Institute for American Thought

AMST Course offerings Spring 2010

AMST-A 301 QUESTION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY
27370 12:00P-01:15P Monday, Wednesday BS 2002 Tom Marvin

What does it mean to be an American? This course will examine the ideas and values that have shaped the collective identity of the United States from colonial days to the present. We will study historical documents in order to better understand contemporary American attitudes and beliefs. We will also explore how people from different backgrounds have fashioned their own personal identities by deciding for themselves what it means to be an American. About half of the course will be devoted to the experiences of immigrants and the complex process of becoming an American. Students in this interdisciplinary course will write brief response papers to readings chosen from history, literature, sociology, anthropology, political science, and women’s studies. Students will learn the techniques of oral history interviewing, and participate in the American Identity Project, an ongoing research project to determine how immigrants construct their personal identities in the U.S. For more information, contact Tom Marvin at tmarvin1@iupui.edu

AMST-A 303 TOPICS IN AMERICAN STUDIES: AMERICAN SUPERNATURAL
22622 12:00P-01:15P Tuesday, Thursday ES 2102 John Gosney

Belief in the supernatural has been an important component of American culture since the founding of the country. From the Salem Witch Trials to The Amityville Horror and from the stories of Edgar Allen Poe to the television series Lost, there seems to be no limit to Americans appetite for myths and legends that deal with the fantastic, otherworldly or otherwise unbelievable. This course will examine several aspects of this cultural fascination with the supernatural, from the mystery of “Area 51” to the legends of the delta blues singers. Along the way, we’ll examine larger questions, such as: Why is belief in the supernatural of continuing relevance to American culture? How does the popular and new media (especially the Internet) perpetuate this belief, and is there a danger in doing so? To what extent are the American character and its definition of self-identity shaped by the belief in the supernatural?

AMST-A 303 TOPICS IN AMERICAN STUDIES: ASIAN AMERICAN CULTURE
30827 3:00-4:15P Monday, Wednesday BS 3014 David Suzuki

This course examines the histories, experiences, and cultures that shape the Asian American community. Through articles, books, and film, this course explores the impact of societal perceptions of Asians on the Asian American experience and Asian American identity. Issues of focus include immigration, civil rights, and cultural sensitivity in local and global work environments.

AMST-A 497 OVERSEAS STUDY, DERBY, UK

AMST-A 499 SR AMERICAN STUDIES TUTORIAL

AMST-B 497 OVERSEAS STUDY, NEWCASTLE, UK

AMST-G 753 INDEPENDENT STUDY