Spring 2023 Courses in American Studies, Cherokee, and Folklore

AMST 051 – NAVIGATING AMERICA – FYS
Instructor: Rachel Willis Time: TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Making Connections Gen Eds: SS, CI, EE- Field Work
Analyze American journeys and destinations, focusing on how resources, technology, transportation, and cultural influences have transformed the navigation and documentation of America. Multimedia documentation of the personal journey is required.

AMST 065 – NORTH CAROLINA BLACK FEMINISMS – FYS
Instructor: Antonia Randolph Time: TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-CREATE or FC-POWER, COMMBEYOND
Students will develop their own sense of Black feminist thought and practice through exploring the lives and works of several key Black feminist figures with ties to North Carolina: Harriet Jacobs, Anna Julia Cooper, Pauli Murray, Ella Baker, Nina Simone, Jaki Shelton Green, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Students will put these figures in the context of Black feminist thought and will do hands-on activities that reflect Black feminist practices including poetry, dance, and painting.

AMST 075 – FOOD AND THE MEDIA – FYS
Instructor: Kelly Alexander Time: TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
IDEAs in Action: FC-CREATE or FC-POWER
This course examines how food representations establish, reproduce, and also counter-cultural and social assumptions about individuals and communities. We will consider the impact of the history of advertising in America on our national food habits and practices, the issue of authenticity in food and its intersection with the American immigrant food experience, the complicated gender politics of resistance baking movements, and the literary voices that shape ideas about American food politics and ethics.

AMST 089 – ASIAN AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH – FYS
Instructor: Kita Douglas Time: MW 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
AMST 102 – MYTH AND HISTORY IN AMERICAN MEMORY – LEC + REC
Instructor: Timothy Marr Time: MW 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST
Making Connections Gen Eds: HS, NA, US
Examines the role of memory in constructing historical meaning and in imagining the boundaries of American cultural communities. Explores popular rituals, artifacts, monuments, and public performances.

AMST 203 – APPROACHES TO AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES – SEM
Instructor: Marissa Carmi Time: TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER
Making Connections Gen Eds: HS, NA, US
Introduces students to the disciplines comprising American Indian studies and teaches them how to integrate disciplines for a more complete understanding of the experiences of American Indian peoples.

AMST 220 – ON THE QUESTION OF THE ANIMAL: CONTEMPORARY ANIMAL STUDIES – LEC
Instructor: Sharon Holland Time: TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES
Making Connections Gen Eds: PH, NA
This course is an introduction to “animal studies,” through animal rights, animal welfare, food studies, and the human/animal distinction in philosophical inquiry. We will read work from dog and horse trainers, and explore the history of the American racetrack. This course builds a moral and ethical reasoning skill set.

AMST 234 – NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBAL STUDIES: CHEROKEE PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE – LEC
Instructor: Benjamin Frey Time: MWF 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST
Making Connections Gen Eds: HS, NA
This course introduces students to a tribally specific body of knowledge. The tribal focus of the course and the instructor change from term to term. Honors version is available.

AMST 235 – NATIVE AMERICA IN THE 20TH CENTURY – LEC + REC
Instructor: Daniel Cobb Time: MW 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST
Making Connections Gen Eds: HS, NA, US
This course deals with the political, economic, social, and cultural issues important to 20th-century Native Americans as they attempt to preserve tribalism in the modern world.

AMST 265 – THE BLACK INTERIOR – SEM
Instructor: Antonia Randolph Time: TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-AESTH or FC-POWER
Making Connections Gen Eds: LA, US
What aesthetics and politics do Black people produce when their gaze is turned inward? This course examines representations of the inner lives of African American people in media such as film, visual art, and music to understand the Black private sphere. This survey course is intended for intermediate-level undergraduate students.

AMST 275 – FOOD & AMERICAN CULTURE – LEC
Instructor: Sharon Holland Time: TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC- POWER or FC-KNOWING
This course will take students on a journey through some of the key moments in “American” food studies and its beginnings across a range of disciplinary homes: the study of nutrition and food security; the study of food systems and the vocabularies that subtend them.

AMST 284 – VISUAL CULTURE: WATCHING WAR IN AMERICAN CULTURE – SEM
Instructor: John Bechtold Time: MWF 12:20 PM – 1:10 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-AESTH
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP
War enters our visual field through a variety of cultural texts. In this course, we will watch films, look at photographs, and consider artistic renditions of contemporary war to determine what kind of knowledge is produced through these modes of communication.

