AMS Course News

Aging in Film

2011-11-08T20:27:00.003-06:00

In connection with the Boomer Futures project, Cheryl Lester and Dennis Domer will offer a course on "Aging in Film" this spring. Click the flyers for info!

Recent Latina Writers

2011-11-01T16:36:00.002-05:00

Marta Caminero-Santangelo will be offering a definitive course on literature by Latinas this spring in the English Department. Her description:

Course Description: This class will focus on readings in recent U.S. Latina literature, including literature by women of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican descent. We will examine issues such as the construction of “ethnic,” “pan-ethnic,” “national,” and “transnational” identities; the representation of history through narrative; linguistic “differences” in the text; the tensions of assimilation and cultural preservation (including changing practices in religion, language, and gender roles); intersections of ethnic identity with race, gender, and sexuality; revisions of myths and history; genre forms such as memoir, magical realism, and testimonio, as well as experimental or mixed genres; the textual representation of political issues; the development of political consciousness; and possible strategies of resistance to cultural and/or political oppressions. The course will be discussion-oriented rather than lecture-based; participation and attendance will be considered in determining the final grade. The primary goals in this course are to introduce students to a range of Latina writing over the last 25 years and to help develop an understanding of some of the critical issues involved in the study of U.S. Latina literature today. In the process, we will of course be working on further developing skills associated with the study of literature: close reading, analysis, the use of critical, theoretical, historical, and biographical secondary materials, and the development and support of oral and written arguments. Texts might include: Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican; Anzaldúa, Borderlands / La Frontera; Viramontes, Under the Feet of Jesus; García, Dreaming in Cuban; Alvarez, In the Time of the Butterflies; Martínez, Mother Tongue; Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek; Moraga, Giving Up the Ghost; Castillo The Guardians.

Check the online course schedule for ENGL 573.

small-form American Identities (Honors) now open

2011-11-01T16:31:00.004-05:00

Dr. Ray Pence has announced that his honors section of AMS 112- American Identities (Honors) is open to students who are not in the honors program. Contact Dr. Pence for info or permission.

Seminar in Ethnography

2011-10-26T13:07:00.002-05:00

As one of many graduate offerings from AMS next semester, Ben Chappell will teach AMS 998, U.S. Ethnography in Spring 2012. Click the image for a flyer.

Honors offering in American Studies

2011-10-26T09:03:00.001-05:00

Honors students, don't miss this chance to take AMS 112/SOC 112 with Dr. Ray Pence. This is a small-format, more intensive version of AMS 110/SOC 110 and meets a society and culture principal course requirement. Click the image for a flyer.

Graduate course in counterpublics

2011-10-25T08:42:00.003-05:00

Two of KU's experts on rhetorical analysis will offer an exciting graduate seminar this spring that will be invaluable for AMS graduate students. Click the image for a flyer.

Langston Hughes Visiting Professor Tammy Kernodle

2011-10-19T13:19:00.004-05:00

The Langston Hughes Visiting Professor program brings outstanding scholars to KU for a semester, and this year, AMS will benefit greatly from the visit. Professor Tammy Kernodle, of Miami University of Ohio, is a renowned expert in African American music, who will offer both graduate and undergraduate courses at KU in the spring. Don't miss this chance to study with a leader in the field. Click the flyers for more.

New course option for majors

2011-10-07T09:55:00.003-05:00

AMS majors, it's time to think about your spring schedule. If you haven't filled in your second Theory and Method course (other than AMS 360), consider speaking to your adviser about this new course in HWC. Click the image for a flyer.

Last Minute Addition: Race and Nation in Mexico

2011-08-16T09:54:00.002-05:00

Prof. Ruben Flores will offer a new graduate seminar this fall, "Race and Nation in 20th-century Mexico." The course meets once weekly on Thursdays from 1:00-3:30 pm. Advanced undergraduates who are interested may enroll in AMS 696 to meet at the same time. Click the image for more info.

New Media courses of note

2011-05-18T13:47:00.002-05:00

Germaine Halegoua, new faculty member in Film and Media Studies will be offering two courses on new media and technology this fall- check them out, AMS students.

