American culture and cultural change, with attention to the multicultural basis of American society and emphasis on the need for multiple methods of analysis. The course will consistently draw on the arts, material culture, and various fields affecting cultural production and meaning. Those areas include literature, film, history, architecture, history of art, religion, music, engineering, environmental studies, anthropology, politics, economics, law, and medicine. This course may include discussion sections depending on available funding. Some versions of this course need four in-class contact hours because of the extensive use of media.

This course introduces the art, music, literature, politics, religion, and folklore that define the city of New Orleans. Students will read and discuss important books about the city; investigate primary sources from local archives in a variety of mediums; and learn about historical neighborhoods whose architecture and design suggest the complex legacies of colonialism and the slave trade. Across the course, we will consider how culture and society are structured by persisting struggles over group identity conditioned by the city’s history of creolization. This is an online course. All lectures are prerecorded and available to watch at your convenience. This approach gives us the opportunity to engage with many of the city’s most important musicians, activists, artists, writers, and community leaders who will share guest lectures, demonstrations, and performances they have produced for our course.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for American Studies 10 after completing American Studies 10AC. A deficient grade in American Studies 10 may be removed by taking American Studies 10AC.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills