Course Description: This course examines the development of the United States in a global context, from colonial outpost to empire. Surveying events over the past 500 years, we will consider not only the diverse cultures that have created the American social fabric—Native American, European, African, Asian, Latino, and Pacific Islander—but also the unique role the U.S. has played in world history. Drawing on written documents, art, literature, music, and film, we will investigate the extraordinary sweep of world-American history through several units: European-indigenous relations, slavery and capitalism, revolutions and human rights, world wars and military power, social movements and decolonization, globalization and mass culture. In several units, the class uses Hawai‘i as a case study. The course will close with a discussion of U.S. power since 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s): TBA

Course Description: This interdisciplinary course examines diversity and changes in American values and lives in a historical context as manifested in social institutions and social movements. It introduces students to various types of primary materials (such as law, court rulings, sermons, political manifestoes, newspaper, etc.) and to different methods of reading and analyzing such materials. Using social and analytical categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality, the course examines several critical periods in US history as well as situates Hawaii in the context of American experience. The course fulfills a Manoa core humanities requirement.

Course Requirements:

Text(s):
Linda Brent, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Nella Larsen, Quicksand
Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People
Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake
Ruth L. Ozeki, My Year of Meats
Course Reader

Course Description: This interdisciplinary course examines diversity and changes in American values and lives in a historical context as manifested in art and culture. It introduces students to various types of primary materials (such as poems, novels, films, photography, advertising, songs, etc.) and to different methods of reading and analyzing such materials. Using social and analytical categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality, the course examines several critical periods in US history as well as situates Hawaii in the context of American experience. The course fulfills a Manoa core humanities requirement.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s): TBA

Course Description: This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of contemporary American domestic issues within their historical contexts and in relation to American values and institutions. Such topics as politics, economics, civil rights, family life, the justice system, and the environment are discussed from various critical and contested perspectives ranging from race, gender, and class to quantitative description.

This course focuses on contemporary American Indian issues and will link peripherally to Indigenous Hawaiian issues. While the class will be anchored in a historical context, we will quickly move on to sovereignty and federal law, environmental degradation of sacred spaces, literature, and western representations of the Indigenous "other." This later discussion will be accessed through a critical analysis of popular culture representations like Disney's Pocahontas, Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals, and Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves. We will also superficially touch upon issues pertaining to patent law and the dangers of genetically modified organisms as they relate to Indigenous plants and planting. The course fulfills a Manoa Core social science requirement.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s):
Robert Berkhofer Jr., The White Man's Indian: Images of the American Indian From Columbus to the Present
David E. Wilkins and K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law
Winona LaDuke, Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming
Mary Crow Dog, Lakota Woman

*There will be a mandatory reading packet available for purchase.

Course Description: This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of contemporary global issues within their historical contexts and in relation to American values and institutions. Such topics as international diplomacy, economic development, national security, demographic change, and environmental protection are discussed from various critical and contested perspectives ranging from race, gender, and class to quantitative description.

Student Outcome: By semester’s end students should have a better knowledge and understanding of global issues as they impact and are, in turn, shaped by the people, history, and culture of the United States. Students should also become more adept at critical reading, critical thinking, and critical writing on a number of global issues. Acquiring this knowledge and these skills is essential for becoming an educated, responsible person and world citizen. It can also be fun!

Course Requirements:
• Reading: This is a critical component of this class. It is expected that you keep up with the course schedule that follows. Listed assignments are to have been read by the date listed. A pattern of being unprepared will result in a lower grade.

• Writing Assignments: The production of critical analyses of texts is a major component of this course. This semester there will be four writing assignments due. Each will focus on one global issue (e.g., U.S. foreign affairs, globalization, climate change, and refugees & immigration). Each paper will be at least 1,200 words in length (about 4 to 5 pages, double spaced). Details (including format and style) will be given in a separate handout. Late papers will be accepted only under the direst of circumstances.

• Academic Honesty: Plagiarism (using the words or ideas of another without attribution) is impermissible behavior for a UH student. It is a serious matter and will not be tolerated in this class.

