Catalogue 2009-10

• USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
• American Studies and Ethnicity
  • Undergraduate Degrees
    • American Studies and Ethnicity
    • African American Studies
    • Asian American Studies
    • Chicano/Latino Studies
    • American Studies and Ethnicity Minor
    • Minor in American Popular Culture
    • Minor in Jewish American Studies
  • Graduate Degrees
  • Courses of Instruction

Undergraduate Degrees

American Studies and Ethnicity offers challenging and diverse opportunities to study the peoples, cultures and institutions of the United States in interdisciplinary courses. Combining the study of history with literature, the arts and the social sciences, American Studies and Ethnicity seeks to bring together these various disciplines and modes of inquiry in a common project: the effort to understand the diverse peoples and cultures that have composed the United States and to provide critical perspectives on the words, deeds, myths and material practices that have shaped this country in its full regional, ethnic, class and gender diversity. An education in American Studies and Ethnicity will be particularly appropriate for students interested in pursuing careers in law, journalism, government, foreign service, social work, international business, public administration and education.

American Studies and Ethnicity is administered by an executive committee comprising the chair, directors of the four majors and other faculty members. In addition to the college academic advisor, the directors of the majors serve as advisors to majors and minors, providing, in conjunction with the sequence of courses, the opportunity for students to undertake an interdisciplinary concentration under close faculty supervision. It is recommended that students meet with the appropriate major director to plan a coherent set of courses to fulfill the major or minor requirements.

Bachelor of Arts, American Studies and Ethnicity

Program Major Requirements

Ten courses in American Studies and Ethnicity or courses certified for American Studies and Ethnicity credit are required. The 10 courses must be distributed as follows: the three core requirement courses of AMST 200, AMST 350 and AMST 498; one course from each of the following three lists: History, Literature and Culture, and Social and Political Issues; and additional elective courses for a total of 16 units chosen from the courses certified in American Studies and Ethnicity at the 300 level or above.

Core requirements		Units
AMST 200	Introduction to American Studies and Ethnicity	4
AMST 350	Junior Seminar in American Studies and Ethnicity: Theories and Methods	4
AMST 498*	Senior Seminar in American Studies and Ethnicity	4

200/300/400-level required courses		Units
One course from each of the following categories:
History
AMST 250	The African Diaspora	4
AMST 373	History of the Mexican American	4
AMST 378	Introduction to Asian American History	4
AMST 379	Arabs in America	4
HIST 200	The American Experience	4
HIST 354	Mexican Migration to the United States	4
HIST 355	The African-American Experience	4
HIST 380	American Popular Culture	4
HIST 457	The American West	4
HIST 458	History of California	4

Literature and Culture
AHIS 365	African American Art	4
AHIS 465	Studies in American Art	4
AHIS 475	Blackness in American Visual Culture	4
AMST 285	African American Popular Culture	4
AMST 377	Legacies of Viet Nam	4
AMST 385	African American Culture and Society	4
AMST 448	Chicano and Latino Literature	4
AMST 449	Asian American Literature	4
COMM 458	Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment and the Arts	4
ENGL 263	American Literature	4
ENGL 392	Visual and Popular Culture	4
ENGL 442	American Literature, 1920 to the Present	4
ENGL 445	The Literatures of America: Cross-Cultural Perspectives	4
ENGL 446	African-American Poetry and Drama	4
REL 336	Re-viewing Religion in Asian America	4
REL 483	Religion and Popular Culture in the United States	4

Social and Political Issues
AMST 202	Interethnic Diversity in the West	4
AMST 206	The Politics and Culture of the 1960s	4
AMST 220	The Making of Asian America	4
AMST 274	Exploring Ethnicity through Film	4
AMST 285	African American Popular Culture	4
AMST 301	America, the Frontier, and the New West	4
AMST 320	Social Construction of Race and Citizenship	4
AMST 357	Latino Social Movements	4
AMST 365	Leadership in the Community–Internship	4

AMST 389m	Carceral Geographies	4
AMST 395	African American Humor and Culture	4
AMST 446	Cultural Circuits in the Americas	4
AMST 466	The Psychology of African Americans	4
ANTH 240	Collective Identity and Political Violence: Representing 9/11	4
GEOG 340	Latino L.A.	4
GEOG 350	Race and Environmentalism	4
JOUR 466	People of Color and the News Media	4
POSC 320	Urban Politics	4
POSC 328	Asian American Politics	4
POSC 421	Ethnic Politics	4
POSC 424	Political Participation and American Diversity	4
POSC 427	Black Politics in the American Political System	4
POSC 428	Latino Politics	4
PSYC 462	Minority Mental Health	4
REL 333	Religion in the Borderlands	4
SOCI 342	Race Relations	4
SOCI 355	Immigrants in the United States	4
SOCI 356	Mexican Immigrants in a Diverse Society	4
SOCI 366	Chicana and Latina Experiences	4
SOCI 375	Asian Americans: Ethnic Identity	4
SOCI 376	Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities	4
SOCI 432	Racial and Ethnic Relations in a Global Society	4

upper division elective courses		Units
Additional courses for a total of 16 units from the lists above or below, 300 level or higher. No more than two total courses in the major may be taken outside the college.

AMST 490x	Directed Research	2-8, max 8
AMST 493	Senior Honors Thesis in American Studies and Ethnicity	4
AMST 499	Special Topics	2-4, max 8

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