AMST 336 – NATIVE AMERICANS IN FILM – SEM
Instructor: Daniel Cobb Time: W 3:35 PM – 6:35 PM
Making Connections Gen Eds: VP, NA, US
This course is about Hollywood’s portrayal of Indians in film, how Indian films have depicted Native American history, and why the filmic representation of Indians has changed over time.

AMST 375 – CRITICAL FOOD STUDIES: THE SOUTH – LEC
Instructor: Kelly Alexander Time: TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER
Making Connections Gen Eds: SS, US
Explores the historical arc and study of food in America and how culinary cultures reflect regional, national, and global narratives, challenges, and identities. As an intriguing lens on to the American experience, food reveals how race, class, gender, and place are entwined in cuisine, food economies, and interactions.

AMST 460H – RISING WATERS: STRATEGIES FOR RESILIENCE TO THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT – SEM
Instructor: Rachel Willis Time: TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-CREATE or FC-GLOBAL, HI-SERVICE
Making Connections Gen Eds: SS, CI, EE- Service Learning
This service-learning seminar examines water threats to port cities and low-lying areas from sea-level rise, extreme weather, and inadequate infrastructure. The focus is on the Americas, small and barrier islands, and high-hazard regions including the South East and Gulf Coast communities. The APPLES project will focus on North Carolina resilience strategies. Recommended for juniors and seniors. Permission of the instructor for first year students. Honors version is available.

AMST 701 – INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH METHODS – SEM
Instructor: Timothy Marr Time: M 3:35 PM – 6:35 PM
This course will focus on techniques of American studies investigation. Various faculty members will make presentations highlighting approaches including Southern studies, American Indian studies, Material Culture studies, and new media.

CHER 102 – CHEROKEE LANGUAGE II – LANG
Instructor: Benjamin Frey Time: MWF 11:15 AM – 12:05 PM

FOLK 202 – EVERYDAY CULTURES: FOLKLORE IN AMERICA – LEC + REC
Instructor: Patricia Sawin Time: MW 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING
Making Connections Gen Eds: SS, US
An introduction to the study of creativity and aesthetic expression in everyday life, considering both traditional genres and contemporary innovations in the material, verbal, and musical arts.

FOLK 424 – RITUAL, FESTIVAL & PUBLIC CULTURE – SEM
Instructor: Gabrielle Berlinger Time: MW 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH
Making Connections Gen Eds: SS, EE- Field Work
This course explores rituals, festivals, and public cultural performances as forms of complex, collective, embodied creative expression. As sites of popular celebration, conflict resolution, identity definition, and social exchange, they provide rich texts for folkloristic study. We consider how local and global forces both sustain and challenge these forms.

FOLK 481 – JEWISH BELONGING/S: THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF JEWISH EXISTENCE – SEM
Instructor: Gabrielle Berlinger Time: M 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-AESTH or FC-CREATE, RESEARCH
Making Connections Gen Eds: VP, EE- Field Work, US
What makes an object “Jewish”? This seminar examines how we think about, animate, repurpose, and display “Jewish” objects in the public realm, cultural institutions, religious spaces, and the home. We consider how makers and users negotiate objects’ various meanings within the domains of prayer, performance, entertainment, and exhibition. The class curates a final group exhibition of Jewish material culture based on original fieldwork.

FOLK 487 – EVERYDAY STORIES: PERSONAL NARRATIVE & LEGEND – SEM
Instructor: Jordan Lovejoy Time: MW 3:35 PM – 4:50 PM
IDEAs in Action: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING
Making Connections Gen Eds: CI, US
Oral storytelling may seem old-fashioned, but we tell true (or possibly true) stories every day. We will study personal narratives (about our own experiences) and legends (about improbable, intriguing events), exploring the techniques and structures that make them effective communication tools and the influence of different contexts and audiences.

FOLK 860 – ART OF ETHNOGRAPHY – SEM
Instructor: Glenn Hinson Time: TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
A field-based exploration of the pragmatic, ethical, and theoretical dimensions of ethnographic research, addressing issues of experience, aesthetics, authority, and worldview through the lens of cultural encounter. Field research is required.

Download version AMST-CHER-FOLK Spring 2023 Course Descriptions.