Introduction to different types of college-level writing through analyses of contemporary American culture and to the main themes and approaches used in American studies and the humanities.

Emergence and transformation of laws, ideologies, institutions, and social movements from the 17th-21st centuries. Emphasis on relationships among structures of power, representational practices, belief systems, and social action. Writing emphasis, interdisciplinary perspectives. DH

Literature and modern media; visual and performing arts; material culture and architecture; foodways and ritual as meaning-making processes that have shaped the diverse identities, spaces, and communities of the Americas. Writing emphasis, interdisciplinary perspectives. DH

Interdisciplinary survey that examines the histories, politics, popular representations, self-representations, and contemporary issues of the indigenous peoples of the U.S. and its territories, including Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Kanaka Maoli, Chamorro, and Samoans.

Will analyze examples from the visual and performing arts, including murals, digital art, film, poetry, and music, paying particular attention to the connections and influence upon social and political movements, both historically and today. A-F only

Survey tracing hip-hop from its Afro-Carribean musical beginnings to contemporary adaptations and interpretations. Students will analyze various materials and will pay attention to the relationships between hip-hop and contemporary social forms. Pre: sophomore standing or consent.

Examination of demands for and the changing nature of justice, historical and contemporary, through court cases, legislation, presidential orders, and social movements that address legal, social, and political definitions of Asian America. Sophomore standing or higher

Explores experiences of Japanese Americans in Hawaiʻi and the U.S.: historical and cultural heritage, biographical portraits, changing family ties, ethnic lifeways, gender relations, local identity, and the future of island living. Emphasis: oral communication skills. DH

Traces the history and culture of African Americans and outlines contemporary issues. Topics include: slavery and racism, community formation and resistance, cultural expression, African American diversity, civil rights, gender and class relations.

History of U.S. women and gender relations. Topics include women’s work in and outside the household, women’s involvement in social movements, changing norms about gender and sexuality, and shared and divergent experiences among women. (Cross-listed as HIST 361 and WGSS 311)

Analysis of a variety of American musical genres and histories through focused writing assignments (record and performance reviews, personal narratives, interviews, research proposals, research papers). Pre: second year standing or consent. (Alt. years)

History of selected Asian immigrant groups from the 19th century to the present. Topics include: immigration and labor history, Asian American movements, literature and cultural productions, community adaptations and identity formation. Pre: junior standing or higher. (Cross-listed as ES 318)

Examines WWII as a watershed in American and Hawai‘i history and culture. Topics  include: Pearl Harbor, Japanese American internment, sex and racial tensions, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and the dawn of the Atomic Age.

Surveys church-state jurisprudence since the 1940s, with special attention to difficulty of defining religion, and applies the religion clauses to current issues. A-F only. Sophomore standing or higher. Pre: consent. (Once a year) (Cross-listed as POLS 325)

Examination of the history and ethics of folklore studies and the dynamics and social functions of traditional culture in diverse communities through topics such as ritual, storytelling, games, gossip, belief, music, and cultural tourism. Junior standing or higher.
(Cross-listed as ANTH 326)

Seminar on the impact of the digital revolution and virtual communities on American culture and society, with an emphasis on questions of identity and participatory democracy. Open to non majors. Pre: one DH, DA, or DL course, sophomore standing, or consent.

Examination of American religious traditions, both historical and contemporary, with an emphasis on the principles of religious liberty, non-establishment, and pluralism. Pre: sophomore standing or consent.

Examination of a range of media, including photography, film, print journalism, television, video games, and the internet, as they have shaped popular representations and
experiences of war in America from the Civil War through the present. A-F only. (Alt. years)

Politics, family, philosophy, technology, etc.; their interrelationship with the total society. Pre-Colonial to end of Reconstruction. (Cross-listed as HIST 373)

Continuation of 343: 20th century. Pre: 150 or 201 or 202 or 211 or 212 or HIST 151 or HIST 152; or consent. (Cross-listed as HIST 374)

Analyzes selected historical examples of religious conflicts in America, discerning characteristic patterns of American religious discourse, and identifying the social structures, interests, and ethical principles at stake in conflicts about religion. Sophomore standing or higher. (Fall only) (Crosslisted as REL 345)

Examination of design in American culture over the last century. Readings in industrial, graphic, interior, architectural, landscape, and user interface design used to study issues of gender, race, and class in the U.S. Open to all class standings. A-F only. (Alt. years)

Investigates design in contemporary American culture. Graphic, industrial, urban, and user-interface design practices are situated within broader social and economic forces. Modes of design practice, production, and consumption studied as reflection of American society today. Open to all class standings. A-F only. (Alt. years)

Study of the role of the arts in American society and diverse cultural practices in historical and contemporary contexts.

