American Studies Core CoursesThe terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
Anthropology, Architecture, Cinema-Television, Comparative Literature, Economics, English, Fine Arts, Geography, Gerontology, History, Journalism, Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, Planning and Development, Political Science, Public Administration, Religion, Sociology, Spanish and Portugese, Study of Women and Men in Society, Theatre
American Studies Core Courses202 Interethnic Diversity in the West (4) Introduction to community, culture, and ethnicity within the Western United States with emphasis on African American, Asian American, and Chicano/Latino cultures and social patterns.
301g Introduction to American Studies (4, FaSp) Introduction to the study of American cultural, political, and social life.
350 Seminar in Ethnic Studies: Theories and Methods (4) Advanced study in theories and methods for analyzing ethnicities in the United States with particular attention to comparative study of colonization, immigration, racism, and class. Prerequisite: AMST 202 or departmental approval.
366m Chicana and Latina Experiences (4) (Enroll in SOCI 366m)
375m Asian Americans: Ethnic Identity and Social Change (4, FaSp) (Enroll in SOCI 375m)
390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration; by petition only.
490x Directed Research (2-8, max 8) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
498 Senior Seminar in American Studies (4, Sp) Method and theory in American Studies. Prerequisite: AMST 301 or departmental approval.
499 Special Topics (2-4, max 8)
Cross-listed Courses
AnthropologyANTH 215m: Ethnicity and Place (4) Students explore ethnicity and ethnic groups, worldwide and in America, using geographical/anthropological concepts and methods and by unraveling their personal and family ethnic histories.
ANTH 315g: North American Indians (4, Fa) North American Indian societies, their major cultural themes, ethnological significance, and comparability with Western European cultural forms; lectures, visuals, and indigene demonstrations.
ANTH 316gm: North American Indians in American Public Life (4, Sp) Role of American Indians in American public life from colonial times to the present; native American forms of government; relations between tribes and the U.S.
ANTH 328gm: Culture Change and the Mexican People (4, Irregular) Culture change theories and methods (archaeology, community studies, participant-observation) used to examine the varied experiences of peoples in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
ANTH 371m: Cross-Cultural Research on Urban Gangs (4) Youth gang dynamics and their effects on institutions. Comparative analysis of Asian-, African-, and Mexican-American gangs.
ArchitectureARCH 409: American Architecture and Urbanism (4, 2 years, Sp) American architecture and urbanism from Thomas Jefferson to Frank Lloyd Wright examined in relation to European influences and indigenous developments.
Cinema-TelevisionCNTV 192m: Race, Class, and Gender in American Film (4, Sp) Analyzes issues of race, class and gender in contemporary American culture as represented in the cinema.
CNTV 392g: History of the American Film, 1925-1950 (4, Fa) Screenings of American film classics and their relationship to society. Lectures and discussions.
CNTV 393g: History of the American Film since 1950 (4, FaSp) Individual styles and genres in post-1950 American film; reciprocal influences of film and American society. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
CNTV 407: African American Cinema (4, Fa) Intensive survey of African American cinema; topics include history, criticism, politics, and cinema's relationship to other artifacts of African American culture.
CNTV 464: Film Genres (4, max 8, FaSpSm) Rigorous examination of film genres: history, aesthetics, cultural context, social significance, and critical methodologies. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
CNTV 469: Film Style Analysis (4, max 8, FaSpSm) Intensive study of the style of an auteur, studio, or filmmaking mode in terms of thematic and formal properties and their influences upon the art of film. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
Comparative LiteratureCOLT 261gm: Comparative Studies in Black Culture (4, FaSp) Black culture and identity in Africa and the Americas: dilemmas of racial, cultural conflict and integration, vis-‡-vis United States and Western culture in general.
COLT 388: U.S. Latino Fiction and the Literatures of the Americas (4) Reading and comparative study of narrative fiction by U.S. Latino, Spanish American, and American writers. Spanish majors prepare assignments in Spanish. Conducted in English. Recommended preparation: reading knowledge of Spanish.
COLT 462: Pan-African Literature and Culture (4) Comparative studies in African writers; examination of comparable works by European and Black writers in the West.
