APAS Web site AMST Courses Faculty & Staff AMST Major

Courses: Electives

Departments with Approved Courses

The following departments offer pre-approved courses that count towards the American Studies major. Because course offerings change so frequently, please contact the American Studies director if there is a class that seems appropriate for AMST, but is not on this list. Note that not all of the following courses are taught every semester.

Course Listing

African American and African Studies Back to Top

AAS 101 Afro-American Culture
AAS 102 Afro-American Culture
AAS/ANTH 250 Health of Black Folks
AAS/RELC 305 Black Theology of Liberation
AAS/HIUS 323 Rise and Fall of the Slave South
AAS 350 Black Theology
AAS 352 20th-Century South
AAS/HIUS 365 African American History to 1865
AAS/HIUS 366 African American History after 1865
AAS 405 African American Education Post-Emancipation
AAS 405B Geographies of the Black Atlantic
AAS 406 Violence and American Democracy
AAS 406 Race in 20th Century America
AAS 406 Afra-American Indians
American Sign Language


American Sign Language Back to Top

ASL 101-102 Elementary ASL
ASL 201-202 Intermediate ASL
ASL 301 Conversational ASL
ASL 481 Topics in Deaf Studies


Anthropology Back to Top

ANTH 225 Nationalism, Racism, Multiculturalism
ANTH 226 Poverty and Meritocracy
ANTH 227 Race, Gender, and Medical Science
ANTH 235 Introduction to Folklore
ANTH/AAS 250 Health of Black Folks
ANTH 253 North American Indians
ANTH 268 Reading the New York Times
ANTH 285 American Material Culture
ANTH 290 Cultural Politics of American Family Values
ANTH 328 Race, Progress and the WEST
ANTH 335 The Museum in Modern Culture
ANTH 339 American Ethnography and Fieldwork Method
ANTH 345 Native American Languages
ANTH 354 Indians of the American Southwest
ANTH 355 Everyday Life in America
ANTH 357 Peoples, Cultures, and Societies of the Caribbean
ANTH 358 Native American Mythology
ANTH 361 Native American Women
ANTH 365 Asian-American Ethnicity
ANTH 368 Colonizations of the American West
ANTH 383 North American Archaeology
ANTH 385/ARH 355 Material Culture Studies
ANTH 385 Folklore in America
ANTH 387 Archaeology of Virginia
ANTH 389 Southwestern Archaeology
ANTH 401 Anthropology of Colonialism in Virginia
ANTH 401 Ethnography of Blacks in America
ANTH 505 Qualitative Research Methods
ANTH 525 The Experience of Illness and Health in American Society
ANTH 529 Whiteness
ANTH 533 Folklore and Ethnohistorical Research Methodology
ANTH 565 Creole Narratives
ANTH 566 Conquest of the Americas
ANTH 581 Archaeology of the Eastern U. S.
Architecture Back to Top

ARCH 268 Lessons of the City
Architectural History Back to Top

ARH 150 Thomas Jefferson's Architecture
ARH 180 Architecture of Thomas Jefferson
ARH 351 Early American Architecture
ARH 352 Later American Architecture
ARH 353 19th-Century American Architecture
ARH 354 20th-Century American Architecture
ARH 355/ANTH 385 Material Culture Studies
ARH 357 Theories of Modern American Urbanism
ARH 592 Community History Workshop


Art History Back to Top

ARTH 258 American Art
ARTH 259 American Modernism
ARTH 280 Art Since 1945
ARTH 358 Material Life in Early America
ARTH 370 New York School
ARTH 387 West Coast America
ARTH 491 American Art Seminar (topics vary)
ARTH 491 Public Monuments and Memory in America


Common Courses (Humanities) Back to Top

CCFA 202 Arts and Cultures of the Slave South


Drama Back to Top

DRAM 208 The Circus: A Historical Overview
DRAM 307 African American Theatre
DRAM 360 Modern American Theatre and Drama
DRAM 404 Early American Theatre and Drama
DRAM 507 The History of American Popular Entertainments, From Minstrelsy to Madonna
DRAM 508 Performance in the Postmodern Era


Economics Back to Top

ECON 206 American Economic History
ECON 304 Economics of Education
ECON 305 Economics of Welfare Reform
ECON 307 Economics of Gender
ECON 309 Latin American Economic Issues
ECON 333 Public Choice
ECON 416 Economics of Health
ECON 439 Economics of Advertising
ECON 440 Topics in Economic History
ECON 489 Current Policy Issues in Historical Perspective
ECON 431 Economics of the Public Sector
ECON 433 Economics of Taxation
ECON 439 Economics of Advertising


