ASE UNDERGRADUATE COURSE OFFERINGS SPRING 2009

For Spring 2009 graduate course offerings, click here.

AMST 101gm “Race and Class in Los Angeles”

Prof. Robin Kelley

T,Th 9:30-10:50, SGM 101

This course examines the importance of race in relation to major political, gender, social, and economic issues in contemporary Los Angeles. Throughout the course, some of the major theories will be introduced that are used in the social sciences to study: the development of urban regions and how power works , race and inequality. We will use these theories to help us analyze particular topics in Los Angeles, including residential segregation, redevelopment policies, environmental racism, suburbanization, income inequality, and economic policies. We will examine these topics and their relation to race, class, and gender inequality and conflict in society. One of the key goals of this course is to equip students -- through course readings, writing assignments, in-depth section discussions, and examinations -- with a working knowledge of a range of contrasting theories that they will learn to critically and systematically apply in the process of evaluating diverse topics.

AMST 135gm  “Peoples and Cultures of the Americas”

Prof. Manuel Pastor

MW 10-11:50, THH 102

This course is designed to provide students with a new lens on the politics, culture, and future of Latin and Latino America.  University courses have traditionally separated Latin American (or area) Studies from Latino (or ethnic) Studies.  But with a majority of Latinos in many urban areas foreign-born, with remittances from immigrant workers the largest source of foreign exchange for some sending countries, and with popular culture, economic activities, and social change movements increasingly crossing borders, a new transnational analysis is the order of the day.  This course takes transnationalism as the analytical starting point, beginning our analysis with the U.S. Latino experience, working our way back to understand both the origins and the state of contemporary Latin America, then returning again to U.S. Latinos and the rising importance of transnational ties.  Film, video, music, and guest lectures will complement weekly topics and readings. Course requirements include section attendance and participation, midterm exam, two response papers, and a final exam.

AMST 202m  “Interethnic Diversity in the West”

Prof. Laura Pulido

T, TH  11-12:20    THH 102

This semester, as part of AMST’s and the Center for Diversity and Democracy’s focus on Latino/Black relations, this course will focus on the relationship between African Americans and Latinas/os in the Los Angeles area. We will explore demographic change, geographic patterns, media representations, and cultural and historical connections between the two groups, as well as considering points of conflict and cooperation. In addition to readings, films, and guest lectures, students will also develop independent research projects.

AMST 206m “The Politics and Culture of the 1960s: What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been”

Dr. Richard Berg

W 4-6:50    THH  116

The Sixties was a time of contradiction, a time of turmoil and peace, a time of utopian idealism and often-nightmarish brutality, a moment when Revolution was hailed, praised and marketed. It was a time of war, the War in Vietnam and the War at home, when love was all ‘you’ needed and peace hardly had a chance. It was the time of the Woodstock Nation and the Silent Majority, communes and the Manson family. It was a time of boycotts, Beach Boys, sit-ins, surfers, marches, and dreamers who came to Washington to demand Civil Rights. It was the time of sex, rock ‘n roll and drugs. A time when fires were lit and guitars as well as bras were burnt. It had Hippies and Yippies and Panthers. And we are still trying to make sense of this tie-dyed, psychedelic decade. This course is about examining this tumultuous period, not so much to sort it out, but to gain a richer understanding of what was happening, what is left, and how it shaped the present. We will read texts about the moment and its many movements; we will read 60s books and poems, watch 60s movies and TV shows, we will listen to 60s music and look at 60s art. And in the end, all those who have memories of the Sixties yet were never there, might discover that what they recall, what they have been sold by mass media over the years, is not quite adequate to this moment when things seemed so miraculously wonderful and often so profoundly banal.

AMST 250gm  “The African Diaspora”

Prof. Shana Redmond

T, Th  12:30-1:50      WPH B27

What is the African Diaspora? What are the national and transnational legacies of the slave trade? How have people of African descent shaped the places they have come to inhabit? This interdisciplinary course will look at these questions through the lenses of identity, labor, gender,

and politics. The course will count toward the “history” requirement for African American and American Studies majors, and can count in the distribution requirements for

Asian American Studies and Chicano & Latino American Studies majors.

