The Department of American Studies is committed to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and society as a whole. Besides general courses in American life and thought, six areas of study are offered: cultural studies (including folklore and material culture); Southwest studies; environmental and social justice; popular culture; gender studies; race, class and ethnicity. Students consult with department faculty to develop individual, interdepartmental programs of study in the humanities and social sciences that focus on these or other significant aspects of American society and thought.
Applicants to the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs in American Studies degree program should hold a bachelor’s degree and/or a strong background in American Studies or a related field such as Anthropology, Art History, Economics, Education, English, Ethnic Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, or Women Studies. In making their application, candidates are expected to submit a substantive letter of intent with a clear statement of their American Studies research interests and their goals in pursuing such investigations on at the master's- or doctoral-level. Only candidates who show purpose and promise, and whose research needs can be appropriately met, are admitted by a committee of the department faculty.
Taking into consideration the experience and purposes of each student, individualized programs are planned to focus in two major areas of interest with supplementary work in other areas.
All graduate students must take the following in their first three semesters in the program:
Students must also take at least four other American Studies seminars during the completion of M.A. coursework.
At least 48 credit hours of coursework, exclusive of dissertation, are required for the Ph.D. in American Studies:
The declared minor in American Studies is only available to Master’s-level students. To complete the minor, students must earn 9 credit hours of 500-level courses (seminars) under Plan I. Under Plan II, students need 12 credit hours of 500-level courses. Under either plan, 1–3 credit hours of Independent Study with a faculty member in American Studies can count toward the minor. AMST 500 is a restricted course and does not apply to the minor.
American Studies graduate students who wish to pursue a minor in another department should do so in consultation with their academic advisor and should contact the other department for specific guidelines for the minor. Faculty members in American Studies may opt to waive their right to serve on a committee of studies outside American Studies. Plan I students may take no more than 9 credit hours of graduate coursework in any other single department, and Plan II students may take no more than 15 credit hours of graduate coursework in any other single department.
Courses
AMST 1110 [182]. Introduction to Environmental and Social Justice. (3)
An introduction to the theories of the environment, theories of justice in the context of environmental policy and planning and to histories of poor peoples' struggles around the unequal distribution of toxic waste. (ESJ)
{Summer, Fall, Spring}
AMST 1120 [183]. Introduction to Gender Studies. (3)
This course focuses on the interdisciplinary study of the construction of gender as a category. Readings will span cross-cultural and historical materials, including literary, artistic and popular representations of masculinity and femininity in America. (GS)
AMST 1130 [184]. Introduction to American Popular Culture. (3)
This course considers a range of theoretical approaches to the study of popular culture, including
cultural studies and feminist theory as well as key concepts and key debates in the study of popular
culture. It explores the ways popular culture is implicated in the formation of social determinants
such as ethnicity, race, gender, class, and sexuality and conversely, how these social determinants are
implicated in the formation of popular culture. The course also considers the ways in which popular
culture serves as a site of ongoing political struggle. The aim of the course is to provide students with
a critical vocabulary to make sense of broader significance and relevance of popular culture--why
popular culture matters. To accomplish this, we will investigate a number of popular expressive
forms including magazines, fandom, digital music, and hip hop.
(PC)
AMST 1140 [185]. Introduction to Race, Class and Ethnicity. (3)
This course offers an introduction to the field of American Studies through an interdisciplinary examination of race, class and ethnicity in the United States and in a global context. Using a schedule of keywords, we will engage a range of central themes and concerns. We will examine histories of injustice, and resistance to injustice. Readings and assignments encourage students to notice the privilege and oppression at the core of U.S. society. The class will challenge the widely accepted assumption that we as a nation have moved beyond race and racism. Through readings, films, online sources, and our assignments, this course aims to increase our knowledge of inequality in our society, and the impact of those inequities on various societies and individuals. (RCE)
Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area IV: Social/Behavioral Sciences.