Education Back to Top

EDLF 555 Multicultural Education


English Back to Top

ENAM 311-312 American Literature Survey
ENAM 313-314 African-American Survey
ENAM 315 American Renaissance
ENAM 321 American Romanticism
ENAM 322 Major American Authors (topics vary)
ENAM 330 American Poetry
ENAM 332 Contemporary African-American Drama
ENAM 355 American Sentimentalism
ENAM 355 American Fiction to 1900
ENAM 370 The 1970s
ENAM 382 Black Protest Fiction
ENAM 382 Reading the Black College Campus
ENAM 383 American Introspection
ENAM 385 Folklore in America
ENAM 386 American Film
ENAM 387 Literature of the West
ENAM 388 Literature of the South
ENAM 389 Mass Media and American Culture
ENAM 481-482 Advanced Studies in American Literature (topics vary)
ENAM 483-485 American Studies Sequence
ENAM/ANTH 734 Life History & Oral History

ENMC 312 20th-C. American literature
ENMC 315 Literature of the Americas
ENMC 355 Asian American Fiction
ENMC 481-482 Advanced Studies in 20th-Century Literature (topics vary)

ENGN 550 Gender, Sexuality, and Genre in Hollywood


Environmental Sciences Back to Top

EVSC 230 Politics, Science, and Values
EVSC 376 Watersheds of Lewis & Clark
EVSC 465 Environmental Policymaking in the United States


Environmental Thought & Practice Back to Top

INST 351 Sally Brown Seminar in Environmental Literature


History Back to Top

HIUS 201 American History to 1865
HILA 201 Colonial Latin America
HIUS 202 American History From 1865 to the Present
HIUS 205 Survey of American Military History 1600-1900
HIUS 206 American Economic History
HIST 215 The U.S. and Latin America
HIUS 220 Nature and Technology in America
HIUS 229 American Wests
HIUS/RELC 240 History of American Catholics
HIUS 301 The Colonial Period of American History
HIUS 303 The Era of the American Revolution
HIUS 305 The Age of Jefferson and Jackson
HIUS 307 The Coming of the Civil War
HIUS 309 The Civil War and Reconstruction
HILA 311 Public Life in Latin America
HIUS 313 The Emergence of Modern America
HIUS 315 United States Society and Politics, 1900-1945
HIUS 316 Viewing America, 1940 to the Present
HIUS 317 United States Society and Politics, 1945-1990
HIST 320 History, Museums, and Interpretation
HIUS 323 Rise and Fall of the Old South
HIUS 324 The South in the Twentieth Century
HIUS 327 20th Century West
HIUS 329 History of Virginia Since 1865
HIUS 330 UVa in the 20th-Century
HILA 330 South Atlantic Migrations
HIUS 340 Development of American Science
HIUS 341 U.S. Business History
HIUS 346 The American City 1901-2001
HIUS 347 American Labor
HIUS 351/352 US Diplomatic History Since 1914
HIUS 356 Modern American Law
HIUS 357 Intellectual and Cultural History of the United States to 1865
HIUS 358 Intellectual and Cultural History of the United States Since 1865
HIUS 359 Popular Culture in Modern America
HIUS 360 American Families 1770-Present
HIUS 361 History of Women in America, 1600 to 1865
HIUS 362 History of Women in America, 1865 to Present
HIUS 364 Native America
HIUS/AAS 365 African American History to 1865
HIUS/AAS 366 African American History after 1865
HIUS 367 History of the Civil Rights Movement
HIUS 401 American History Seminar (topics vary)
HIAF 402 Race and Popular Culture in South Africa and the United States
HIUS 403 The Meaning of Community in America, 1607-2003
HIUS 403 Reading Alexis de Tocqueville


Landscape Architecture Back to Top

LAR 513 History of American Landscape Architecture
LAR 514 Theories of Modern Landscape Architecture
LAR 522 Race, Space, Culture


Linguistics Back to Top

LNGS 222 Black English


Media Studies Back to Top

MDST 321 Films Of Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock
MDST 331 Women and TV
MDST 341 Media Ethics
MDST 348 Photographic Representation
MDST 350 History of Media
MDST 354 Media & the Mythic West
MDST 356 Jim Crow and American Cinema
MDST 357 Race & Media in 20th Century America
MDST 361 Film and Television in the 1960s
MDST 376 News History & Criticism
MDST 382 History & Digital Media
MDST 385 Media Industries


Music Back to Top

MUSI 207 Music as Culture
MUSI 208 Black Popular Performance/Afro-American Popular Music
MUSI 212 History of Jazz Music
MUSI 305 Music in the 20th Century
MUSI 308 American Music
MUSI 408/AMST 401 Bluegrass: Musical Populism, Mediation, and Commodity
MUSI 419 Music and Gender in Hollywood Cinema


Philosophy Back to Top

PHIL 206 Justice, Law, and Morality
PHIL 252 Bioethics
PHIL 365 Justice and Healthcare
PHIL 369 Justice, Law, and Morality