FMS 302/702 Undergraduate/Graduate Seminar in: New Media Theory and Practice (29911)

9:15-10:30 am Monday/Wednesday, 120 Oldfather Studios

The Internet, cell phones, gaming consoles, and other networked, digital technologies have become immensely pervasive and powerful forms of communication which support a plethora of cultural, political, social, and economic exchanges and communities. This class is a survey of Internet and digital media histories, audiences, products, industries, narratives, and visual cultures. Students will be introduced to major themes in digital media studies and asked to apply critical approaches to understanding new media practices and theories. In addition to readings and lectures, students will participate in production projects and engage in a variety of digital activities over the course of the semester. By the end of the semester, students will have a foundational understanding of historical and emerging new media technologies, practices, and theories, and will have gained basic skills and experiences with various types of new media production.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

FMS 302/702 Undergraduate/Graduate Seminar in: Convergence Culture (29898)

4:00-5:15 pm Monday/Wednesday, 120 Oldfather Studios

Through readings, lectures, and production projects, this course looks at the texts, transformations, and strategies employed by the TV, film, and music industries in order to accommodate new media technologies and practices. We will look at how media producers promote brands online and build content and narrative worlds across media platforms. We will also pay close attention to the roles consumers play in the current media landscape through their interaction and (sometimes illegal) manipulation of digital content and diegetic worlds. Topics addressed over the course of the semester may include: the use of social media to promote or spread "old media" products; franchising and transmedia storytelling; participatory culture and fandom; copyright concerns; online distribution outlets; and novel experiences and cultures of TV, film, music via new media technologies.

More summer offerings

2011-05-04T09:23:00.004-05:00

Get your core course to the major, or a Humanities principal course, in less than a month!

Graduate seminar: race and performance theory

2011-05-04T09:19:00.002-05:00

Professor Nicole Hodges Persley, proud owner of a PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity from USC, will offer this graduate seminar in fall 2009. Look for a cross-list with AMS 998.

Summer course: culture and politics of public health

2011-05-04T09:15:00.003-05:00

AMS doctoral student Rachel Vaughn will offer this course through Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Great material for a concentration here- click the image for a flyer.

Jewish American Pop Culture in the summer

2011-04-29T10:18:00.003-05:00

Check out this intensive summer course, good for your popular culture concentration or general mind expansion. Professor Henry Bial, author of Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen, presides. Here is his description of the course:

AMS 344 / THR 380 / JWSH 300 -- Jewish American Pop Culture
MTWRF 11:30 am - 1:30 pm -- June 7 - July 1 (first four weeks of Summer session)

This course explores the dramatic and theatrical strategies used by Jewish American writers, directors, and actors to negotiate Jewish identity on the American stage and screen over the last 100 years. In addition to discussing the functions of these specific representations, we will also examine the performance-driven quality of identity in general. In what ways can Jewishness be viewed as a theatrical construction, both on and off the stage and screen? Our primary objects of study will be drawn from film and television, but we will also consider theatre, music, stand-up comedy, and the internet. Specific titles under consideration may include: Fiddler on the Roof, Seinfeld, Oklahoma!, The Jazz Singer, Family Guy, Annie Hall, Diary of Anne Frank, Angels in America, The Hebrew Hammer, The Goldbergs, Death of a Salesman, Gentleman’s Agreement, Licensed to Ill, A Serious Man, The Nanny.

New AMS 332 online-- take it this summer from wherever

2011-04-28T22:24:00.004-05:00

This summer our very own Ray Pence is offering AMS 332-United States in Global Context in a new, online form. This is a core course in our major and meets a social science distribution requirement. Work at your own pace, and from a distance if you're not in Lawrence. If you are self-motivated and need AMS 332, consider taking the online version. Dr. Pence's description:

UNITED STATES IN GLOBAL CONTEXT ONLINE (USGCO)

AMERICAN STUDIES – SOCIOLOGY 332

SUMMER 2011 (8 week session, June 7 – July 29 2011)

Teacher: Ray Pence, Ph.D.

USGCO looks at how war shapes relationships among the United States and other nations. The course covers a sixty-year period starting with the Cold War and continuing to the present Wars on Terror.

Although war is the main course theme, this is not a class about military battles and strategies. Nor is the class a survey that requires comprehensive knowledge of all major leaders and events during the period under study.

Instead, USGCO looks at historical, social, and cultural impacts of these wars on individuals and groups in the US and elsewhere. Here is a sample of topics:

· Cold war competition between the US and former Soviet Union to “hunt Nazi scientists”

· Impact of the Korean War on 1950s America and on video games of the 21^st century

· Cuba’s sex industry in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union

· Martin Luther King, Jr. and his opposition to the Vietnam War

· Vietnam in the 21^st century: A country, not a war

· The importance of music and poetry in understanding the Vietnam War

· Media portrayals of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan and Jessica Lynch in Iraq

· How US soldiers in Iraq use music and photography to cope with wartime

· The specificity and significance of women soldiers’ experiences in Iraq

· Barack Obama’s perspectives on Afghanistan before and after becoming President

All readings and resources USGCO will be available online. There are no books or supplies to purchase.

