INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN STUDIES I

Aspects of American Culture

AMST 211—Fall 2008

 

Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D.                                                                                                         Course Room No.:  S17-229

Class UTH:  9:00-9:50 [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]                                                         INTERNET:  cscpo@arts.uob.bh

Office Hours:  By appointment                                                                                                       Office No.:  S17-263

VOICE:  17438775 (W)                                                                                                                                  39631156 (H)

                                                                                                                                                       

An interdisciplinary course that examines the ways different disciplines have approached the study of American culture.  Students are introduced to the main cultural movements in American history and to contemporary intellectual debates within the field.

 

Grading Policy:  20% for Attendance*; 20% for the Class Presentation; 20% for the Midterm Exam; 20% for the Research Paper; and 20% for the Final Exam. A Guidelines sheet will be distributed outlining the requirements for your Class Presentation and for your Research Paper.

 

Grading Scale:  93-100=A; 90-92=A-; 88-89=B+; 83-87=B; 80-82=B-; 78-79=C+; 73-77=C; 70-72=C-; 68-69=D+; 63-67=D; 60-62=D-; 0-59=F

 

Attendance Policy*:  Attendance in class is mandatory.  It is the student’s responsibility to sign the attendance sheet each day of class; failure to sign the attendance sheet—even if in attendance—will be counted as an absence.  If your unexcused absences exceed 25% of the total number of lectures of the course in this semester, you will be automatically withdrawn from the course and be given a grade of (WF) which will be counted towards your GPA.  As well, you are expected to follow the syllabus and accordingly be prepared for each day's class.  This means that you must read the pre-assigned readings before class so that you will be prepared to discuss and debate in class the subject matter scheduled for that day and answer questions related to the issues being covered.

 

* Absence from class may be made up by preparing a two-page, typed (i.e. using maximum 12 point font size and maximum double-spaced text with one-inch margin on all sides), summary on the missed material scheduled to be covered the day(s) of your absence.  The summary must be in your own words and must not be copied material from the text(s), the internet, or any other source(s).  All summaries must be turned in to me by the last day of classes if you want credit for your absences.

 

Cell Phone Policy:  TURN OFF all cell phones during class.  Any student whose cell phone rings, sounds alarm, or makes any noise whatsoever during class must immediately leave the classroom for that day.  This policy applies to any electronic device students carry with them.

 

 

Texts:

 

InfoUSA:  Information USA [CD-ROM].  2007-2008.  Washington, D.C.:  U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs.  [Supplied by professor.]

 

NOTE:  All class readings from InfoUSA are also available online and can be printed from the AMST 211 class webpage:   [http://userspages.uob.edu.bh/cscpo/amst211.htm]

 

Handouts Provided From:

 

Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle.  2001.  Rereading America:  Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing, Fifth Edition.  Boston, MA:  Bedford/St. Martin’s.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.  February 23, 1968.  Honoring Dr. Du Bois.  New York, NY:  Freedomways Magazine.

 

Sept. 14:  Introduction to American Studies I  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]

 

Sept. 16:  The Self-Made Man  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]

 

Film:  Benjamin Franklin, DVD (Part 1)

 

Sept. 18:  [Last day for dropping courses]

 

Sept. 18:  The Gentleman Farmer  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]

 

Film:  Benjamin Franklin, DVD (Part 2)

 

Sept. 21:  The Historical Context of the U.S. “American” Revolution  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:   Information USA [CD-ROM]:  “The Mayflower Compact” (1620); Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1737:  Preface, “Hints for those that would be Rich,” Maxims

 

Sept. 23: The Historical Context of the U.S. “American” Revolution  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1742:  Preface, Maxims, “Rules of Health and long Life…,” and “Rules to find out a fit Measure of Meat and Drink”

 

Sept. 25:  The Historical Context of the U.S. “American” Revolution  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Poor Richard’s Almanack Improved, 1758:  Preface (including “The Way to Wealth”), Maxims

 

Sept. 28-Nov. 20:  Withdrawal Period with (W)

 

Sept. 28:  Benjamin Franklin's Phenomenal Influence on American Culture  [Ramadan—9:10-9:50]

 

Film:  Benjamin Franklin, DVD (Part 2—Role in the American Revolution)

 

Sept. 30-Oct. 1-3:  Eid Al-Fitr holidays 1429—[no classes]

 

Oct. 5:  Development of Political Parties & The Peaceful Transfer of Power

 

Film:  Thomas Jefferson, DVD (Part I)

 

Oct. 7:  Development of Political Parties & The Peaceful Transfer of Power

 

Film:  Thomas Jefferson, DVD (Part II)

 

Oct. 9:  Slavery & The Abolitionist Movement

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  The Amistad Revolt: A Historical Legacy of Sierra Leone and the United States (1839)

 

Oct. 12:  Individualism

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance” (1841)

 

Oct. 14:  What Kind of Government Should Command a Man’s Respect?