• Attendance: It is expected you attend all class sessions. Absenteeism (missing more than 3 classes) will be handled on a case-by-case basis and could result in a substantially lower grade. Please advise me by e-mail if you will not be in class. Good communication can forestall a host of problems.

• Courtesy: Please arrive on time and turn off the ringer on your cell phone. Remember to treat all class members with respect.

• Disability Accommodation: Every effort will be made to meet the needs of all students. Confidentiality is assured. For more info contact the Kokua Program located in the Queen Lili`uokalani Center for Student Services, ground floor, room 013, 2600 Campus Rd. Telephone 956-7511, FAX 956-8093, email kokua@hawaii.edu.

Writing Assignments (4 @ 20% each) 80%
Attendance, Preparation, and Participation 20% = Total 100%

Note: Please see warnings about excessive absences or being unprepared for class in “Course Requirements.”

Text(s):
Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
Pietra Rivoli, Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade
Brian M. Fagan, The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850
Dave Eggers, What is What

Course Description: This course surveys over one hundred years of American film history from the earliest screenings in vaudeville theaters through the birth of the feature-length motion picture to the rise of blockbusters and “indie” movies in the age of home video. The semester will be divided into five stages, offering detailed explorations into:

[1] Early cinema and the silent era (1894-1927)
[2] The studio system era (1927-1949)
[3] The age of changes and restructuring (1949-1968)
[4] The emergence of New Hollywood and indie filmmaking (1968-1989)
[5] The contemporary period of Global Hollywood and digital technology (the 1990s-present)

Besides covering the major motion picture studios and the tripartite model of vertical integration (production, distribution, and exhibition), we will examine key American film genres, directors, and stars as well as technological developments (sound, color, widescreen, etc.) and historical contexts (the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc.). Students need not be familiar with theoretical concepts and analytical approaches prior to taking the course. However, by the end of the semester you will be expected to demonstrate a comprehension of critical terminology, film genres, and formal systems.

Course Requirements: Weekly film screenings (Wed, 5:30-7:30: HIG 110), group film discussions, 2 film papers, midterm and final exams, quizzes

Text(s):
Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies
Yannis Tzioumakis, American Independent Cinema: An Introduction

Course Description: Study of Japanese American life in Hawaii and American society at large. Historical and cultural heritage. Biographical portraits, changing family ties, ethnic lifestyle, male and female relations, local identity and the nature of island living.

Course Requirements:

Required Text(s):
Dennis Ogawa, Jan Ken Po
Dennis Ogawa, Kodomo No Tame Ni

Course Description: This course traces the history women and gender relations in the United Sttes in the last one hundred years. Based on a historical understanding of how concepts such as "women's rights" and "gender equity" have been defined and fought over by different groups of women and men, we will consider the impact of such history on the lives of women in the United States today. We will explore topics such as: women and Progressive Reform; suffrage and changes in women's movement after 1920; women's labor during the Depression and WWII; gender and sexual ideologies of the Cold War; fmeinist movement in the 1960s-1970s and its relationship to other social movments; divisions and conflicts within the women's movement; reproductive rights and women's relationship to health care; marriage, family and the state; women and war.

This course has a Contemporary Ethical Issues (E) Focus designation. Contemporary ethical issues are fully integrated into the main course material and the assignments involving these issues comprise a considerable portion of the course grade, as indicated below. Through the Use of lectures, discussions, and written assignments, students will develop basic competency in recognizing, analyzing, and making informed judgments on ethical issues pertaining to women, gender, and sexuality.

Course Requirements:
Op-ed essay and class debate 15% x 2=30%
Mid-term exam 30%
Final exam 40%

Text(s):
C. Yano, Crowning the Nice Girl
M.T.Y. Lui, The Chinatown Trunk Mystery
C.C. Choy, Empire of Care
R. Rosen, The World Split Open
L. Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime
N. Cott, Public Vow

Course Description: Survey of social, political, and cultural relations in diverse, contemporary American environments, including: island societies, urban centers, suburbs, Indian reservations, farming communities, and national parks. Special emphasis on contemporary environmental issues in Hawai‘i.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s):TBA