EconomicsECON 348g: Current Problems of the American Economy (4, Fa) A comprehensive investigation of problems stemming from changing composition of the work force, urban decline, new technologies, inequalities, ethnic relations, government deficits. Prospects for continued growth. (Duplicates credit in former ECON 201.) Prerequisite: ECON 203 or ECON 205.
EnglishENGL 246xgm: Introduction to African-American Literature (4, Irregular) An introduction to works of Afro-American authors illustrating scope, quality, and literary techniques and themes.
ENGL 440: American Literature to 1865 (4, FaSp) American poetry and prose to the Civil War with special attention to Irving, Cooper, Poe, Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
ENGL 441: American Literature, 1865 to 1920 (4, FaSp) American poetry and prose with special attention to Twain, James, Dickinson, Henry Adams, Crane, and Dreiser. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
ENGL 442: American Literature, 1920 to the Present (4, FaSp) American poetry, fiction, and drama since World War I with special attention to Eliot, Frost, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, O'Neill, Stevens, Faulkner, and Nabokov. Corequisite: ENGL 263.
ENGL 451: Periods and Genres in American Literature (4, max 8, Irregular) A concentrated reading and criticism of the works of one period or one genre of American literature; for example, colonial literature, the American Renaissance, American poetry, American drama.
ENGL 445m: The Literatures of America: Cross-cultural Perspectives (4) Introduction to African-American, Chicano, Asian-American, and Native-American literatures and to the literary diversity of American cultures.
ENGL 446: African-American Poetry and Drama (4) Survey of black poetry and plays in America from the Emancipation to the present, with special emphasis on the new poets and dramatists of the current Black revolution.
ENGL 447m: African-American Narrative (4) Development of the novel in African-American literature beginning with the anti-slavery fiction of William W. Brown and his pre-Emancipation contemporaries and concluding with the emerging novelists of the late sixties.
ENGL 448m: Chicano and Latino Literature (4) Development of the poetry, essay, short story, and novel of the Chicano and Latino peoples of the United States, with particular emphasis on the differentiating characteristics between the multiple cultures that constitute the Latino populations.
ENGL 449m: Asian-American Literature (4, Irregular) Survey of Asian-American literature from the earliest time to the present; development of prose, poetry, and novel. California and the West.
ENGL 470: Women in English and American Literature after 1800 (4) Women as writers and as subjects, with special emphasis on feminist and liberationist traditions and on changing female images after 1800.
ENGL 473: Literature and Society (4, FaSp) Theoretical and applied studies of literature in English as social activity and cultural production; its expression of, and influence upon, social values, concepts, and behavior.
ENGL 476m: Images of Women in Contemporary Culture (4) Representations of women and gender relations in contemporary literature and mass culture, using the tools of feminist, literary, and political theory.
Fine ArtsFA 371g: 20th Century Art from Post-Impressionism to 1930 (4, Fa or Sp) Chronological survey of major modern art movements in both the United States and Europe, from post-impressionism to 1930.
FA 477: American Art from the 17th Century to 1890 (4, Fa or Sp) Painting, sculpture, architecture, and related arts from colonial times to 1890. Prerequisite: FA 121 or departmental approval.
FA 479: American Art from 1890 to the Present (4, Fa or Sp) Painting, sculpture, architecture, and related arts from 1890 to the present. Prerequisite: FA 121 or departmental approval.
FA 140x: A Cultural Guide to Los Angeles (2, FaSp) An experiential and critical survey of the cultural phenomena that make up Los Angeles: dance, music, theater, film; emphasis on visual arts.
FA 376m: Introduction to African Art (4, FaSp) An introduction to sub-Saharan art (sculpture, textiles, architecture, masquerades, performances and body arts) in the context of issues of function, gender, politics and ethnic diversity.
FA 472: History of California Art 1900-1965 (4, Fa or Sp) Developments in visual and plastic arts on the West coast from 1900 through the mid-1960s. Emphasis on aesthetic legacy of the Pacific Rim.
GeographyGEOG 100gm: Los Angeles and the American Dream (4, FaSp) Evolution of Los Angeles and its role in the American Dream. Diversity in social/spatial organization, urban experiences, access to resources, and exposure to environmental risks. Empirical approaches in geography.
GEOG 222g: Geography of American Politics (4, 2 years, Sp) Historical and contemporary examination of American democratic practice from a geographical perspective, including political cultures, voting patterns, gerrymandering, and geography of legal institutions.
