98-99 University Bulletin Entry for:


American History

(file last updated: [8/10/1998 - 15:20:58])

See History.


American Studies

(file last updated: [8/10/1998 - 15:20:58])


Objectives

An interdisciplinary approachto the myths, values, symbols, institutions, and behavior of thepeoples of the United States and to the questions raised by theinfluence of the United States in shaping the modern world. TheAmerican studies major is designed to provide a comprehensiveunderstanding of the history and major features of American civilization.Students anticipating careers in law, business, public policy,communications, education, journalism, teaching, and careers asprofessors of American studies, history, and literature have typicallyenrolled in the department. As a sponsor of programs in law, journalism,and film studies, the department welcomes students who seek activeengagement with the contemporary world through firm groundingin a sound liberal arts education.


How to Become a Concentrator

Normally students will declaretheir concentration in their sophomore year. Students are expectedto develop an individual plan of study by the end of their sophomoreyear. Several clusters of courses in the fields of film studies,the environment, family, race and ethnicity, journalism, and legalstudies are available to satisfy elective requirements. Seniorswishing to earn departmental honors must write a senior thesisin a full-year course, AMST 99d, taken with one of the facultymembers in the department. Special opportunities can be providedfor supervised field work and internships. Many concentratorsstudy abroad in their junior year to gain a cross-cultural perspective.


Faculty

Joyce Antler, Chair

Women's history. Social history.

Jacob Cohen, UndergraduateAdvising Head

Culture and thought.

Mary Davis

Law and literature.

Thomas Doherty (Chair, FilmStudies)

Film and culture.

Brian Donahue (Chair, EnvironmentalStudies)

American environmental studies.

Henry Felt

Documentary film.

Lawrence Fuchs

Ethnicity. Immigration historyand policy. Family.

Richard Gaskins (Director,Legal Studies)

Law, social policy, and philosophy.

Laura Goldin

Environmental studies.

Eileen McNamara

Journalism, society, and politics.

Susan Moeller (Director,Journalism Program)

Media and culture. Politicaland international history.

Daniel Terris

Literature and intellectualhistory.

Stephen Whitfield

Modern political and culturalhistory.


Requirements for Concentration

A.AMST 10a (Foundations of American Civilization). Normally studentswill take 10a in their sophomore year and no later than the fallterm of their junior year. Exceptions will be made by a student'sadvisor along with the approval of the chair.

B.AMST 100a (Classic Texts in the American Experience: Through theCivil War). Normally students will take 100a in their sophomoreyear and no later than their junior year. Students will not bepermitted to take 100a in their senior year except in the mostunusual circumstances, with the approval of the chair and theinstructor.

C.Seven (7) semester courses in American studies, chosen eitherfrom within the department or from other departments, with departmentalapproval. At least one course of the seven must be an Americanhistory survey course, which must be pre-approved by the student'sadvisor.

D.To be eligible for departmental honors, seniors must enroll inAMST 99d (Senior Research) with departmental approval and participatein a year-long honors colloquium. AMST 99d cannot be counted tosatisfy any other departmental requirement.

E.Not more than two courses satisfying the concentration may beoffered to further satisfy the requirements of a second major.

F.No course, whether required or elective, for which a student receivesa grade below C- may be counted toward the concentration.


Courses of Instruction


(1-99) Primarily for UndergraduateStudents

AMST 10a Foundations ofAmerican Civilization

[ cl4 ss]

Study of the myths, symbols,values, heroes and rogues, character ideals, identities, masks,games, humor, languages, ideologies, and expressive styles thathave constituted American culture. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 15a Writing for theMedia

(Formerly ENG 9b)

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired. Core course for Journalism Program. This course maynot be repeated for credit by students who have taken ENG 9b inprevious years.

A workshop in writing for printmedia. Examines the fundamentals of newswriting and newsgathering,stressing elements of style, organization, and syntax. Issuesof objectivity, point of view, and freedom of the press will bediscussed. Weekly writing assignments will stress the writingof clear and concise copy. Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 20a Environmental Issues

[ cl14 cl16ss ]

An interdisciplinary overviewof major environmental challanges facing humanity including populationgrowth; food production; limited supplies of energy, water, andother resources; climate change; loss of biodiversity; waste disposaland pollution. Students examine these problems critically, andevaluate different ways of thinking about their causes and solutions.Usually offered every year.