{Summer, Fall, Spring}
AMST 1150 [186]. Introduction to Southwest Studies. (3)
This course introduces the complex histories, social issues, and cultural experiences of peoples of the southwestern United States. Course materials and discussions also demonstrate the possibilities of interdisciplinary study of regional American culture. It is multicultural in content and multidisciplinary in methodology. We will examine cross-cultural relationships among the peoples of the Southwest within the framework of their expressions and experiences in art, culture, religion; social and political economy. (SS)
Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area V: Humanities and Fine Arts.
{Summer, Fall, Spring}
AMST 2110 [285]. American Life and Thought [Perspectives in American Studies]. (3)
This course introduces students to cultural studies and the alternative interpretations of American history and culture. Particular attention will be paid to indigenous history, country music, tattoos, and American mobilization for war. Course materials and lectures will frequently utilize cultural traditions to explore key concepts and issues. Additionally, this course will require students to assume an analytical and critical perspective on academic interpretive models. We will read texts that exemplify critical Marxist, feminist, and reflexive anthropological approaches. (G)
{Fall, Spring}
AMST 252. The Native American Experience. (3)
(Also offered as NATV 252)
Introductory survey of Native American History, culture and contemporary issues. Students read literature by and about Native Americans covering a variety of topics including tribal sovereignty, federal policy, activism, economic development, education and community life. (RCE)
AMST 2996 [200]. Topics [Topics in American Studies]. (3, no limit Δ)
AMST 303. Law in the Political Community. (3)
(Also offered as POLS 303)
Introduction to the role of law and legal institutions in politics and society. (C)
AMST 309 / 509. Topics in Social Movements. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
An interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of social movements, focusing on cultural and social formations of these movements. Topics include: folklore of social movements; labor struggles; peace movements; land conflicts. (C)
AMST 310 / 510. Topics in Cultural Studies. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Varying topics undergraduate course. An in-depth study of one subject in the field of interdisciplinary culture studies. Topics may include material culture, folklore, consumerism, public culture, critical theory, cultural identity and language and representation. (C)
AMST 311. Youth, Power and Social Movements. (3)
This course examines contemporary youth involvement in social movements through the lens of social movement theory focusing in particular on youth activism in the post-Civil Rights era.
AMST 320. Topics in Environmental and Social Justice. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
The content of this course varies by semester. Topics may include: environmental justice, social movements, law and justice, race and nature, state violence, environmental social theory. (ESJ)
AMST 321. Science, Nature and Anxiety in the Zombie Films of George Romero. (3)
This course will examine the social commentary of George Romero's zombie films. We will consider how Romero's zombies serve as a vehicle to examine social anxieties regarding science, technology, nature, race, class and consumerism.
AMST 330 / 530. Topics in Gender Studies. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Varying subjects deriving from the contemporary cultural studies focus on matters of gender. Topics include: feminist theory; gender and nature; the factor of gender in disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies. (GS)
AMST 340. Topics in Popular Culture. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Content varies by semester. Topics include: popular music, popular culture of the 1960s; sex and gender in popular culture; chicano/a vernacular culture; black popular culture; popular environmentalism. (PC)
AMST 341 [341 / 541]. Topics in Film. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Varying subjects, based in theoretical and/or historical approaches. Topics include: sex and gender in popular film; films of the nuclear age; African-American film; ethnicity in American cinema; film theory. (PC)
AMST 343. Urban Legends. (3)
This course will examine the origins, transmissions, and embedded meanings within contemporary urban legends, with a specific focus on how these legends both perpetuate and reflect attitudes toward race, gender, and politics. (PC)
AMST 346. Religion in New Mexico. (3)
(Also offered as RELG 346)
This course examines New Mexican religion from the seventeenth century onward, considering how life here shapes religious practice, and how religion factors in how visitors imagine and represent inhabitants.
AMST 348. Hip Hop and Ya Don't Stop. (3)
This course provides a rigorous historical and theoretical understanding of the emergence of hip hop culture as what many consider the most dynamic youth expressive form emerging from the latter half of the 20th century.