GEOG 310g: Approaches to the Study of Cities (4, 2 years, Fa) Review of methodologies employed by urban researchers in the study of cities and their environments; special emphasis on ethnicity, community structures, and urban institutions.
GEOG 324gm: Los Angeles and the Evolution of Urban America (4, 2 years, Sp) Compares and contrasts the evolution of Los Angeles with the broader traditions of urban America. Emphasis upon political, social, and morphological elements of these evolutions.
GEOG 326: Los Angeles Landscapes (4, 2 years, Sp) An exploration and interpretation of social symbols visible in landscapes of selected Los Angeles neighborhoods and regions.
GEOG 331: Geography of the United States and Canada (4, Irregular) Regional characteristics of the United States and Canada relating to the physical, economic, and cultural environment.
GEOG 340gm: Geography of the Chicano Southwest (4, Sp) Examines spatial and human-environment patterns of the Southwestern U.S. Emphasis on issues of representation, gender, Òrace,Ó and power relations among Chicano and Anglo populations.
GEOG 350gm: Race and Environmentalism (4, Sp) Relationships between environmentalism, environmental problems and racial-ethnic minorities. Rise of environmental justice movement. Assessment of social science methods used to investigate these relationships.
GEOG 425: Historical Geography of the United States (4, Irregular) Geographic factors in American history; examination of human geography in the past; changing interrelationships of the physical environment and historical processes.
GerontologyGERO 433: Ethnicity and Aging (2 or 4) Examination of the characteristics and needs of various ethnic and minority aging groups and how government and other social institutions can respond to them.
HistoryHIST 250g: History of the Black American (4, Fa) A historical and social analysis of the Black American from the 17th century to the present.
HIST 317: North American Indians in American Public Life (4, Sp) (Enroll in ANTH 316).
HIST 341: American Social History (4, Irregular) The social history of the American peoples from Colonial times until the 20th century, to include industrialization, urbanization, women, families, workers, immigration, ethnicity, racism, radicalism.
HIST 342g: War and the American Experience (4, Fa) Comparative historical analysis of the American experience of war: war decision-making processes; evolution of strategy and tactics; the political, economic, and social effects of war.
HIST 345: Men and Women in United States History from the 1920s to the Present (4) Investigation of the roles and relationships of men and women in American society and culture from the era of the 'flapper' to the era of the 'yuppie'.
HIST 346: American Intellectual History (4, Sp) Study of major American ideas and values as reflected in philosophy, political and economic thought, religion, and social movements.
HIST 347: Urbanization in the American Experience (4, Irregular) The American city in interdisciplinary perspective; emphasis on growth and change in relation to architecture, urban planning, demography, and ethnic politics.
HIST 349: Film, Power, and American Social History (4) U.S. motion picture as both response to and comment upon the major events in 20th century America.
HIST 354: Mexican Migration to the United States (4, 2 years, Fa) Mexican migration from the 1850s to the present, emphasizing labor migrants to the United States.
HIST 356: The Old South (4, Irregular) The South from Colonial days to 1860; slavery, the plantation system, politics; important social and economic problems.
HIST 357: The New South (4, Irregular) Economic and political change, racial problems, society, and culture in the American south from 1877 to the present.
HIST 378: History of Asian Immigration to the United States (4, Irregular) Asian immigration to the U.S., 1870-1980, emphasizing Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese communities. Special attention will be given to Los Angeles Asian groups.
HIST 455: Advanced Topics in African-American History (4) Exploration of African-American history through primary and secondary sources employing a colloquium format with an emphasis on shared responsibility for comprehensive discussion and analysis. Upper division or graduate standing.
HIST 457: The American West (4, Irregular) The nation's westward movement from Colonial times to the present, with emphasis on the frontierÕs effect on American life and institutions.
HIST 458: History of California (4, 2 years, Sp) Exploration, colonization, and development of Hispanic California; coming of the Americans; political, economic, and cultural development of California since its acquisition by the United States.
HIST 472: History of the Mexican-American (4, Irregular) Racial and cultural background of Mexico, 1519-1900; immigration and conquest; the Mexican in California and the southwest. The rise of contemporary Mexican-American consciousness.
JournalismJOUR461 Literature of Journalism (4) Survey of journalistic careers and times; the influence of editing and reporting on such American writers as Whitman, Twain, Cather, Crane, Runyon, Lardner, and Hemingway.