Students will write four papers, each with a 500-word minimum.

The course has two exams: a midterm based on the first two units and a final based on the third and fourth units.

Students may work through the course at their own pace but must complete tasks in the sequence they are presented.

To qualify for taking the midterm exam, students must complete their papers for Units 1 and 2.

To qualify for taking the final exam, students must complete the midterm exam and their papers for Units 3 and 4.

New Course- Black Men in America

2011-04-28T12:21:00.002-05:00

AMS professor and undergraduate director Randal Jelks is offering a new course in the fall, focusing on Black Men in America. Click the flyer for more!

power: on/off

2011-04-19T12:44:00.004-05:00

History of the Black Power Movement

2011-04-14T09:57:00.003-05:00

Another great offering from our friends downstairs at Bailey Hall: African and African American Studies will offer the History of the Black Power Movement taught by Shawn Alexander. This course is available to both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Look for it under AMS 696. Click the image for a flyer.

Hip-hop Studies

2011-04-13T09:50:00.003-05:00

AAAS professor and friend of AMS Tony Bolden is offering a course in hip-hop studies this fall, which will be crosslisted with AMS 696. This course is open to both undergraduate and graduate students- click the image for a flyer.

Gender & Popular Music this summer

2011-04-12T13:52:00.003-05:00

More detail on Chris Robinson's summer course:

WGSS 396: Studies in Gender and American Popular Music
Notions of what it means to be a man or woman, what is considered masculine or feminine, and a musician’s gender, sexuality and race dictate not only how a musician constructs and perceives his or her own music and image, but also how the American public, their fans and the music industry perceive and accept or disavow the musician and their music. This course will examine the importance of, and the roles that gender, femininity and masculinity have played in shaping numerous aspects of 20th Century American popular music. Central to this course will be how gender roles and perceptions have been socially constructed and perpetuated in American culture. The intersectionality of race and gender will also play a central part in this course. As common gender paradigms change over time this course will place gender, masculinity and femininity in social and historical context to better understand the cultural processes at work. In addition to gender, power, politics and economics play crucial roles in shaping the discourse surrounding musicians, their music, and American cultural conceptions of gender. This interdisciplinary course will draw on disciplines, methods and approaches that include history, musicology, gender and race theory, English, African American Studies, Jazz Studies, semiotics and material culture studies.

More summer course options

2011-04-11T15:53:00.002-05:00

AMS will cross-list two courses with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies taught by our very own graduate students, Rachel Vaughn and Chris Robinson. Look for these as sections of AMS 344 on the summer schedule:

Rachel will teach Public Health, Sanitation & the Body in the June term, ending July 1. The class meets daily from 2:10-4:20.

Chris will teach Gender & Popular Music during the July term, from July 5-27. This course meets from 4:10-7:00 Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday only, at the Edward Campus in the Kansas City area.

Either course would be an excellent addition to a related AMS major concentration- don't forget, you can also get junior-senior hours while treating yourself to instruction from some of American Studies' finest.

AMS 100 available for summer

2011-04-06T14:07:00.004-05:00

Funding has been approved for a full slate of summer courses at AMS, including the lover-level cores. Get started or catch up on the major requirements, or get your Humanities distribution credit with AMS 100 Introduction to American Studies. Click the flyer for a closer look at GTA Jordan Wade's version of the course.

AMS will be offered in two sections- one that meets only June 7-July 1, and the other that meets only in July. Each course meets for two hours a day.

For more summer offerings, check http://classes.ku.edu.

Art and Popular Culture of Kansas

2011-04-06T13:59:00.002-05:00

Continuing the tradition of innovative, interdisciplinary cross-lists, AMS is proud to add to our schedule a collaboration by an all-star team of affiliated facutly members including Charles Eldredge (History of Art), Chuck Berg (Film and Media Studies), and Jonathan Earle (History).

"Art and Popular Culture of Kansas" will be offered in fall, Mondays from 2:30 to 5:00 under the AMS 696 number. Click the flyer for a closer view.