AMST 350 / 550. Topics in Race, Class, Ethnicity. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Offers specialized topics on an alternating basis dealing with race, class and ethnicity in the formation of American life and society. Subject areas include immigration, class formation, conquest, colonization, public policy and civil rights. (RCE)
AMST 351. Blacks in the Southwest. (3)
(Also offered as AFST 307)
A survey of the lives of Blacks in the American West (1528–1918). (RCE)
AMST 353. Race Relations in America. (3)
An interdisciplinary investigation of the development of race as a set of power relations, lived identities and ideas. Pays particular attention to the relationship of race to work, immigration, gender, culture and intellectual life. (RCE)
AMST 356 / 556. Topics in Native American Studies. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Topical survey of theoretical approaches, research methodologies and subject areas within the interdisciplinary field of Native American Studies. (RCE)
AMST 357 [357 / 557]. Topics in African-American Studies. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Offers topics addressing African-American social, cultural, political and intellectual life. Topics include: black social movements, African-American intellectual history, black cultural studies, slavery in the Americas. (RCE)
AMST 358 / 558. Topics in Latino/a Studies. (3)
This interdisciplinary topics course examines the fastest growing population in the U.S. and includes Latino intellectual history, political and economic relations, recovery projects, music, film and media representations and environment, community and post-colonial studies. (RCE)
AMST 360 / 560. Topics in Southwest Studies. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Offers topics dealing with the social, cultural and technological developments among the people of the Southwest. Topics include folk art and material culture; rural, urban and border communities; traditional healing; travel and tourism; Hispano/Chicanos after 1848. (SS)
AMST 363. Chicano/Latino Film. (3)
Covers the Chicano/Latino experience through its depiction on film and from the perspective of Latino filmmaking. The course analyzes film as communication, film narration, symbolism and subjectivity. (SS)
AMST 385. Theories and Methods of American Studies. (3)
Introduces students to interdisciplinary approaches in the study of American culture, focusing on “Race, Ethnicity, Gender and National Identity,” “Media, Popular Culture, and Cultural Studies,” “Critical Regionalism,” and “Environment, Science and Technology.” (G)
{Fall}
AMST 468. Navajo Expressive Culture. (3)
(Also offered as ANTH 468/568, MUS 468/568, THEA 468/568)
Examination of contemporary Diné (Navajo) politics and art (music, Navajo language, photography, dance, radio, filmmaking, comedy, weaving, poetry). Weekly guest speakers, readings from ethnomusicology, anthropology, critical indigenous studies. Includes overnight field trip to Navajo Nation.
{Fall}
AMST 485. Senior Seminar in the Culture of the United States. (3)
An analysis of the value of synthesis in liberal scholarship. Focus will be on cooperative interdisciplinary research. (G)
{Spring only}
AMST 486. Senior Seminar in Southwest Studies. (3)
Capstone course for majors/minors in the Southwest Studies that synthesizes current scholarship on critical regionalism: borderlands studies, trans-nationalism, indigeneity, immigration and other topics. Students develop research, analysis and writing to produce an original research paper. (SS)
AMST 497. Individual Study. (1-3 to a maximum of 9 Δ)
AMST *498. Internship. (1-6)
Involves internships in off-campus learning experiences related to the study of American and regional culture and character, such as work in local communities and with relevant institutions. (G)
AMST 499. Honors Thesis. (3)
Development and writing of senior honors thesis under supervision of Faculty Advisor. (G)
Prerequisite: 2110.
Restriction: permission of Undergraduate Director.
{Spring}
AMST 500. American Culture Study Seminar. (3)
Examines the basic texts and methods in the field of American studies through discussion and critical/analytical writing assignments. Required for all American Studies graduate students; restricted to graduate students in the department. (G)
{Fall}
AMST 501. Theories and Methods in American Studies. (3)
Introducing students to a range of American Studies theories and methods, this spring seminar is the second in the required sequence of the American Studies core graduate curriculum and builds on the American Studies proseminar.