Course Description: This description includes both halves of the year-long sequence of History 373-374 (American Studies 343-344), though each course stands on its own and may be taken separately. The courses attempt to define the "climates of opinion" in America at different stages of our past. Consequently a wide range of material is dealt with, the intellectual aim being synthesis. An attempt is made to maximize the possibilities of discussion. Students can expect to attend lectures, hear music, watch movies, participate in several small discussion groups, etc. The first semester (373) moves from European antecedents of colonization to the early years of the 20th Century. The second semester (374) concentrates on the more recent period. Students may take either semester, or they may take both in any sequence. Opportunities are offered for the student to fulfill the requirements of the course in a wide variety of ways. The course carries graduate credit, is limited to 20 students, and requires permission of instructor to enroll.

Course Requirements: Papers, oral presentations, and book reports.

Required Text(s):
G. Collins, America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drugs, Helpmates and Heroines
E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
R. Nash, From These Beginnings, Vol 1, 7th ed.
A. Schlesinger, The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society
R. Rapson, Magical Thinking and the Decline of America

Course Description: This seminar focuses on method and materials for the study of American cultural history. Being the first section in a sequence of two courses, the seminar is geared toward exploration of contemporary interpretations of American cultural history from the Colonial period to the Civil War.

Course Requirement: See instructor

Prerequisite: Officially declared majors in American Studies.
Minors and double majors in American Studies must have a course approval code to be allowed to register for this course.
Text(s): TBA

Course Description: Major themes and research problems in Japanese American studies.

Course Requirements:

Text(s):
Various handouts

Course Description: This 3-credit, writing intensive course will introduce the cultural complexity of America’s most consistently vilified and glorified region: the South. Using an interdisciplinary approach—including a variety of mediums such as history, literature, film, folklore, music, and popular culture—we will explore the South as a diverse region comprising multiple sub-cultures and histories as well as a unifying identity, and as a site of social conflict, cultural creativity, and contradictory ideals. We will consider the living legacy of the Old South in myth and tradition as well as the region’s re-emergence and revitalization as the New South.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s):
Sybil Klein, Creole: the History and Legacy of Louisiana’s Free People of Color
James C. Cobb, Away Down South: a History of Southern Identity
Melissa Faye Greene, Praying for Sheetrock
David E. Whisnant, All That is Native and Fine: the Politics of Culture in an American Region
Bill C. Malone, Southern Music/American Music

Course Description: History of American architecture in terms of style, techniques, and symbolic meaning. The course particularly emphasizes cultural and technological aspects of American architecture from pre-contact to recent times.

Course Requirements: Students are required as part of the course's O-focus to make several both brief and longer in-class presentations and participate in class discussions.

Text(s):
David P. Handlin, American Architecture

Course Description: American workers have had many faces: the skilled artisan, the plantation slave, the female domestic, the "white collar" employee and more. What have these workers had in common? What kind of work did they perform and how has it changed over time? How have they responded to changes in the work environment? What role has government played in shaping that environment? What problems do American workers face today? This course explores these and similar questions.

Course Requirements: Midterm exam, 10-page research paper, final exam, and class attendance.

Text(s):
Boris and Lichtenstein, Major Problems in the History of American Workers
Dulles and Dubofsky, Labor in America: A History (7th edition)
J. Kraft, Stage to Studio: Musicians and the Sound Revolution, 1890-1950

Course Description: Racial ideas and ideologies, and their effects, throughout American history.

Course Description: This course is a broad-scale survey of the "other American Culture"--not the high culture of classic literature and the fine arts but the popular culture of mass entertainment, communal recreations, vulgar media, and "low life." Topics might include: vaudeville and burlesque, dime novels and competitive sports, theme parks, soap operas, dance halls, fads and crazes, Gothic romances, TV sitcoms, mating rituals, popular songs, social games, comic books, movie-going, science fiction, and others. Methodological perspectives will be drawn from social psychology, cultural anthropology, micro sociology, and comparative esthetics.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s): TBA

Course Description: In 1896 in Plessy v/s Ferguson the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that “separate but equal” was consistent with the Constitution of the United States. Fifty-eight years later, in Brown v/s Board of Education, the Court declared that “separate was not equal” and thus the earlier ruling violated the Constitution. Events leading up to and after this historic decision mark the beginning of the end of lawful segregation in the United States. In this course, we will explore through African American film, literature, drama and art these momentous times and how these events, in turn, have shaped African American literary, dramatic, and artistic expression. In so doing, we will also address issues of continuing political, social and individual significance that mark both the legacy and the limits of the Civil Rights Movement.