New Course- Film Noir

2011-04-06T13:38:00.006-05:00

Once again for fall 2011, Film and Media Studies faculty member and friend of AMS Ron Wilson will expand our offerings with a cross-listed course, Film Noir. Here's what Dr. Wilson has to say about the topic:

Murder. Lust. Greed. These are just some of the themes that characterize film noir, one of the most resilient genres in the history of cinema. And yet film noir—a category of film associated with a cycle of films that emerged in the 1940s—is defined by more than just such themes; it’s also characterized by a particular visual style and narrative structure that reflect the social, political, and cinematic context of the period. In this course we will watch a variety of noir films in order to consider film noir’s literary roots, its cinematic antecedents, its status as a genre and its enduring appeal. Questions about genre, visual style, narrative form, sexuality, gender, and American national identity will inform readings, lectures, and discussions.The course meets Mondays from 2:00-5:20.

Find it on the schedule under AMS 696.

Grad seminar in race and racism

2010-11-15T10:53:00.003-06:00

Grad. students will all want to check out Tanya Golash-Boza's seminar for spring, which will provide outstanding interdisciplinary background in the study of race and racism. She says:

In “Contemporary Race and Racisms,” we will read in history, sociology, anthropology, and ethnic studies about the formation of the idea of race and the reproduction of racial hierarchies at the individual and institutional levels. By beginning with the creation of the idea of race in the seventeenth century by Enlightenment scholars, we will learn how the idea of race was created by Europeans, and, consequently, was created to benefit Europeans. Students also will perceive that the benefits accrued to Europeans and their descendants through racial ideologies is constant – even as the idea of race changes over the centuries. This class has at its core the importance of the idea of race in the contemporary United States. We will focus on themes such as mass incarceration, color-blind racism, racial inequality in the education system, racial differences in wealth and income, and how race, class, gender and sexuality work together to define social boundaries in our society.

Readings will include:
Audrey Smedley (2007) Race in North America
Stephen Gould (1996) Mismeasure of Man
Ian Haney-Lopez (2006) White by Law
Matthew Frye-Jacobson (1999) Whiteness of a Different Color
Omi and Winant (1986) Racial Formations
Oliver and Shapiro (2006) Black Wealth/White Wealth
Michele Alexander (2010) The New Jim Crow
Devah Pager (2009) Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration
Ann Arnett Ferguson (2001) Bad Boys
Prudence Carter (2007) Keepin’ It Real
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2009) Racism without Racists
Patricia Hill Collins (2005) Black Sexual Politics.

Asian Women in Diaspora

2010-11-15T10:51:00.002-06:00

Our colleague Ayu Saraswati has passed on the flyer for her course, which will be a great one for AMS majors interested in these transnational questions of identity and gender. Click on the image to see it big.

Spring courses available

2010-10-27T11:38:00.001-05:00

The American Studies course guide for spring 2011 can now be accessed as a pdf here. Check this space for additions, flyers, etc.

Places available in honors course

2010-06-18T10:45:00.003-05:00

There are still seats open in AMS 112 American Identities- Honors for fall. This will be an outstanding opportunity to work in a small-class setting with veteran AMS instructor Dr. Ray Pence. Click on the flyer for more.

AMS 550 in the summer- focus on sport

2010-04-28T15:26:00.003-05:00

AMS majors will know that 550 is the capstone course in our program. AMS 550 provides every student with experience in doing research, and incorporates material on a particular theme depending on the instructor of the course. This summer, AMS 550 will be offered with the theme "Sports and American Culture," taught by Will Bishop. Since the fall section of AMS 550 is about full, if you are planning on graduating in 2010-11, you should seriously consider taking 550 in the summer. Click the flyer for details.

Study popular music this summer

2010-04-12T10:25:00.004-05:00

More details on our summer offerings: doctoral student Pete Williams will be teaching AMS 100, which he calls the "popular music edition":

This course will introduce you to four major topics common to American Studies—nation, culture, difference, and power—as they relate to American popular music, past and present. Our studies of jazz, rap, country, rock, reggae, banda, punk, and other music will highlight the ways America is, and has always been, a continual negotiation among disparate voices, an interplay of dominant and marginal sounds that produces both harmony and discord. We’ll look at the many ways music plays into struggles over just what America is and just who is an American. You’ll be asked to participate through discussion, readings, short writing assignments, and a group project.

Click the flyer for more!

Chancellor Emeritus to teach for AMS

2010-03-30T12:30:00.004-05:00

Chancellor Emeritus Robert Hemenway has joined the AMS faculty to offer a course this fall in Sport and Higher Education! Seating is extremely limited. Click the flyer for more.

New graduate course: US Ethnography

2010-03-29T10:46:00.002-05:00

This new seminar on contemporary ethnographic research in the United States is open to all graduate students at KU. Ben Chappell, an anthropologist on the AMS faculty, has developed this course to help students prepare for their own field studies, write up completed research, or engage the ethnographic literature in an interdisciplinary project. Click the flyer for more.