AMST 285m  “African American Popular Culture”

Prof. Judith Jackson Fossett

T, Th 9:30-10:50,   VKC  150

This course interrogates the range of popular cultural expressions, including literature, music, dance, theater, visual arts and media and sport, produced by and about African Americans.  Although focused on cultural production in the United States, we will centrally consider the proliferation of black culture as a multi-continental phenomenon, paying particular attention to (im)migratory patterns of influence (across geographic space, time and genre) from the antebellum period to the present.  We will analyze these various genres in order to construct a genealogy of the traffic in black forms, and the social and cultural context of the "popular" in which they have been framed.  Those forms include: voice, song, music, dance, blackface minstrelsy, spectacle. Critical interpretive signposts for the course will include the centrality of the physical body, of orality (as opposed to literacy), of region (the South, the North, the diaspora), and of gender, class and politics. The course will also consider the related evolution of the popularity of "black spectacle," from Nat Turner's slave revolt to lynching in the postbellum period, to O.J. Simpson's murder trial.

AMST 301g “America, the Frontier, and the New West”

Prof. Tim Gustafson

MW 12-1:50,  THH 301

This course will not focus on America and the "New Millenium". Instead, it will examine the foundations of the United States and American culture in such actions as exploration, conquest, revolution, consitution-making, pioneering, and immigration, with particular attention paid to the revisionary history prompted in part by the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1987, the Quincentennial of Columbus' "discovery" of American in 1992, and the Centennial in 1993 of Frederick Jackson Turner's essay, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." As an introductory course for the American Studies major, this course will also practice and preach interdisciplinary study: it will draw upon various modes of inquiry including, especially, literary, historical, and political analysis.

AMST 373 “History of the Mexican American”

Dr. Chris Jimenez  y West

T, Th 3:30-5, VKC  102

This course is an exploration of the history and culture of Mexican Americans and other Latinos in the United States from the colonial era to the present. We will examine the diversity of experiences among this group across the United States, paying particular attention to issues of

race, region, gender, class, and immigrant status. Topics will include the varied experiences of colonialism and immigration; the role of race prejudice and discrimination in shaping social mobility; cultural transformation and regional variations in language, religion and music;

gender as a central variable in defining issues of identity and opportunity; and the birth of a Chicano/Latino civil rights movement.

AMST 385  “African American Society & Culture”

Prof. Lanita Jacobs-Huey

MW  2-3:50   VKC 210

 This course will focus broadly on social and cultural issues affecting the past and present lives of African Americans in the United States.  Special attention will be paid to questions of "racial authenticity" in relation to the following themes:  The African Diaspora:  Cultural Continuity and Change in America, Past and Contemporary Acts of Struggle and Resistance,  The Intersection of Race, Class, and Gender, African American Worldviews and Experiences, The Construction of “Black” Identity, Images of “Blackness” in Popular Culture, Cultural Politics of Hair and Identity, Black Oral Genres (e.g., poetry, standup comedy), and Language, Identity, and Culture.  This course will apply an interdisciplinary approach to addressing what it means (and has meant) to be African American in the U.S.  This course will also integrate scholarly and popular texts (e.g., films, videos, music) to illuminate the cultural, economic, and socio-political complexity of African American life and society.

AMST 392 “Undergraduate Research Methods”

Dr. Dean Campbell

T, 6- 7:50, VCK 208

Undergraduate Research Methods is a one-semester course of study that aims to initiate and cultivate each student as a future researcher and scholar who will consider entry into doctoral study. The program prepares students who have self-selected themselves for participation in a

summer undergraduate research program at USC or another leading research university.

Special consideration is taken for the study of race, class, and ethnicity as those scholarly

interests relate to diversifying graduate education for members of groups historically

excluded from doctoral study.  Students explore academic and professional interests

through examination of their research interests and skills.  In the seminar,

students will analyze and write in the several modes important for moving from construction

of a problem to development of key sections of an academic research paper.