Prerequisite: 500.
Restriction: admitted to M.A. American Studies or Ph.D. American Studies.
AMST 502. Research Methods Practicum. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
This seminar reviews: 1) archival and library research; 2) data collection and fieldwork (plus subsequent analysis and presentation of data); 3) processes of hypotheses and theory building; and 4) development of a research proposal. (G)
Prerequisite: 500 and 501.
Restriction: admitted to M.A. American Studies or Ph.D. American Studies.
{Spring}
AMST 509 / 309. Topics in Social Movements. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
An interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of social movements, focusing on cultural and social formations of these movements. Topics include: folklore of social movements; labor struggles; peace movements; land conflicts. (C)
AMST 510 / 310. Topics in Cultural Studies. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
An in-depth study of one subject in the field of interdisciplinary culture studies. Topics may include material culture, folklore, consumerism, public culture, critical theory, cultural identity and postcolonial studies. (C)
AMST 512. Transnational American Studies. (3)
Decentering the U.S. from its sense of entitlement to America, this course explores hemispheric relations, the history of the U.S. as an imperial power, and the current context of the transnationalization and globalization of cultures. (C)
AMST 517. Visual Culture. (3)
This course will investigate the role of visual experience in everyday life. The assigned works represent a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to American visual culture, including photography, film, television, material culture, and public art. (C)
AMST 519. Topics in Cultural History. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Graduate seminars; content varies. Topics include: democracy, culture and history; American landscapes; history and narrative. (C)
AMST 520. Topics in Environmental and Social Justice. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Graduate study of subjects in Environmental and Social Justice. Content varies by semester and topics may include: science/technology studies, environmental justice, political economy of nature, environmental social movements, race and nature, law and violence. (ESJ)
AMST 523. Environmentalism of the Poor. (3)
This class examines struggles over life itself from the perspective of poor communities. It considers how people organize against a world in which poor communities lack the basic conditions for a healthy life.
AMST 530 / 330. Topics in Gender Studies. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Varying subjects deriving from the contemporary cultural studies focus on matters of gender. Topics include: feminist theory; gender and nature; the factor of gender in disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies. (GS)
AMST 550 / 350. Topics in Race, Class, Ethnicity. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Offers specialized topics on an alternating basis dealing with race, class and ethnicity in the formation of American life and society. Subject areas include immigration, class formation, conquest, colonization, public policy and civil rights. (RCE)
AMST 552. Colonialism and Decolonization. (3)
This graduate seminar is an interdisciplinary and comparative examination of the histories, practices, and consequences of modern colonialism and the variety of indigenous and anticolonial responses to these conditions.
AMST 556 / 356. Topics in Native American Studies. (3, may be repeated once Δ)
Seminar offering topical survey of theoretical approaches, research methodologies and subject areas within the interdisciplinary field of Native American Studies. (RCE)
AMST 558 / 358. Topics in Latino/a Studies. (3)
This interdisciplinary topics course examines the fastest growing population in the U.S. and includes Latino intellectual history, political and economic relations, recovery projects, music, film and media representations and environment, community and post-colonial studies. (RCE)
AMST 560 / 360. Topics in Southwest Studies. (3, may be repeated twice Δ)
Offers topics dealing with the social, cultural and technological developments among the people of the Southwest. Topics include folk art and material culture; rural, urban and border communities; traditional healing; travel and tourism; Hispano/Chicanos after 1848. (SS)
AMST 597. Individual Study-Master's Degree. (1-3 to a maximum of 3 Δ)
(G)
AMST 599. Master's Thesis. (1-6, no limit Δ)
(G)
Offered on a CR/NC basis only.
AMST 697. Individual Study. (1-3 to a maximum of 6 Δ)
(G)
For Ph.D. candidates only.
AMST 699. Dissertation. (3-12, no limit Δ)
(G)
Offered on a CR/NC basis only.