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

2010-03-29T10:25:00.003-05:00

AMS maintains a strong relationship with the program in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. This summer we will cross-list two courses taught by our graduate students in WGSS. Milton Wendland will offer Lesbian and Gay Cultures in the U.S. at the Edwards campus- click the flyer above for more. Back in Lawrence, Chris Robinson will offer Gender in American Popular Music. Chris says:

This course will examine the importance of, and the roles that gender, femininity and masculinity have played in shaping numerous aspects of 20th Century American popular music. We will study gender in relation to hip hop and rap, rock, country music, jazz, blues, and other genres. Central to this course will be how gender roles and perceptions are socially constructed and perpetuated in American culture. The intersectionality of race and gender will also play a central part in this course. This course will also place gender, masculinity and femininity in social and historical context. Power, politics and economics also play crucial roles in shaping the discourse surrounding musicians, their music, and American cultural conceptions of gender. This interdisciplinary course will draw on methods, disciplines and approaches including history, musicology, gender and race theory, English, African American Studies, Jazz Studies, semiotics and material culture studies.

Both courses are listed as AMS 344.

AMS rolling out new courses

2010-03-24T13:40:00.000-05:00

Students and friends of AMS, be sure to check this space for announcements of new courses for the coming academic year.

Graduate Seminar in American Art and Culture

2010-03-24T13:34:00.003-05:00

Once again, AMS is fortunate to offer a graduate course from renowned scholar and Hall Distinguished Professor of American Art and Culture Charles C. Eldredge. Click the flyer for details, and please contact the Professor for admission to this class.

Transnational Experience in American Literature

2010-03-24T13:10:00.004-05:00

Joyce and Elizabeth Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture Susan K. Harris pursues the theme of "transnational experience" through diverse periods, literary genres, and ethnic groups in her course on immigrant literature for Fall 2010. Open to undergraduate or graduate students. Click the flyer for more.

Literature of the South at either Lawrence or Edwards campus

2010-03-24T13:04:00.005-05:00

New for fall 2010- we will be offering Cheryl Lester's AMS 696 Literature of the South as a "bi-cam" course- click on the flyer for a bigger view. The bi-cam format means that the course will be taught on the Lawrence campus, but linked to the Edwards campus via webcam. Whichever campus is closer, don't miss this chance to delve into the conflicted cultural and political history of the American south through literature.

Open to graduates and undergraduates!

New opportunities for Intro to AMS

2010-01-08T11:38:00.004-06:00

We have opened two new sections of AMS 100-Introduction to American Studies. This is a principal course in Humanities, and a major requirement. The new sections follow an unusual schedule by meeting Mondays and Fridays only, and are taught by AMS doctoral student Stephanie Krehbiel. Stephanie's focus for the course will be to

use the lens of religion to explore some of these themes prevalent in American Studies. Using material ranging from ethnography to fiction, we will examine the role that religion plays in shaping individual identity, group identity, and our understanding of the meaning of America.

Enroll! Tell your friends!

Graduate Writing Courses available

2010-01-08T11:15:00.002-06:00

Grad students, don't miss these opportunities:

Graduate Writing Support Program courses offered Spring 2010:

GS 700: Thesis and Dissertation Writing Class
GS 710: Thesis and Dissertation Tutorials
GS 720: Grant Proposal Writing
GS 730: Professional Publications
GS 750: Professional Writing
GS 750: Professional Writing for SPED students

Applied English Center courses offered Spring 2010:

ESLP 124: Professional Writing for Graduate Students
AEC 082: Classroom Communication for International Teaching Assistants

More info here: http://web.ku.edu/~gwsp/

Langston Hughes Professor on Rhetoric and Barack Obama

2009-12-11T09:42:00.002-06:00

The Program in American Studies is a participating department in the Langston Hughes Visiting Professorship, which brings scholars of race and ethnicity to campus in honor of the famous Lawrencian.