Politics Back to Top

PLAP 101 Introduction to American Politics
PLAP 227 Public Opinion and Political Participation
PLAP 230 Introduction to Environmental Policy
PLAP 266 Ideas, Institutions, and Public Policy
PLPT 305 Survey of American Political Theory
PLAP 314 Mass Media and American Politics
PLAP 315 Political Psyc Of Citizen Politics
PLAP 319 Judicial Process and Policy Making
PLPT 320 African American Political Thought
PLAP 321 Political Parties and Group Politics
PLAP 322 President and Congress
PLAP 331 American Presidency
PLAP 335 American Congress
PLAP 336 Gender Politics and Public Policy
PLAP 338 Politics and the Presidency
PLIR 340 Foreign Policy in the United States
PLIR 341 Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy
PLAP 344 Urban Politics
PLAP 351 Minority Group Politics
PLAP 354 Intelligence and National Security
PLAP 355 Gender and Politics
PLAP 361 Introduction to Public Administration
PLAP 363 Science and Technology Public Policy
PLAP 370 Racial Politics
PLAP 371 State and Local
PLAP 375 The Courts and Public Policy
PLAP 381 Constitutional Interpretation, Separation of Powers, and Federalism
PLAP 382 Constitutional Limitations, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights
PLAP 389 Privacy and the Courts
PLAP 412 Electoral Behavior and Political Participation
PLAP 424 American Politics Seminar (topics vary)
PLIR 424 International Relations Seminar (topics vary)
PLAP 430 Political Analysis
PLAP 434 American Political Leadership
PLAP 436 Campaigns and Elections
PLAP 438 The Politics of the Policy Process
PLAP 471 Values, Resources, and Public Policy
PLAP 483 First Amendment
PLAP 484 Race and Constitution
PLAP 526 Sex Difference Theory and Policy


Psychology Back to Top

PSYC 346 Psychological Study of Children, Families, and the Law
PSYC 402 Social Stigma
PSYC 406 Psychology of Oppression and Empowerment
PSYC 406 Stereotyping
PSYC 407 The Psychology of Marriage
PSYC 449 Sexual Orientation and Human Development
PSYC 487 The Minority Family


Religious Studies Back to Top

RELJ 204 American Judaism
RELG 216 Religion in America Since 1865
RELC/HIUS 240 History of American Catholicism RELA 275 African Religions in the Americas
RELG 280 African American Religious History
RELC/AAS 305 Black Theology of Liberation
RELG 321 African American Religious History
RELC 323 Pentecostalism
RELG 338 Judaism in America
RELC 345 The Kingdom of God and America
RELG 350 American Feminist Theology
RELC 368 Social Problems of American Catholicism
RELJ 374 Literary Representations of American Jewish Spirituality
RELJ 375 American Jewish Theology and Philosophy
RELG 382 Nation of Islam in America
RELG 408 Religion in the American South
RELG 415 Salem Witch Trials in History and Literature
RELG 422 American Religious Autobiography
RELC 459 Theological Violence in American Democracy
RELG 504 American Religion and Social Reform
RELG 508 Seminar on Religion and American Culture I
RELG 509 Seminar on Religion and American Culture II
RELC 511 Black Theology: Theories, Methods, Sources
RELC 552 Themes in American Catholic History
RELC 5xx History of African-American Christianity


Slavic Back to Top

RUTR 232 America Through Russian Eyes


Spanish Back to Top

SPAN 488 Contemporary Poetry
SPAN 491 Critical Race Theory of the Americas


Sociology Back to Top

SOC 220 Death and Dying
SOC 222 Contemporary Social Problems
SOC 223 Criminology
SOC 247 American Society and Popular Culture
SOC 252 Sociology of the Family
SOC 255 Law and Society
SOC 279 Sociology of American Business
SOC 310/407 Sociology of Art
SOC 341 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 380 Social Change
SOC 381 The Welfare State
SOC 410 African American Communities
SOC 423 Deviance and Social Control
SOC 442 Sociology of Inequality
SOC 450 American Society
SOC 451 Sociology of Work
SOC 453 Sociology of Education
SOC 454 Political Sociology
SOC 455 Sociology of Law
SOC 456 Contempory American Families
SOC 457 Family Policy
SOC 460 Gender and Culture
SOC 464 Urban Sociology
SOC 470 Medical Sociology
SOC 473 Criminal Justice
SOC 487 Immigration


Studies in Women and Gender Back to Top

SWAG 210 Women's Lives in Myth and Reality
SWAG 218 The Feminine Fifties
SWAG 301 Women, Culture and Globalization in the Americas
SWAG 315 Race, Gender, and Activism
SWAG 381 Feminist Theories and Methods
SWAG 589 Issues Facing Adolescent Girls


Technology, Culture, and Communication Back to Top

TCC 201 Thomas Jefferson's Interests in Science and Technology
TCC 203 Man and Machine, Visions of Tyranny and Freedom in 19th and 20th-Century Literature
TCC 206 American Environmental History
TCC 207 Utopias and the Technological Society
TCC 210 Technology and Social Change in 19th-Century America
TCC 212 Religion and Technology
TCC 213 American Technological and Industrial History in the 20th Century
TCC 501 Perceptions of Technology in the Western World


Urban and Environmental Planning Back to Top

PLAN 268 Lessons of the City