JOUR466 Minorities and the Media (4) Reporting and portrayal of minorities in the United States; impact of racial diversity on media, employment and access, and development of media for minorities. Open to non-majors.
JOUR467 Women, Men and Media (4) Changing images of both sexes. Effect of womenÕs increased participation on content and style of news, television, and movies; the new feminine mystique. Open to non-majors.
LinguisticsLING315g Language, Society, and Culture (4, FaSp) Interrelationships of language and culture; the patterned covariation between language and society; social meaning; conversational analysis.
LING375 Sociolinguistics (4, 2 years, Sp) Linguistic and cultural pluralism in the U.S.; distributional and structural characteristics of selected urban and minority dialects; the relationship between dialects and media standard. Prerequisite: LING 210.
MusicMUHL100xg Jazz, Ragtime, and Blues (4) Historical evolution of jazz from its origins to present day; elements of musical structures and jazz styles. Not available for credit to jazz studies majors.
MUHL486 Jazz Masters of the 20th Century (2) Examination of major artists of the jazz tradition with emphasis on the innovators of each period. Detailed analysis of selected repertoire.
PhilosophyPHIL140g Contemporary Moral and Social Issues (4, FaSp) Application of philosophical theories in ethics to problems such as racial and sexual discrimination, I.Q., and social justice, rights of animals, law and morality, and privacy.
PHIL425 American Philosophy (4) Leading figures and movements in American philosophy; works of such philosophers as Jonathan Edwards, Charles Pierce, William James, John Dewey, and C.I. Lewis.
Planning and DevelopementPLDV100m Los Angeles, The Enduring Pueblo (4, Sp) Ethnic history of Los Angeles, emphasis placed on architecture, city systems, and development. Multiplicity of cross-connections shaped by race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
Political SciencePOSC300 Principles, Institutions, and Great Issues of American Democracy (4) Underlying principles of American democracy; major issues of contemporary public policy in national and state institutions.
POSC320 Urban Politics (4) Evolution of contemporary institutions; differing views of community power; major policies; state and federal relations to local governments; metropolitan community problems.
POSC333gm Stigma and Society: Physical Disability in America (4) Political activity involving disabled persons; development of public policy regarding disabled citizens.
POSC334 Interest Groups and Elite Behavior (4) Introduction to interest group and elite views of the American system, including recent interest group theory and findings and the general critiques of power distribution in American society.
POSC375 American Political Thought (4) Historical and topical review of American political philosophy from the Puritans to the present. Special emphasis on such recurrent themes as equality, democracy, and racism.
POSC381 Sex, Power, and Politics (4) An evaluation of the ways in which different ideologies, institutions, and policies contribute to differences in political power between men and women.
POSC421 Ethnic Politics (4) Analysis of the political behavior and roles of ethnic and racial groups in the American political system; public policy issues and patterns of political action are examined.
POSC422 Political Attitudes and Behavior (4) The citizenÕs political world; political socialization, opinion formation and dissemination; development of political cultures and subcultures; political mobilization; personality and politics.
POSC423 Presidents and the Presidency (4) Presidential coalition; sources of presidential power; recent leadership styles; decision-making within the presidency.
POSC425 Legislative Process (4) Individual behavior and decision-making within legislatures; changing executive-legislative functions; legislative functions; relationships to political systems in comparative perspective.
POSC427 Black Politics in the American Political System (4) The effects of the organization of the American political system and its operations on blacks and other minorities.
POSC435 Politics and the Economy (4) Major techniques, politics, and values involved in the allocation of social and economic resources. Includes such topics as determination of priorities in budgetary processes, economic regulation, control of environmental change, and policies for science.
POSC437 Mass Media and Politics (4) Analysis of political content of mass media. Audience response to alternative sources of political information. Consideration of the institutional and economic as well as political aspects of the mass media.
POSC441m Cultural Diversity and the Law (4) Jurisprudential approach to the study of cultural differences. Consideration of circumstances under which law should accommodate cultural diversity in the United States and abroad.
Public AdministrationPPMT408a Los Angeles Semester (4) Intensive seminar with field work in the nature of the urban communitry; its culture, economics, environment, politics, and social problems.