Mr. Donahue

AMST 90a Independent Fieldwork

Signature of the instructorand the department chair required.

The equivalent of four fullsemester course credits. Students taking it will be expected towork out a detailed plan of study for one semester with the helpof two faculty members. This plan is to be submitted to the departmentfor its approval. Approval depends on the resources of the departmentto support the plan of the student as well as the competence ofthe student and excellence of the plan. Approval will be rare.Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 90b Independent Fieldwork

See AMST 90a for special notesand course description. Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 97a Readings in AmericanStudies

Enrollment limited to juniorsand seniors. Signature of the instructor required.

Independent readings, research,and writing on a subject of the student's interest, under thedirection of a faculty advisor. Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 97b Readings in AmericanStudies

See AMST 97a for special notesand course description. Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 99d Senior Research

Enrollment limited to seniors.Signature of the instructor and the department chair required.A library intensive course.

Seniors who are candidatesfor degrees with departmental honors should register for thiscourse and, under the direction of a faculty advisor, preparea thesis. In addition to regular meetings with faculty advisors,seniors will participate in an honors colloquium, a seminar groupbringing together the honors candidates and members of the Americanstudies faculty. Usually offered every year.

Staff


(100-199) For Both Undergraduateand Graduate Students

AMST 100a Classic Textsin the American Experience: Through the Civil War

[ wi ss ]

Preference given to Americanstudies concentrators. Signature of the instructor required.

Various visions of Americawill be explored. Of special concern will be the ways the individual'sinner life is conceived or expressed in relation to the new societyand nation-building of the 18th and 19th centuries. Usually offeredevery year.

Staff

AMST 100b Classics in AmericanCivilization: The Twentieth Century

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Explores the common textureof American life--in work, families, social relations, regionalsettings, and politics. Attention will be paid to the influenceof the democratic temper in mediating the competing claims ofegalitarianism and individualism. Usually offered every year.

Staff

AMST 101a American EnvironmentalHistory

[ ss ]

Provides an overview of therelationship between nature and culture in North America. We coverNative Americans, the European invasion, the development of amarket system of resource extraction and consumption, the impactof industrialization, and environmentalist responses. Currentenvironmental issues are placed in historical context. Usuallyoffered in odd years.

Mr. Donahue

AMST 102a Women and theEnvironment

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Focuses on the profound andunique roles women have played in preserving and enhancing thenatural environment and protecting human health. Students explorea wide range of environmental issues from the perspective of women,and examine how women have been the driving force in many of thekey strides toward improving our environment. Usually offeredevery year.

Ms. Goldin

AMST 103a The American Experience:Approaches to American Studies

[ wi ss ]

Students examine the many meaningsof the American experience by exploring the sources, subjects,and methodologies used in the practice of American studies. Inthe classroom and on field trips, students use such resourcesas fiction and poetry, photography and painting, oral historyand music, and architecture and the natural landscape to enlargetheir knowledge and understanding of American history and contemporarysociety. Highly recommended for students intending to write thesesand those considering graduate school. Usually offered in evenyears.

Ms. Moeller

AMST 111a Images of theAmerican West in Film and Culture

[ cl13 ss]

Explores how motion pictureimages of the West have reflected and shaped American identities,ideologies, and mythologies. Through a variety of films--silent,"classic," and "revisionist"--and supplementaryreadings, we examine the intertwined themes of progress, civilization,region, nation, democracy, race, gender, and violence. Usuallyoffered every fourth year. Last offered in the fall of 1997.

Staff

AMST 112b American Filmand Culture of the 1950s

[ ss ]

Traces the decline of classicalHollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on Americanculture in the 1950s, especially Hollywood's representations ofthe Cold War. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis toconduct cultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourthyear.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 113a American Filmand Culture of the 1940s

(Formerly AMST 165b)

[ ss ]

This course may not be repeatedfor credit by students who have taken AMST 165b in previous years.

