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

Bachelor of Arts, American Studies and Ethnicity (African American Studies)

African American Studies is a multidisciplinary program designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the historical, cultural, social and political experience of African Americans, with a particular emphasis on the development and culture of the African American communities in California and the West as well as on both historical and contemporary effects of global issues on African American communities. By drawing upon courses in American Studies and Ethnicity and by emphasizing comparative as well as interdisciplinary study, this program offers training in the analytic tools and methods of interpretation appropriate for studying the African American experience in its particularity and ethnic and cultural study in general. The program is particularly appropriate for students interested in integrating studies in the humanities and social sciences and for students preparing to work and interact with diverse communities and cultures in the United States and abroad in such fields as education, human services, business, journalism and public administration.

African American Studies 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.

Program Major Requirements

Ten courses in African American Studies, or courses certified for African American Studies 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 African American Studies 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

200/300/400-Level Required Courses		Units
One course from each of the following categories:
History
AMST 250	The African Diaspora	4
HIST 355	The African-American Experience	4
HIST 455	Advanced Topics in African-American History	4

Literature and Culture
AHIS 365	African American Art	4
AHIS 475	Blackness in American Visual Culture	4
AMST 285	African American Popular Culture	4
AMST 385	African American Culture and Society	4
CTCS 407	African American Cinema	4
ENGL 446	African-American Poetry and Drama	4
ENGL 447	African-American Narrative	4

AMST 389m is available for credit for this bachelor’s degree beginning fall 2009.

Social and Political Issues
AMST 206	The Politics and Culture of the 1960s	4
AMST 330	Jazz and the Political Imagination	4
AMST 365	Leadership in the Community–Internship	4
AMST 389m	Carceral Geographies	4
AMST 395	African American Humor and Culture	4
AMST 466	The Psychology of African Americans	4
GEOG 350	Race and Environmentalism	4
POSC 421	Ethnic Politics	4
POSC 427	Black Politics in the American Political System	4
PSYC 462	Minority Mental Health	4
REL 469	Black Religion in America	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 courses in the major may be taken outside the college.
AMST 274	Exploring Ethnicity through Film	4
AMST 301	America, the Frontier, and the New West	4
AMST 320	Social Constructions of Race and Citizenship	4
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
COMM 458	Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment and the Arts	4
POSC 424	Political Participation and American Diversity	4
SOCI 432	Racial and Ethnic Relations in a Global Society	4

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