This year, the Langston Hughes Visiting Professor, Adam J. Banks, will offer a course on African American rhetoric and Barack Obama. Click on the attached flyer to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

Honors Commons Course is on Jazz

2009-12-11T09:39:00.002-06:00

The Honors Program at KU has announced its Commons course for spring 2010. This course dovetails with the Commons lecture series on jazz. Info below:

HNRS 492 Writing Jazz

87682 4:15PM – 5:30PM, TR, 106A SP, Mayhew, Jonathan

Jazz is a unique art-form that invites study from a multi-disciplinary approach. “Writing Jazz” will explore the historical evolution of this music from the point of view of literary and intellectual history, highlighting the ways in which poets, essayists, and novelists have responded to the innovations of major figures from Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington to Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis. Virtually from its inception in the 1920s, jazz has been of great interest to composers, writers, and intellectuals on several continents. As a popular art with genteel and intellectual pretensions, subject to conflicting intellectual constructions, jazz offers multiple opportunities for teaching cultural history and critical thinking. The proposed course will not exhaust these possibilities, but instead concentrate on several key problems, especially the role jazz played in the development of the poetics of the Beat Generation and in the Black Arts movement of the 1960s. The major themes of the course will be cultural identity and hybridity (transculturation) and the dynamic of literary and intellectuals appropriations.

Graduate course in Native American literature and criticism

2009-11-04T13:09:00.003-06:00

Check out the latest cross-listing in AMS graduate courses, from Prof. Stephanie Fitzgerald:

ENGL 790/AMS 808: Studies in: Native American Renaissance 1968-Present.
In 1969, American Indian writing burst into the American literary consciousness with the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize to N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa) for his novel House Made of Dawn. Taking its title from a Navajo chantway and fusing Native oral traditions with modernist techniques, it forever changed the course of American Indian writing. Since the landmark publication of Momaday’s novel, the field of American Indian literatures has grown exponentially. In essence, this course provides an overview of the construction of the field itself. We will focus on contemporary Native fiction and poetry from the “Native American Renaissance,” a movement than runs roughly from 1968 to 1983, into the 21st century along with an examination of current critical approaches and key debates in the field. Along with Momaday, primary texts may include those by Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, and Craig Womack, among others. Secondary texts will cover key debates over Native nationalism, cosmopolitanism and ethnocriticism from critics such as Craig Womack, Robert Allen Warrior, Jace Weaver, Gerald Vizenor and Paula Gunn Allen.

Seminar on New Media

2009-10-28T21:48:00.006-05:00

Over in History of Art, John Pultz has invited graduate students and advanced undergraduates to check out his spring seminar in new media. What's it about? you may ask.

...historical, critical, cultural, technical, and aesthetic issues surrounding new media beginning as early as the 1960s to the present. Lens based, digital, and electronic art forms will be considered, including but not limited to video art, computer art, digital art, light art & projections, digital photography, and art film.

Are you sold yet? Enough said. Click on the flyer.

Know your history- now at a new time

2009-10-22T17:24:00.005-05:00

Join AMS core faculty member and historian Jacob Dorman on this trip through over 100 years of American culture. Don't know much about history? Maybe what you need is this:

An examination of the major historical shifts, trends, and conflicts that have shaped the polycultural nature of life in the United States from 1877 to the present. In addition to tracing developments in literature, architecture, drama, music, and the visual arts, this course will investigate patterns and changes in the popular, domestic, and material culture of everyday life in America. Topics covered will include: African American cultures; circuses and world’s fairs; minstrelsy, ragtime, blues, jazz, and rock-and-roll music; the Holiness, Pentecostal, and evangelical movements; the rise of film, radio, and television; the growth of consumerism, suburbia, and urban ghettos; the advent of Cold War anticommunists and Beat Generation rebels; changing perceptions of gender, race, religion, and sexuality; the long 1960s; the civil rights, women’s liberation, and neoconservative movements; as well as war’s impact on American culture.

This course was recently rescheduled, so check the latest time.

Bring the Funk in Spring 2010

2009-10-14T10:09:00.007-05:00

American Studies is delighted to cross-list a new course from a new member of the KU faculty, Anthony Bolden's Theory and Practice of Funk (AMS 696/AAAS 523/AAAS 723). Meeting Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00-4:15, this course can be taken for undergraduate or graduate credit. Here's how Prof. Bolden describes the course:

A multi-disciplinary course that examines the conceptual foundations of the theory and practice of funk. Employing a wide array of materials, including dance criticism, musicology, literature, and interviews, we will examine the aesthetic characteristics, philosophical principles, and performance practices associated with funk. Although most people tend to conceptualize funk in terms of the dance bands of James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton, and others, the earliest references to funk in English came from blues dancers and musicians near the turn of the twentieth century, and there is evidence to suggest that funk is a concept that survived the Middle Passage. As such, funk (or the funk impulse) is a fundamental element of virtually all black musical genres; it predates such terms as hot, swing, and soul, which seem to be synonyms of funk. How do we, then, account for the privileged space that funk occupies in the history of black vernacular performance? How do we document its presence and examine its cultural impact? Important clues can be found in the area of dance. And since the funk impulse is reflected most vividly in kinetic expression, especially dancing, the class will adopt George Clinton’s premise that if it makes you move your feet, “it’s the Funk.” Beginning with traditional African religions, we will examine the central role dancing played in possession rituals, and devote considerable attention to manifestations of this impulse in spirituals, blues, swing, soul, funk, and hip hop.