Examines the nature of classicalHollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on Americanculture in the 1940s, especially Hollywood's representations ofWorld War II. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis toconduct cultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourthyear.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 113b American Filmand Culture of the 1930s

(Formerly AMST 161b)

[ ss ]

This course may not be repeatedfor credit by students who have taken AMST 161b in previous years.

Traces the rise of Hollywoodsound cinema and the impact of motion pictures on American culturein the 1930s, especially Hollywood's representations of the GreatDepression. Students learn methods of cinematic analysis to conductcultural historical inquiry. Usually offered every fourth year.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 114a American Filmand Culture of the 1920s

(Formerly AMST 155b)

[ cl13 ss]

This course may not be repeatedfor credit by students who have taken AMST 155b in previous years.

Traces the rise and fall ofsilent Hollywood cinema and the impact of motion pictures on Americanculture in the 1920s, especially Hollywood's role in the revolutionin morals and manners. Students learn methods of cinematic analysisto conduct cultural historical inquiry. All films are screenedwith a music score or live piano accompaniment. Usually offeredevery fourth year.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 114b American Individualism

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Through various major works,central dilemmas of the American experience will be examined:the ambition to transcend social and individual limitations andthe tension between demands of self and the hunger for community.Usually offered every year.

Mr. Whitfield

AMST 118a Gender and theProfessions

[ cl15 ss]

Explores gender distinctionsas a key element in the organization of professions, analyzingthe connections among sex roles, occupational structure, and Americansocial life. Topics include work culture(s) compatible with sexualharassment, pay equity, the "mommy" and "daddy"tracks, and dual-career families. Among the professions examinedare law, medicine, teaching, social work, nursing, journalism,business, and the clergy. Usually offered in odd years.

Ms. Antler

AMST 120b Film Theory andCriticism

[ cl13 cl35hum ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

A course for students withsome preliminary background in film studies, providing a forumnot only to see and to interpret films but to master the waysfilms are seen and interpreted. Classic Hollywood cinema willbe examined. Usually offered in odd years.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 121a The American JewishWoman: 1890-1990s

[ cl36 ss]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Surveys the experiences ofAmerican Jewish women in work, politics, religion, family life,the arts, and American culture generally over the last 100 years,examining how the dual heritage of female and Jewish "otherness"shaped their often conflicted identities. Usually offered in oddyears.

Ms. Antler

AMST 123b Women in AmericanHistory: 1865 to the Present

[ cl36 ss]

A historical and cultural surveyof the female experience in the United States with emphasis onissues of education, work, domestic ideology, sexuality, male-femalerelations, race, class, politics, war, the media, feminism, andantifeminism. Usually offered every year.

Ms. Antler

AMST 124b American Loveand Marriage

[ cl11 ss]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Ideas and behavior relatingto love and marriage are used as lenses to view broader socialpatterns such as family organization, generational conflict, andthe creation of professional and national identity. Usually offeredin even years.

Ms. Antler

AMST 128b History as Theater

[ cl42 ss]

Combining two disciplines inan unusual way, the course aims to put history on the stage, creatinga history of the present tense through the public witnessing oftheater. After a study of the traditions and techniques of documentarydrama, the class will construct its own documentary drama basedon a particular episode in our national life. Usually offeredin even years.

Ms. Antler

AMST 130b Television inAmerica

[ ss ]

An interdisciplinary coursewith three main lines of discussion and investigation: an aestheticinquiry into the meaning of television style and genre; a historicalconsideration of the medium and its role in American life; anda technological study of televisual communication. Usually offeredin odd years.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 131b News on Screen

[ ss ]

This course on moving imagereportage will trace the history of news on screen from the silentcinema to the age of cable. Motion picture documentaries, newsreels,screen magazines, network news reports, televised events, andbroadcast journalism will be the occasion for an inquiry intojournalistic practice in the media of film and television. Usuallyoffered in even years.

Mr. Doherty

AMST 132b InternationalAffairs and the American Media

[ ss ]

This course will analyze andassess United States media coverage of major international events,personalities, and perspectives. The course is designed to introducestudents to the international events over the past three decadesas they have been interpreted by American journalists and mediainstructors and to challenge students to evaluate the limitationsand biases of this reportage. Usually offered in even years.

