Approved Courses
The following list includes undergraduate courses that have been approved as of June 2010. Courses added after that date do not appear in this list. Courses eliminated after that date may still appear. Not every course is offered regularly. Students should consult the Schedule of Classes at www.testudo.umd.edu to ascertain which courses are actually offered during a given semester.
COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM
| Number |
|
Eligibility |
| 000-099 |
|
Non-credit course |
| 100-199 |
|
Primarily freshman course |
| 200-299 |
|
Primarily sophomore course |
| 300-399 |
|
Junior, senior course not acceptable for credit toward graduate degrees |
| 386-387 |
|
Campus-wide internship courses; refer to information describing Experiential Learning |
| 400-499 |
|
Junior, senior course acceptable for credit toward some graduate degree |
| 500-599 |
|
Professional School course (Dentistry, Architecture, Law, Medicine) or post-baccalaureate course |
| 600-899 |
|
Course restricted to graduate students |
| 799 |
|
Master Thesis credit |
| 899 |
|
Doctoral Dissertation credit |
Use the search box below to view the approved courses.
Courses in "AMST-American Studies"
AMST - American Studies
AMST 101 Introduction American Studies (3)
Credit only granted for: AMST101 or AMST201. Formerly: AMST201.
Introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of American Studies
by examining concepts such as culture, identity, cultural practices, and
globalization, as well as theories underlying these concepts. Engages
key themes, especially constructions of difference and identity,
cultures of everyday life, and America and the world.
AMST 201 Introduction to American Studies (3)
Introduction to American cultural studies--past and present--by
examining the concept of "self" in American autobiographical writing
and the concept of "society" in accounts of various communities.
AMST 202 Cultures of Everyday Life in America (3)
Examine the structures and patterns of everyday life in the U.S.,
utilizing methods such as ethnography, oral history, survey research,
and textual, visual, and material cultural analysis.
AMST 203 Popular Culture in America (3)
An introduction to American popular culture, its historical
development, and its role as a reflection of and influence on our
culture and society.
AMST 204 Film and American Culture Studies (3)
Exploration of the American film from a historical perspective,
illustrating the motion picture's role as an institutional phenomenon,
as a form of communication, and as a source of cross-cultural study.
AMST 205 Material Aspects of American Life (3)
Historical survey of American material culture. Ways of describing and
interpreting accumulated material evidence (e.g., buildings, town plans)
introduced by stressing relationship between artifact and culture.
AMST 207 Contemporary American Cultures (3)
World views, values, and social systems of contemporary American
cultures explored through readings on selected groups such as
middle-class suburbanites, old order Amish, and urban tramps.
AMST 211 Technology and American Culture (3)
Historical and contemporary technological innovations in American
society, with special emphasis on the humanities. Varied social and
cultural responses to one contemporary technological issue e.g.
(environmental pollution, genetic engineering, communications
technology, and psychopharmacology).
AMST 212 Diversity in American Culture (3)
Exploration of the role of diversity in the shaping of American
culture. Special emphasis will be placed on the multicultural origins of
American popular and material culture, such as foodways and
entertainment, and on the experience of "Americanization."
AMST 260 American Culture in the Information Age (3)
Credit only granted for: AMST260 or AMST298I. Formerly: AMST298I.
Examines the ways in which content and form of public information
interact with the culture, families & individuals.
AMST 269 Special Topics in Study Abroad II (1-6)
Repeatable to 15 credits if content differs.
Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.
AMST 298 Selected Topics in American Studies (3)
Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs.
Cultural study of a specific theme or issue involving artifacts and
documents from both past and contemporary American experience.
AMST 328 Perspectives on Identity and Culture (3)
Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs.
Analysis of the cultural aspect of identity formation and the role of
individual or community identities in cultural production. Examination
of cultural texts such as film, literature, fashion, artifacts, archival
records, architecture, monuments, sports, and paintings.
AMST 330 Critics of American Culture (3)
Philosophies of American social purpose and promise. Readings from
"classical" American thinkers, contemporary social commentators, and
American Studies scholars.
AMST 340 Introduction to History, Theories and Methods in American Studies (3)
Prerequisite: AMST201; and 2 courses in AMST. Restriction: Must be in
American Studies program; and Sophomore standing or higher.
Introduction to the process of interdisciplinary research, including
research literatures, questions, first-hand sources and library and
analytic methods in American Studies. Each student will craft a
prospectus for original research.
AMST 369 Special Topics in Study Abroad III (1-6)
Repeatable to 15 credits if content differs.
Special topics course taken as part of an approved study abroad program.
AMST 388 Honors Thesis (3-6)
Restriction: Must be admitted to AMST honors program; and permission of
ARHU-American Studies department; and Senior standing. Repeatable to 6
credits if content differs.
Individual research, thesis and oral defense. The research project will
be conducted under the supervision of a faculty member.
AMST 398 Independent Studies (1-3)
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-American Studies department. Repeatable
to 6 credits if content differs.
Provides the student with the opportunity to pursue independent,
interdisciplinary research and reading in specific areas of American
culture studies.
AMST 418 Cultural Themes in America (3)
Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs.
Examination of structure and development of American culture through
themes such as "growing up American," "culture and mental disorders,"
"race," "ethnicity," "regionalism," "landscape," and "humor."
AMST 428 American Cultural Eras (3)
Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs.
Investigation of a decade, period, or generation as a case study in
significant social change within an American context. Case studies
include "Antebellum America, 1840-1860" and "American culture in the
Great Depression."
AMST 429 Perspectives on Popular Culture (3)
Repeatable to 6 credits if content differs.
Topics in popular culture studies, including the examination of
particular genres, themes, and issues.
AMST 432 Literature and American Society (3)
Prerequisite: Must have completed 1 course in American Literature or 1
course in American History; or 1 course in SOCY; or 1 course in AMST.
Examination of the relationship between literature and society:
including literature as cultural communication and the institutional
framework governing its production, distribution, conservation and
evaluation.
AMST 433 American Humor (3)
Credit only granted for: AMST418A or AMST433. Formerly: AMST418A.
American humor from the Colonial era through the present in genres
including literature, journalism, graphic arts, performance, and modern
media. How humor expresses and mediates important social and cultural
concerns including politics, religion, race and ethnicity, gender and
topical issues.
AMST 450 Seminar in American Studies (3)
Prerequisite: AMST201 and AMST340; and 1 course in AMST. Restriction:
Senior standing; and must be in American Studies program.
Developments in theories and methods of American Studies scholarship,
with emphasis upon interaction between the humanities and the social
sciences in the process of cultural analysis and evaluation.
AMST 498 Special Topics in American Studies (3)
Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs.
Topics of special interest.
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