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1846)

 

Oct. 16:  What Kind of Government Should Command a Man’s Respect?

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience (1846)

 

Oct. 19:  All Men and Women Are Created Equal

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Seneca Falls Declaration (1848)

 

 

 

Oct. 21:  This Fourth of July is Yours, Not Mine

 

Readings:  Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852)  [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Oct. 23:  This Fourth of July is Yours, Not Mine

 

Readings:  Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852)  [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Oct. 26:  Freedom for Slaves as A Goal of the Civil War

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

 

Oct. 28:   The Proposition That All Men Are Created Equal—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Information USA [CD-ROM]:  Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg Address (1863)

 

Oct. 30:  The American Family

 

Readings:   Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  Harmony at Home:  “The Myth of the Model Family”;  Norman Rockwell:  “A Family Tree, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Nov. 2:  Education

 

Readings:   Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  “Learning Power:  The Myth of Education and Empowerment”

 

Nov. 4:  Education—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Horace Mann:  “From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1848”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet and also on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Nov. 6:  Midterm Exam

 

Nov.  9-13:  Mid-Semester break holiday—[no classes]

 

Nov. 16:  Self-Help & Economic Success—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  “Money and Success:  The Myth of Individual Opportunity”;  Horatio Alger, from Ragged Dick, Chapter XVII:  "Dick's First Appearance in Society" [on the AMST 211 class webpage];  Horatio Alger, from Ragged Dick, 1867, Ch. XXVI:  "An Exciting Adventure."  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Nov. 18:  Class Divisions

 

Readings:  In Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  Gregory Mantsios:  “Class in America:  Myths and Realities”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Nov. 20:  Race Divisions

 

Readings:  Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  “Created Equal:  The Myth of the Melting Pot”;  Thomas Jefferson, from Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781, Ch. 14, "'Laws':  The administration of justice and description of the laws?"  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet and also on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Nov. 23:  Race Divisions

 

Readings:  In Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  Ronald Takaki:  “Race at the End of History”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Nov. 25:  Class & Race Divisions—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Martin Luther King, Jr.:  “Honoring Dr. Du Bois” [1968] [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

 

 

Nov. 27:  Class & Race Divisions

 

Readings:  Martin Luther King, Jr.:  “Honoring Dr. Du Bois” [1968] [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Nov. 30:  Gender Divisions

 

Readings:  Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  “True Women and Real Men:  Myths of Gender”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Dec. 2:  Gender Divisions—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

 

Readings:  Alexis de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America, Vol. II, Sec. 3, Ch. XII:  “How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet and also on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 4:  The Melting Pot Reconsidered

 

Readings:  In Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  George M. Fredrickson:  “Models of American Ethnic Relations:  A Historical Perspective”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Dec. 7:  Arafh holiday—[no classes]

 

Dec. 8-10:  Eid Al-Adha holidays 1429—[no classes]

 

Dec. 11:  The Wild West

 

Readings:  Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle:  “Westward Ho!:  The Myth of Frontier Freedom”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Dec. 14:  The Wild West [continued]

 

Readings:  Frederick Jackson Turner, from The Frontier In American History, Ch. 1:  “The Significance of the Frontier in American History’”  [In Colombo, et al. Booklet]

 

Dec. 16-17:  National Day of Bahrain holidays—[no classes]

 

Dec. 18:  Theories of Culture

 

Readings:  “Culture:  From Encyclopedia.com” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 21:  Theories of Culture

 

Readings:  Mick Brooks, “Historical Materialism” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 23:  Theories of Culture  [Research Papers Due]

 

Readings:  Mick Brooks, “Historical Materialism” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 25:  Theories of Culture [Last Day for In-Class Presentations] 

 

Readings:  Jon Marcoux, “Cultural Materialism” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 28:  Theories of Culture

 

Readings:  Jon Marcoux, “Cultural Materialism” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Dec. 29:  Al-Hijra new year holiday—[no classes]

 

Dec. 30:  Theories of Culture

 

Readings:  “Culture Defined:  A recent etymology of the word ‘culture’”;  “Culture:  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Jan. 1, 2009:  New Year’s holiday—[no classes]

 

Jan. 4, 2008:  Theories of Culture

 

Readings:  “Culture Defined:  A recent etymology of the word ‘culture’”;  “Culture:  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” [on the AMST 211 class webpage]

 

Jan. 5, 2009:  Last day of classes; Review

 

Jan. 7-8, 2009:  Ashura Holiday

 

Jan. 17, 2009:  Final Exam  8:30-10:30

 

Jan. 25, 2009:  Last day for submitting first semester’s grades

 

Jan. 25-Feb. 21, 2009:  Inter-semester Break [Holidays]