ReligionREL302 Religious Vision and American Women Writers (4) Theological and poetic expression of the religious vision of selected contemporary women writers.
REL341g Ethics in a Technological Society (4) Value questions arising from the impact of technology on individuals, social institutions, and culture.
REL461 Business and Society (4) Theories of corporate social responsibility from contrasting points of view and the relation of social responsibility to theories of management ethics, utilizing case studies.
REL469 Black Religion in America (4) Historical, sociological, and theological analysis of the nature and role of black religion in the American setting.
REL481 History of Religion in America (4) Intellectual, institutional, and social history of religion in America from colonial times to the present.
SociologySOCI250g Social Problems (4, FaSp) Analysis of factors in current American social problems: crime, delinquency, prostitution, family disorganization, race relations, mental illness.
SOCI331 Cities (4) Organization of urban society, including such topics as segregation, urban decay, local politics, residential change, and community conflict.
SOCI342gm Race Relations (4, Sp) Past and present relations between the White majority and the Òconquered minoritiesÓ (Blacks, Chicanos, American Indians), as well as Asian immigrants; conflict vs. assimilation perspectives.
SOCI345 Social Institutions (4) Cultural and interactional aspects of social institutions as complex social systems; religious, political, industrial, and familial institutions.
SOCI355gm Immigrants in the United States (4) Social construction of historical and contemporary immigration to the United States, including causes of migration, immigration policies, and the socioeconomic integration of immigrants.
SOCI356m Mexican Immigrants in a Diverse Society (4, FaSp) Effects of class, global inequality, legal status, gender, racial/ethnic, and language differences in distinguishing Mexican immigrant populations from the U.S.-born population; differentiation among Mexican immigrants.
SOCI360gm Social Inequality: Class, Status, and Power (4) Inequalities in wealth, prestige, and power in the United States; the American class structure and the extent of upward mobility in that structure.
SOCI366m Chicana and Latina Experiences (4) Sociological examination of Chicana and Latina experiences in the western region of the United States; issues of family, work, media, education and sexuality.
SOCI369 The Family in a Changing Society (4, Fa) Changing family patterns; personality development; family unity, predicting success in marriage; the family in transition; crises such as economic changes, death, divorce; family reorganization.
SOCI375m Asian Americans: Ethnic Identity and Social Change (4, FaSp) Cultural images and stereotypes, gender, immigration history, social class, politics, and social problems in Asian American communities.
SOCI376m Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities (4, FaSp) Survey of current social and political issues facing Asian American communities with emphasis on Los Angeles region; design and implementation of community-based research projects.
SOCI435m Women in Society (4) Women today in the labor force, in politics, and in the family. Past and contemporary attempts to expand the position of women in society.
Spanish and PortugueseSPAN413m Social and Geographic Varieties of Spanish (4, Fa) Historical, social, and cultural elements represented in the dialectal diversity of the Spanish language; fieldwork in bilingual communities in the United States. Majors prepare assignments in Spanish, non-majors in English. Conducted in Spanish and English. Prerequisite: Reading knowledge of Spanish and departmental approval.
SPAN479 Comparative Chicano/Mexican Cultures (4) Comparative examination of Mexican and Chicano cultures through a social and historical approach; analysis of representative works. Coordinated lectures, readings, field trips, and cultural events. Prerequisite: SPAN 220, SPAN 295.
Study of Women and Men in SocietySWMS301gm Introduction to Feminist Theory and the Women's and Men's Movements (4, FaSpSm) Theories of feminism; historical, social and cultural perspectives of the women's movement in America, Europe, and in developing countries; men's roles in the feminist movement.
SWMS305gm Sex/Gender/Sexuality as an Issue in American Public Life (4) American government analyzed historically as a male institution, women's participation in politics, sex as a public issue, and the role of sexual minorities in politics.
SWMS364m Racial and Ethnic Women in America (4, Fa) Dynamics of gender, race and class that have shaped the lives of women in the U.S.; social, political and economic factors; historical and contemporary experiences.
SWMS384m Overcoming Prejudice (4, Fa) Analysis of the most effective strategies and techniques for reducing prejudice against racial/ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and others subjected to stigma.
TheatreTHTR526 Seminar in Dramatic Literature (4) Study and analysis of world drama best representing changes in philosophies, aesthetics, and tastes of audiences.
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