Survey of Asian and Asian American representations in American film and television from the silent era to the present, with an emphasis on Orientalism and multiculturalism, as well as performance and spectatorship. SCA majors: A-F only. Pre: junior standing or consent. (Cross-listed as CINE 352)

Examines indigenous practices born of and located in Indigenous places. Analyzes how indigenous knowledge of place informs Indigenous cultural, linguistic, intellectual, and political survivance and sovereignty, and resistance.

Survey examines the roles that travel writing plays in American identity- and nation-formation, from early colonial history to the present. A-F only. Pre: 110, 150, 201, 202, 211, or 212. (Alt. years)

Introductory history of American cinema from the silent to the digital era, with an emphasis on criticism, genre and style, as well as cultural and sociopolitical context.

Examines the interplay between an “American culture of empire” and the rise of the U.S. as a superpower. Topics: imperialism and political culture, social movements and international affairs, race, gender and class relations. (Cross-listed as HIST 379)

Overview of methods and methodologies drawn from various fields (including history, politics, literature, art, law and race, Indigenous, gender, and sexuality studies) for conducting interdisciplinary research. Models of writing from AMST faculty; emphasis on writing.

Interdisciplinary, comparative course examining native literary texts (novels, short fiction, poetry), films, etc. that address issues of representation and how native peoples actively resist colonial ideology.

An exploration of how Asian American music making is related to community formation, labor migration, and cultural sensibilities throughout the 20th century.

Research and thematic seminar on Japanese American culture, issues, and history. Pre: junior standing or consent.

Definition of a Southern identity and its relation to the larger U.S. culture, using literary and polemical works of 19th- and 20th-century.

The natural world in American thought from Native Americans to modern ecologists.

History of American architecture in terms of style, techniques, and symbolic meaning. (Cross-listed as ARCH 473)

Survey history of the complex relations between American societies and diverse U.S. ecosystems, from European contact and colonization to the present. (Cross-listed as HIST 480 and SUST 481)

Conditions of labor in major phases of American development; response of labor and community to changing work environment. Capitalism, unionism, race, gender, law, etc. Emphasis on 20th century. (Cross-listed as HIST 477)

Examines the history of slavery, race, and abolition in the Americas from a comparative, global perspective, and traces the legacy of slavery in the post-emancipation societies of the New World. (Cross-listed as HIST 473)

Colonialism, neocolonialism, and cultures of resistance in the Caribbean and its North American diaspora through literature, film, and the arts. Focus on political dissent; nation building; historical memory; construction of gender, race. Writing emphasis. Junior standing or higher. A-F only

Focus on various aspects of Trans* identities, biographies, cultural productions, and communities. It also addresses issues on racism, medical intervention, dating, societal condemnation, mental health, and incarceration. Junior standing or higher. (Cross-listed as WGSS 493)

Racial ideas and ideologies, and their effects throughout American history. (Cross-listed as HIST 476)

Examination of mass mobilization in U.S. history from the Revolution forward, including abolitionism, feminism, civil rights, labor, and more. Concludes with analysis of various community organizing efforts today.

An exploration of the critique of racial ideologies in American film. The course also examines how aggrieved communities develop cultural sensibilities, aesthetic choices and politicized identities through film, video and media work.

Investigates gender representation in the evolving genre of American action cinema through combined stylistic and cultural analysis, with special attention to the relationship of gendered action to categories of morality, race, class, and nation. Junior standing or consent. (Cross-listed as WGSS 466)

Examination of the history and significance of melodrama as a dominant mode of American cultural production from the early republic to the present, with a focus on issues of race, gender, and national identity.

Major themes, modes, and media of popular or mass culture in the U.S.; emphasis on cultural trends and social implications.

Novelists, painters, poets, jazz musicians as examples of culture of the 1920s and 1930s in America.

Emphasis on the 18th and 19th centuries. Pre: 202 or ART 176, or consent. (Cross-listed as ART 472)

Studies the interpretive strategies and methods used by museums to communicate with visitors in museums, art galleries, historic sites, parks, and related places. Considers how interpretations contribute to cultural knowledge. Repeatable one time. Pre: consent. (Crosslisted as ART 481)

American attitudes toward Africa, as well as how Africa has functioned within the dynamics of American culture and history.

Examination of various forms of U.S. engagement with Asia, with particular attention to the role of Hawai‘i as the site, agent, and object of engagement. Emphasis on developing critical reading and expository writing skills.

Examines religious and ethical conflicts about sexuality and gender nonconformity in contemporary America. Students gain knowledge, practical wisdom, and communication skills to negotiate moral disagreement in a pluralistic society. Pre: junior standing or consent.

Lectures and discussions on historic preservation issues in Hawai‘i, Asia, and the Pacific. Emphasis on indigenous and national expressions. Pre: junior standing or consent. (Cross-listed as ARCH 474)

Survey of world maritime history from earliest times to the present, with emphasis on the evolution of nautical technology, motives from maritime enterprises, and the impact of cross-cultural encounters between oceanic peoples. (Cross-listed as HIST 489)