Ms. Moeller

AMST 135b The History andPrinciples of Photojournalism

[ cl35 ss]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

The course is designed to introducestudents to U.S. history as it has been recorded by photojournalistsand to challenge students to evaluate the limitations and biasesof this history in images. The course will analyze the major personalities,policies, institutions, and the technological advances in photojournalismsince the mid-19th century, and will examine these within thecontext of historical changes in American society, government,and the media itself. Usually offered in odd years.

Ms. Moeller

AMST 137b Journalism inModern America

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired. Core course for Journalism Program.

Examines what journalists havedone, how their enterprise has in fact conformed with their ideals,and what some of the consequences have been for the republic historicallyand in contemporary terms. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Whitfield

AMST 138b Reporting ContemporaryAmerica

[ wi ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired. Core course for Journalism Program.

Links theory and history tothe working craft of journalism. Examines the process of reportingfor newspapers, magazines, radio, and television in the contextof understanding the history, traditions, conventions, and practicesof American journalism. Includes a reporting laboratory in whichstudents practice reporting and writing for publications in standardjournalistic formats. Usually offered every year.

Ms. Moeller

AMST 139b Reporting on Gender,Race, and Culture

[ cl7 ss]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

An examination of the newsmedia's relationship to demographic and cultural change, and ofhow journalistic ideologies influence the coverage of women andvarious ethnic and cultural groups. Usually offered in odd years.

Staff

AMST 140b The Asian-AmericanExperience

[ ss ]

Enrollment limited to 25.

An examination of the political,economic, social, and familial adaptation of Asian-Americans toAmerican society from the mid-19th century to the present. Patternsof acculturation will be analyzed in relation to many factorsin American society in addition to the composition, size, skills,and cultural values of the newcomers and the progeny. Usuallyoffered every year.

Mr. Fuchs

AMST 143a War and the AmericanImagination

[ wi ss ]

Enrollment limited to 30.

Explores how American cultureand society--as investigated through novels, plays, poetry, photography,painting, television, and film--mediate wartime experiences. Theconcentration will be on the American "art of war" fromthe Civil War to the present. Usually offered in odd years.

Ms. Moeller

AMST 149a On the Edge ofHistory

[ ss ]

Examines how visionaries, novelists,historians, social scientists, and futurologists have imaginedand predicted America's future and what those adumbrations tellus about our life today, tomorrow, and yesterday, when the predictionswere made. Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 150b The Family inthe United States

[ cl11 ss]

Enrollment limited to 25.

Characteristics and consequencesof family life seen in biological, cross-cultural, and historicalperspectives. Also, an analysis of the impact of American cultureon Irish, Italian, Jewish, Asian, and African-American families.Usually offered every year.

Mr. Fuchs

AMST 160a U.S. ImmigrationHistory and Policy

[ cl18 ss]

Enrollment limited to 16.

An examination of the economic,political, and ideological factors underlying immigration policyin U.S. history, especially since 1965. Analysis of contemporaryimmigration, refugee and asylum issues, and of problems of immigrantacculturation today. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Fuchs

AMST 163b The Sixties: Continuityand Change in American Culture

[ ss ]

Analysis of alleged changesin the character structure, social usages, governing myths andideas, artistic sensibility, and major institutions of Americaduring the 1960s. What were the principal causes and occasionsfor the change? Usually offered in even years.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 169a Ethnicity andRace in the United States

[ cl10 ss]

Enrollment limited to 16.

Consideration of the experienceof Native Americans, Euro-Americans, African-Americans, Latino-Americans,and Asian-Americans and distinctive patterns of racial and ethnicAmerican pluralism. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Fuchs

AMST 170a The Idea of Conspiracyin American Culture

[ cl21 ss]

Consideration of the "paranoidstyle" in America's political culture and in recent Americanliterature. Topics include allegations of "conspiracy"in connection with the Sacco and Vanzetti, Hiss, and Rosenbergcases; anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism; Watergate and Irangate.Usually offered every year.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 175a Violence in AmericanLife

[ cl6 ss]

Studies of the use of terrorand violence by citizens and governments in the domestic historyof the United States. What are the occasions and causes of violence?How is it imagined, portrayed, and explained in literature? Isthere anything peculiarly American about violence in America?Usually offered every year.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 180b Topics in theHistory of American Education

[ ss ]

Examines major themes in thehistory of American education, including: changing ideas aboutchildren, childrearing, and adolescence; development of schools;the politics of education; education and individual life history.Usually offered in odd years.