AMST 449m “Asian American Literature”

Prof. Jane Iwamura

M, 2-4:50, VCK 158

This course is a selective examination of the major works, authors, and themes of Asian American literature, from the mid-20th century until the contemporary moment.  The primary concern of the course is to demonstrate the dynamic relationship between Asian American literature and the histories of Asians in the United States, and the United States in Asia.  In particular, the shifting function of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans in U.S. culture and economy will be a focus for the course as we examine how Asian American literary concerns and styles have evolved with that shifting function. Ultimately, the proposition this course puts forth is that the aesthetics of Asian American literature is inseparable from the politics of Asian American experiences; this intersection between aesthetics and politics is one important site where Asian American culture and identity are formed.

AMST 493 “Senior Honors Thesis in American Studies & Ethnicity”

Prof. Shana Redmond

M, 2-4:50, VKC 209

This seminar is designed to prepare students for the writing and facilitate the completion of a senior honors thesis in the four majors that make up the Program in American Studies and Ethnicity.  As such, it is intended to train students to becoming original scholars in creating

interdisciplinary knowledge around topics of the student’s own choosing, particularly in areas of research that focus on American society and culture.  Students will complete their senior honors thesis in a workshop format, improving their skills in defining, organizing, and presenting an interdisciplinary topic, and providing mutual support to each other in the crafting of a substantial piece of interdisciplinary writing. This course is a continuation of the senior honors thesis sequence in American Studies and Ethnicity, and successful completion of AMST 492 in

the fall semester is required for entry into this seminar. 

AMST 498 “Senior Seminar in American Studies & Ethnicity”

Prof. Macarena Gomez-Barris

M, 2-4:50, VKC 209

Capstone course for majors, highlighting interdisciplinary study of race and ethnicity in a comparative context.

COURSES OF INTEREST BY ASE FACULTY

Art History 127g: Arts and Civilizations of Ancient Middle and South America

Professor: Dr. Megan O’ Neil,

M, W   12:00-1:50, MRF 340

This course is a survey of the art, architecture, and archaeology of the diverse array of cultures in ancient Mesoamerica (an area that encompasses much of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras) and in and near the Andes Mountains (in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile).  We will study the major cultures of each region across time, from the Olmec in Mesoamerica and the

Chavin in South America in the second millennium BC, to the encounters of the

Aztec and Inka Empires with the Spanish in the sixteenth century A.D.

Cinema Television, Critical Studies(CTCS) 407 African American Cinema

Professor:  Kara Keeling

W 2-5:50pm, SCA 110

This course surveys the history, theories, debates, and controversies that have characterized African American cinema, with an emphasis on the relationship between African American cinema and American culture and politics more broadly.  One of the debates within African American film scholarship has centered on the problems of defining the terrain of African American cinema.  This course takes a broad view by 
including films that have been important to the public discourse about Black existence in America, even if those films were not directed by African Americans.  Though our primary focus will be on black independent film, we also will study a couple of landmark television series featuring African Americans and put those into dialogue with the history of African Americans in film.  Possible screenings include:Within Our Gates (1920), The Emperor Jones (1933), Carmen Jones (1954), I Spy (1965-68), Julia (1968-71), Sweet Sweetback's 
Baadasssss Song (1971), She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Daughters of the Dust (1991), Boyz in the Hood (1991), Black Is, Black Ain’t (1994), The Watermelon Woman (1996), The Wood (1999), Bamboozled (2000).  The 
final screening list will be announced on the first day of class.

Cinema Television, Critical Studies  495, “Race and Media Technology”

Prof Curtis Marez

Wed. 12-2:50

This course focuses on the historical relationship between race and technology, particularly media technology. We will explore the ways in which the uses and meanings of technology shape and are shaped by ideas about race and racialized practices.

Journalism 465: Latino News Media in the United States (cross-listed with ASE)

Prof. Felix Gutierrez

Tuesday, 2-5:20 p.m.

History and growing importance of Latino print and broadcast news media in covering immigration, discrimination, culture, social differences and other aspects of U.S. Latino life.

Journalism 466m: People of Color and the News Media (cross-listed with ASE)

Prof. Felix Gutierrez

Monday, 2-5:20 p.m.

Reporting and portrayal of people of color in the United States; impact of racial diversity on media, employment and access, and development of media for individuals and communities of color. Open to non-majors.