AMS majors who are pursuing a concentration that needs a little more funk in it should consult their advisors about whether this course would fit. You may contact Prof. Bolden for more information.

Last minute graduate addition!

2009-08-21T15:11:00.002-05:00

AMS is cross-listing one more graduate seminar for this fall- AMS 998 Sociology of Race. Jessica Vasquez, our friend in the Sociology Department, will bring her expertise in theories of race and the Latino/a experience in the U.S. to this seminar. If you are a grad student in need of another class, don't miss it!

Graduate Course Available for Fall

2009-08-11T14:01:00.000-05:00

AMS 803 Research Methods in American Studies
Program in American Studies, KU
Prof. Ben Chappell
Mondays, 4:30-7:00 pm.
Requires: graduate standing

A limited number of seats for non-AMS students are available in this course, which is a core requirement for the MA and PhD in American Studies. The course is a critical and theoretically informed consideration of qualitative methods in interdisciplinary cultural research. Taught by an anthropologist, the course emphasizes issues raised by ethnography-- that is, the epistemological, political, and ethical questions that come up when the subjects of cultural inquiry are living human beings, and the process of inquiry places the researcher in relationship with them. More generally, our concern is how to design a project such that the actual practice of research responds to the motivating questions in ways that are significant, appropriate, and feasible. Assignments are geared toward giving students practice in the professional genres of academic writing, including conference papers and proposals for research funding. The course is recommended for graduate students pursuing research in area studies, cultural studies, and other disciplinary or interdisciplinary formations across the humanities and social sciences.

Research seminar focuses on social movements

2009-08-04T07:50:00.002-05:00

AMS 550, Research Seminar, is the capstone course of the AMS major. The course combines a topical focus reflecting the instructor's expertise with individual projects that allow students to pursue advanced research in their own areas of interest. This fall the course will focus on struggles for equality and justice in American history with the theme "Social History and Social Movements." Dr. Ray Pence, a graduate of the KU Ph.D. program will be your guide. Majors, don't miss this chance to satisfy a graduation requirement while developing your research skills and exploring how history has been not only written, but made. For permission numbers, contact the AMS office.

Danger of more cancellations!

2009-05-13T21:33:00.002-05:00

If you have been thinking about taking an AMS course this summer but haven't gotten around to enrolling, NOW is the time to remedy that situation. Given the general budget woes, it looks like the enrollment requirements for courses to "make" will be strictly observed. We need more enrollment for the summer classes to break even. If you are enrolled in a summer class, call your friends and see if you can't get them interested, too. Do it now.

New Course: Transnational Feminist Theory

2009-05-13T21:18:00.003-05:00

Professor Ayu Saraswati in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) has graciously agreed to cross-list her course in transnational feminist theory with AMS. The course is now available under AMS 696 as well as WGSS 696, and is open to graduate and undergraduate students alike.

The AMS program has been at the forefront of the so-called "transnational turn" in American Studies, and our faculty and graduate students are among a growing number of scholars in the field who do not restrict their research to within U.S. borders. Dr. Saraswati's course is an outstanding opportunity for AMS majors or grad students with transnational interests to gain critical skills in feminist theory.

The course description reads:

In this interdisciplinary course students will critically “read” various films (i.e., Bend it Like Beckham), novels (i.e., Lucy), music productions (i.e., Madonna within the context of transnational MTV network), and various key texts in globalization and transnational studies (i.e., High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy) to explore the effects of transnational circulations of people, ideas, and objects on: (1) the formation of gendered, racialized, sexualized, and nation-based subjects; (2) the pattern of gender-based consumption and production in global economy; (3) the construction of gendered urban space; (4) the gendered construction of “affects” (emotions); and (5) the creation of various transnational feminist movements. Throughout the semester, students will work toward writing a publishable journal article, a conference paper, or other forms of theorizing.

Course canceled

2009-05-13T09:38:00.002-05:00

We are very disappointed to have to cancel AMS 494 Blacks and Jews in the United States at Edwards campus for this summer. Summer offerings depend on enrollment for their funding, especially in the current dire financial situation. The course did not enroll enough students to "make." This situation underscores that if you want to take a course, it is a good idea to enroll sooner rather than later.

