Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
American Studies and Ethnicity
Undergraduate Degrees
American Studies and Ethnicity Minor
Course Requirements
For the minor in American Studies and Ethnicity, five courses in American Studies and Ethnicity, or courses certified for American Studies and Ethnicity credit, are required. The five courses must be distributed as follows: two core requirement courses and three additional elective courses 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 |
| Upper-division elective courses | units | |
|---|---|---|
| Three courses from the American Studies and Ethnicity major lists, or other American Studies and Ethnicity courses with the approval of the American Studies and Ethnicity director, at the 300 level or higher. No more than one course in the minor may be taken outside the college. | ||
Minor in American Popular Culture
The interdisciplinary minor in American Popular Culture helps students to assess from a variety of perspectives the icons and ideas they encounter every day, to think critically about the images and assertions of the mass media and commercial culture, and to see the experience of popular culture as it interacts with questions of gender and ethnicity in the American context. Students choose five classes, including one upper-division elective, from a curriculum organized to explore: critical approaches to popular culture; gender and ethnicity in American popular culture; and popular culture in the arts. Twenty units are required, four at the lower-division and 16 at the upper-division level.
| Lower-division requirements | units | |
|---|---|---|
| Choose one course (4 units) | ||
| AMST 206 | The Politics and Culture of the 1960s | 4 |
| AMST 285 | African American Popular Culture | 4 |
| upper-division requirements | units | |
|---|---|---|
| Choose four courses (16 units), at least one from each of the groups below. | ||
| Critical Approaches to Popular Culture: choose one (4 units) | ||
| AMST 301 | America, the Frontier, and the New West | 4 |
| COLT 365 | Literature and Popular Culture | 4 |
| COMM 384 | Interpreting Popular Culture | 4 |
| ENGL 392 | Visual and Popular Culture | 4 |
| HIST 380 | American Popular Culture | 4 |
| Gender and Ethnicity in American Popular Culture: choose one (4 units) | ||
| AMST 357 | Latino Social Movements | 4 |
| AMST 365 | Leadership in the Community — Internship | 4 |
| AMST 385 | African American Culture and Society | 4 |
| AMST 395 | African American Humor and Culture | 4 |
| AMST 448 | Chicano and Latino Literature | 4 |
| AMST 449 | Asian American Literature | 4 |
| ENGL 476 | Images of Women in Contemporary Culture | 4 |
| Popular Culture in the Arts: choose one (4 units) | ||
| AHIS 363 | Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Contemporary Art | 4 |
| AHIS 370 | Modern Art III: 1940 to the Present | 4 |
| CTCS 392 | History of the American Film, 1925–50 | 4 |
| CTCS 393 | History of the American Film, 1946–75 | 4 |
| CTCS 394 | History of the American Film, 1977–Present | 4 |
| ENGL 375 | Science Fiction | 4 |
| ENGL 471 | Literary Genres and Film | 4 |
| ENGL 481 | Narrative Forms in Literature and Film | 4 |
| HIST 481 | Producing Film Histories | 4 |
| MUJZ 419 | The Jazz Experience: Myths and Culture | 4 |
| MUSC 400 | The Broadway Musical: Reflection of American Diversity, Issues and Experiences | 4 |
| MUSC 422 | The Beatles: Their Music and Their Times | 4 |
| MUSC 450 | The Music of Black Americans | 4 |
| PAS 400 | New Models of Art in City-Space | 4 |
| Electives (4 units) | ||
| Choose one additional upper-division course from the lists above, in a department you have not already chosen for the minor. |
Minor in Jewish American Studies
Jewish American Studies is a multidisciplinary program designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the historical, cultural, social, political and religious experience of Jewish Americans, with a particular emphasis on the development and culture of Jewish communities in California and the West as well as on both historical and contemporary effects of global issues on American Jewish communities. By drawing upon courses in American Studies and by emphasizing comparative as well as interdisciplinary study, this program offers training in the analytical tools and methods of interpretation appropriate for studying the American Jewish 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.
Successful completion of 20 units in American Studies and Judaic Studies are required to qualify for the minor.
| core requirements | units | |
|---|---|---|
| AMST 202 | Interethnic Diversity in the West | 4 |
| JS 300 | American Jewish History | 4 |
| Three courses from the following: | ||
| AMST 301 | America, the Frontier, and the New West | 4 |
| AMST 350 | Junior Seminar in American Studies and Ethnicity: Theories and Methods | 4 |
| JS 330 | Jewish Power, Powerlessness, and Politics in the Modern Era | 4 |
| JS 381 | The Jew in American Society | 4 |
| JS 382 | Judaism as an American Religion | 4 |
| JS 383 | Jews in American Popular Culture | 4 |
| JS 415 | The American Jewish Experience in Film | 4 |
| JS 428 | Blacks and Jews: Conflicts and Alliances | 4 |
Minor in Critical Approaches to Leadership
See the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Minor in Race, Ethnicity and Politics
See the Department of Political Science.