Ms. Antler

AMST 183b Sports and AmericanCulture

[ ss ]

How organized sports have reflectedchanges in the American cultural, social, and economic scene,and how they have reflected and shaped the moral codes, personalvalues, character, style, myths, attachments, sense of work andplay, fantasy, and reality of fans and athletes. Usually offeredin odd years.

Mr. Cohen

AMST 185b The Culture ofthe Cold War

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

The seminar addresses Americanpolitical culture from the end of World War II until the revivalof liberal movements and radical criticism. Attention will bepaid to the specter of totalitarianism, the "end of ideology,"the crisis of civil liberties, and the strains on the pluralisticconsensus in an era of anti-communism. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Whitfield

AMST 186a Topics in Ethics,Justice, and Public Life

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired. May yield half-course credit toward rate of work andgraduation. Two semester hour credits.

Introduces a significant internationalethics or social justice theme and prepares students to integrateacademic and community work during an internship. Special attentionis given to comparative issues between the United States and othernations and regions. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Terris and Staff

AMST 187a The Legal Boundariesof Public and Private Life

[ cl44 ss]

Signature of the Legal StudiesProgram administrator required.

Confrontations of public interestand personal rights across three episodes in American culturalhistory: post-Civil War race relations, progressive-era economicregulation, and contemporary civil liberties, especially sexualand reproductive privacy. Critical legal decisions examined insocial and political context. Usually offered in even years.

Mr.Gaskins

AMST 188b Justice Brandeisand Progressive Jurisprudence

[ cl20 ss]

Enrollment limited to 25.

Brandeis's legal career servesas model and guide for exploring the ideals and anxieties of Americanlegal culture across the 20th century. Focus on how legal valuesevolve in response to new technologies, corporate capitalism,and threats to personal liberty. Usually offered in odd years.

Mr. Gaskins

AMST 191b EnvironmentalResearch Workshop

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

Uses the Brandeis campus asmodel laboratory for applied environmental study, research, andimplementation of environmentally beneficial initiatives. Studentsanalyze the environmental impact of human activities within theexisting legal, political, and social structure; learn basic researchstrategies for auditing and assessing the effect of these activities;and contribute to the overall understanding of the environmentalimpact of the Brandeis community on its surroundings. Usuallyoffered every year.

Ms. Goldin

AMST 196d Film Workshop:Recording America

[ ss ]

Does not participate inpreenrollment. Signature of the instructor required. Admissionby consent of the instructor on the basis of an interview. Itis preferred that students concurrently take an American studiescourse.

The training of students inaudiovisual production to explore aspects of American urban society.Production format will include video, slide, tape, and audio.Students should be prepared to create a documentary during thiscourse. Usually offered every year.

Mr. Felt

AMST 199b American Characterin Cross-cultural Perspective: Seminar

[ ss ]

Signature of the instructorrequired.

A critical review and evaluationof various approaches to the problematic concept of "nationalcharacter." Special emphasis on how "American character"has been said to contrast with the character of other nations/cultures:Japan, China, India, Mexico, Australia, France, Russia, Canada.Usually offered every third year. Last offered in the summer of1995.

Mr. Cohen


Cross-Listed Courses

HS 104b

American Health Care: A Systemin Crisis

JOUR 103b

Advertising and the Media

JOUR 104a

Political Packaging in America

JOUR 107b

The Media and Public Policy

JOUR 112b

Literary Journalism: The Artof Feature Writing

LGLS 10a

Introduction to Law

LGLS 114a

American Health Care: Law andPolicy

LGLS 120a

Sex Discrimination and theLaw

LGLS 121b

Law and Social Welfare: CitizenRights and Government Responsibilities

LGLS 126b

Marriage, Divorce, and Parenthood

LGLS 127b

Law and Letters in AmericanCulture

LGLS 129b

Law, Technology, and Innovation

LGLS 132b

Environmental Law and Policy

LGLS 137a

Libel and Defamation, Privacyand Publicity

PHIL 74b

Foundations of American Pragmatism