Course Requirements: see instructor

Text(s):
Martin Luther King, Why We Can't Wait
Loraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
Ernest Gaines, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Alice Walker, Meridian
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Course Requirements: Students will be expected to attend class regularly, participate in discussion, take a midterm and a final exam, write weekly reaction papers, and write a research paper.

Prerequisite: Junior standing or instructor's consent.

Text(s):
Bissinger, Friday Night Lights
B. Finney & J.D. Houston, Surfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport
B. Rader, American Sports: From the Age of Folk Games to the Age of Televised Sports, 5th edition
J. Stanton, Cardinal Points: Poems on St. Louis Cardinals Baseball
T. Green, The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL
A packet of photocopied article
Optional:
N. Mailer, The Fight

To enroll in a 499 class, you must obtain the consent of a particular professor with an expertise on the topic you wish to pursue. This professor may be in American Studies or in any department.

Within a week after registration, you must submit to the department office a one-page account of the work to be done. This account must contain the following:

a. The theme or topic to be explored.
b. The nature of the work to be done
c. Justification as to why 499 is the only feasible alternative
d. The list of books to be read (if a directed reading course)
e. The number of credits to be awarded
f. The basis upon which the credits are to be awarded--a paper, exam, or whatever. Include information on the frequency of student/professor meetings.

This one-page account must be signed by you, the professor, and the graduate chair and submitted to the American Studies Department Office (Moore 324). Procedure for Registration: You may obtain appropriate forms/approvals from the American Studies Department office (Moore 324) or download these forms.
Directed Reading Consent Form
Directed Reading Approval Form

Graduate students are required to register for at least one credit of work (either Directed Studies 500 or any other course) in the semester of graduation.

This course is offered as a one credit course with a mandatory grading of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) but will not carry credit toward meeting credit requirements for the degree.

If degree requirements are fully completed, a Satisfactory grade will be issued and the student will be awarded the degree. If not, a grade of Unsatisfactory will be given and the student will be required to register again for Directed Studies 500 the following semester or until such time that the requirements are completed.

Course Description: This seminar covers the broad historiography of American Studies and introduces students to the theoretical frameworks and methodological tools used in the field. Tracing the key "moments" in American Studies historiography from the "myth and symbol" school of the 1950s-1960s to the recent calls for "transnational" approaches to American Studies, we will examine the development of field's concerns. Themes include: American Studies and the Cold War; social movements and the crisis of the canon; Marxist traditions and social history; literary theory and "representation"; anthropological turn and the move beyond the "text"; theorizing "identities"; and re-situating American Studies in the age of globalization. We will discuss these themes through the reading of both classic and recent texts in the field.

Course Requirements: TBA

Text(s): Do not purchase books until meeting with instructor
George Lipsitz, American Studies in a Moment of Danger
Leo Marx, Machine in the Garden
Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Signifying Monkey
Jane Tompkins, Sensational Designs
Roy Rosenzweig, Eight Hours For What We Will
Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements
Janice Radway, Reading the Romance
George Chauncey,Gay New York
E. Goldstein, The Price of Whiteness
M. Yoshihara, Embracing the East
M. Lui, The Chinatown Trunk Mystery
Christine R. Yano, Crowning the Nice Girl
Melani McAlister, Epic Encounters

Course Description: This seminar, the first in a sequence of two, explores the American cultural experience from the seventeenth and through the mid nineteenth centuries.

Course Requirements: See instructor

Text(s):
Peter Linebaugh, Marcus Rediken, The Many Headed Hydra
Taylor Alan, American Colonies
Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, Anxious Patriarchs
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of Seven Gables
Gordon Wood, Radicalism of the American Revolution
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno
Sacvan Bercovitch, The American Jeremiad
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia