IDS 232H Honors American Identities

3 Credit(s) HP DPDS

This course challenges ideas about and engages with debates over the meaning of “America” and “American” with a particular focus on how these terms have been shaped and limited by structural factors and tied to race, class, gender and ethnicity. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, students will explore how “American” cultural and national identities have developed over four centuries and consider the legacies of this history on “American” experiences today. Students will be introduced to the methods and materials of American Studies as they learn to interpret cultural products drawn from popular and fine arts, literature, music and film as well as historical, sociological and geographic documents and other non-fiction texts. Students will conduct some independent research on topics of interest and consider how interdisciplinary thinking and research methodologies may be used to address issues in our society related to power dynamics and social justice. Three lecture hours per week