Students who were enrolled in 494 have a number of other options, and are encouraged to look at AMS 332 at Edwards or AMS 344 at Lawrence.

Get your Global Context this summer!

2009-04-13T10:34:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder to all majors from your friendly neighborhood scheduling officer: AMS 332 U.S. in a Global Context is a requirement for the major. Currently the teaching resources at AMS are tight, and the only section we can offer of AMS 332 in the fall is currently full. If you are not enrolled now, don't count on getting in for the fall semester (but do drop me an email at amscourse@ku.edu if you ever can't get into a course you need for the major, so I have a record of the "demand").

That said, there's hope! This summer we are listing two sections of AMS 332, which is pretty unprecedented. If you are a major and will be either in Lawrence or in Kansas City near the Edwards campus this summer, consider getting your 332 done then. Scroll down for a flyer from one of the summer offerings.

"Global Context" course at Edwards

2009-03-30T13:18:00.004-05:00

This summer, one of our two sections of AMS 332, The U.S. in a Global Context, will be offered at the Edwards campus. Check out the flyer:

Course Guides Updated

2009-03-30T09:56:00.002-05:00

The course guides have gone from "pre-release" to "release" versions. Find them via the links to your right.

In Focus: Blacks and Jews in the United States

2009-03-26T11:26:00.005-05:00

Another flyer, this one for Megan Williams's summer course:

Course Guides Pre-release

2009-03-26T11:22:00.004-05:00

Click on the links below to get a look at the latest AMS Course Guides before they hit paper. All information is subject to revision. Check the KU Schedule of Classes to be sure what's available.

In Focus: Sex, Religion, and Politics

2009-03-26T09:44:00.001-05:00

Check out the flyer for Rebecca Barrett-Fox's summer course.

Full Slate of Courses for Summer

2009-03-25T23:07:00.000-05:00

Summer 2009 offers an exciting range of AMS courses, especially for majors trying to complete requirements. If you are an AMS major who declared late in your KU career, you can pick up two core required courses in summer 2009. If you have completed your core and are working on a concentration, be sure to check out the upper-level topical courses for something in your area of interest. Courses are scheduled in a variety of formats, including an intensive one-month session with daily meetings, to fit a diverse schedules. All courses are now online on the KU schedule of classes; just search for AMS in Summer 2009.

The AMS summer schedule is also a chance to take care of non-major requirements. AMS 110 is a Principal Course in Culture & Society (SC). For other interdisciplinary majors that require social science or humanities blocks, all the core courses this summer are designated as social science (S) and the topics courses are all humanities (H).

New this summer, AMS will offer several courses at the Edwards campus in Overland Park. KU Edwards courses are scheduled in the afternoon and evening, with longer and less frequent meetings, to cater to students who have to balance work or family responsibilities with their studies.

Core Courses
AMS 110-American Identities will be taught by veteran lecturer Ray Pence, and offers a small-format alternative to what is usually the largest AMS lecture class. AMS 332-U.S. in a Global Context will be offered in two sections: Ashley Jelks will teach one at Lawrence and Liz Yeager will offer her version at Edwards.

Topics Courses
In addition to these core courses, a number of topical listings draw on the specific expertise of our instructors, including Rebecca Barrett-Fox's AMS 494-Sex, Religion, and Politics in the Contemporary U.S., and Megan Willams's AMS 494-Blacks and Jews in the United States. AMS core faculty member Dr. Tanya Hart will also contribute AMS 511-History of American Women 1870-present.

Cross-Listed Courses
As is always the case, AMS has the good fortune to cross-list courses with other departments. This summer the cross-listings include courses out of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Theatre and Film:

AMS 344-Gender, Sexuality and the Law (Milton Wendland)
AMS 344-Lesbian and Gay Cultures of the Contemporary U.S. (Milton Wendland)
AMS 344/696-Popular Culture of the 1970s (Chuck Berg)

Chuck Berg's Popular Culture course can be taken for upper-level or graduate credit. Contact the instructor for information on the assignment expectations for each.

These courses will be detailed in the Summer Course Guide, to be released shortly. Stop by the AMS office to pick up a copy, or check back in this space for a download.

Welcome to AMS Course News

2009-03-24T22:06:00.000-05:00

This is the scheduling weblog for the Program in American Studies at the University of Kansas. Check back here regularly to get up-to-date information on the courses we will offer in upcoming terms, or subscribe to our RSS feed to have news delivered to your browser.