the rise of myriad gaming subcultures, including celebrity streamers and esports
- AMST 25000 - An Introduction To American Protest Movements: What Are They? What Can They Do? How Can We Make One?
- In this course, we will study the reasons people in the United States have historically decided to create social movements, tactics and strategies they use to make and sustain those movements, obstacles to their success, and ways of judging their victories. The course will draw on scholarship on social movements from various fields, especially the field of American Studies. Because social movements are created by ordinary people, we will use a variety of sources they leave behind: speeches, testimonials, pamphlets, historical accounts, autobiographies, manifestos. We will also explore scholarship on social movements to try to understand how best to record and analyze the work social movements do. The course seeks to provide students an understanding of the role of protest movements in American history. Permission of instructor required.
- AMST 30100 - Perspectives On America
- Advanced interdisciplinary study of American culture, history, and society in their national and global contexts.
- AMST 31000 - Invention, Innovation, And Design
- This course focuses on the various ways that invention, innovation, and design shape the modern world. We will investigate the forms, uses, and meanings of a diverse set of objects, networks, and systems that influence the ways we live. We will explore these ideas through the concepts of consumption, waste, and “smart” to gain a deeper understanding of how material infrastructures influence human existence. This project-based course will use readings, discussions, and critical reflections to inform a series of hands-on projects to understand our roles as designers, creators, and users of science, technology, and material culture. Permission of instructor required.
- AMST 32000 - Understanding The National Football League
- This course counters the cultural myth that sports are “simply a form of entertainment” or “an escape from reality” and takes seriously the notion that sports matter as a social, cultural, and political force. Students will use academically informed inquiry and investigation to examine broader cultural dynamics through a critical examination of the National Football League. Course topics include how the NFL shapes social identities including race, gender, sexuality, and American identity, the connection between football and militarism, the relationship between the NFL and commercialism, the role the NFL plays in the triad of men’s violence, among other topics.
- AMST 32500 - Sports, Technology, And Innovation
- This course examines how science, technology, engineering, and data analysis reshape sports. Traditionally, sports have been understood as competitions between humans. However, recent technoscientific developments have altered this arrangement and have changed the ways sports are played. We have reached a place where heated competitions not only take place on the fields of play, but also within scientific and engineering laboratories. The fundamental question this project-based course will address is: how will new and emerging scientific knowledge and technological innovations transform sports? We will explore topics ranging from football, baseball, basketball, and soccer, to e-sports, fantasy sports, and sports analytics.
- AMST 33000 - American Car Culture
- The automobile has become one of the most influential technologies of the 20th century, and continues to impact American life in the 21st. This course will examine the immense social, political, technological, and environmental impacts of the car on American culture; and take an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding the automobile industry, its production systems, its marketing strategies, and the way automobiles reflect the changing landscapes of consumer tastes and values over time.
- AMST 49000 - Senior Capstone In American Studies
- Interdisciplinary senior capstone project in American Studies. Permission of department required.
- AMST 59000 - Directed Readings In American Studies
- A reading course in aspects of American Studies directed by the instructor in whose particular field of specialization the content on the reading falls. Permission of Instructor required.
- AMST 60100 - Introduction To American Studies
- An exploration of the cultural and institutional history of American Studies designed to acquaint students with the interdisciplinary concepts of American Studies by focusing on major canonical texts associated with that history. Prerequisite: Master’s student standing and American Studies majors only.
- AMST 60200 - Contemporary Issues In American Studies
- An investigation of analytical categories, particularly race, class and gender, the multiple methodologies, and theoretical premises that shape developments in the field of American Studies. Prerequisite: AMST 60100.
- AMST 60300 - American Studies Interdisciplinary Project
- Students will conduct independent research under faculty supervision towards completion of the Special Field examination for the Ph.D. degree. The project should be an extended, original research essay, based upon interdisciplinary research. The project should aim to produce original findings on a clearly defined topic or problem. In addition to the research and essay, students must produce a statement of methodology in which they explain their choice of sources and how their project contributes to the field of American Studies. To be taken in the final semester of coursework. Prerequisite: AMST 60100.
- AMST 60400 - Transnational American Studies
- What does the term transnational mean? How is the term defined, practiced, and studied in different fields? How does one take a transnational perspective, or examine the transnational variable? This course will draw from various fields (sociology, history, anthropology, ethnic studies, etc.) to explore contemporary scholarship on transnationalism in theory and in practice. Specifically, we will examine scholarship that either, 1) utilizes the transnational perspective in understanding history, the globe, and human behavior/interactions, or 2) utilizes transnational behaviors/ties as a variable to measurement adaptation. Materials in this course will examine - through the lens of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality - individual and comparative transnational case studies related to the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. This is a graduate seminar, and your active participation in discussions is mandatory. You will be asked to lead four seminar discussions on selected topics from the required readings, write three memos, and submit an extended book review. Permission of instructor required.
- AMST 60500 - Theory And American Culture
- This course provides an overview of key foundational texts in social and cultural theory, with a focus on theories of import to scholars in American Studies and related fields. We will explore the various types of theory, examining its internal logic, implications, and critiques. Consider this a brief introduction, meant to give you a general feel for the range and sophistication of available theories in American Studies. Moreover, as the “Cultural Politics” website observes, “Recent theory has reminded us that origin stories are powerful determining forces, and thus these tales of the growth and development of the discipline should be read both for what they say and for what they may leave out, read both for their truths and their partialities.” Similarly, the course syllabus itself creates a particular narrative regarding the development of the discipline. As such, students are encouraged to consider the syllabus through this perspective.
- AMST 60600 - American Studies Methods
- This class is specifically designed to be a survey course on the various methods employed by American Studies scholars from different disciplines. The objective of this course is to approach methods from both an epistemological and empirical perspective. In particular, we will investigate the what, why, and how of conducting research in an interdisciplinary field.
- AMST 63000 - M A Research Seminar
- A research seminar required of all M.A. students in their final semester. Students write substantial essays based upon original research in which they seek to crystallize, in practice, methods and concepts of American Studies. Prerequisite: AMST 60100.
- AMST 65000 - Reading Seminar In American Studies
- A reading seminar on a selected topic in American Studies, taught by two faculty members from different disciplines, usually one from the humanities and one from the social sciences. Prerequisite: AMST 60100.
- AMST 69500 - American Studies Service Learning/Internship
- This course is to be used by students to complete a service learning or internship project that provides professional development towards completion of the degree. The project must be conducted under the supervision of a faculty member and community partner. The faculty supervisor will be responsible for determining the academic content of the course and requirements of service.
- AMST 69900 - Research PhD Thesis
- Research PhD Thesis. Permission of instructor required.