The Carleton American Studies program looks at American culture through the lens of many disciplines. This includes the values, beliefs, art forms, cultural expressions, and institutions shaping the experiences of U.S. residents. American Studies integrates academic critique with commitments to make positive change. Learn more about our department.
Our Courses
We offer a core of courses that provide a coherent introduction to and experience of the work that scholars in the field of American Studies produce. We supplement this core with special courses taught by members of the American Studies faculty, and we boast a wealth of topical courses offered in departments that carry American Studies credit. These are just a few of our current course offerings.
Indigenous Chicago: Indigenous Histories and Futures in Zhegagoynak
Before Chicago as we know it today existed, many Indigenous nations had long standing relationships with this place. They knew it as Zhegagoynak, Gaa-zhigaagwanzhikaag, Zhigaagong, Šikaakonki, Shekâkôheki, Sekakoh, and Guušge honak, among others. This course emerges from four years of community-engaged curriculum development and examines Chicago histories through five themes: Chicago’s lands and environment, Chicago as a Native place, Chicago as a place of convergence, activism and resistance in Chicago, and community-driven education movements in Chicago. Drawing from History, American Studies, Education, and Indigenous Studies, students will also examine how research and curricula can center Indigenous perspectives and sources.
9/11 and the War on Terror in American Culture
An exploration of how the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and the subsequent War on Terror impacted American culture. We will focus on issues of both form (the elements determining the look and feel of post-9/11 artwork) and content (the social and moral concerns driving post-9/11 culture). Shared texts will include novels, short stories, poetry, music, art, and films. Particular attention will be paid to themes such as race and racism, religion and religious discrimination, immigration and xenophobia, debates over American exceptionalism, critiques of American capitalism, the “death of irony,” attempts to define “truth,” and the spread of conspiracy theories.
Producing Latinidad
As Arlene Dávila points out in Latinos Inc, Latinidad — the term that names a set of presumably common attributes that connects Latinxs in the U.S. — emerges in part from communities but, importantly, is developed heavily by the media, advertising, and other political and social institutions, including academia. In this course we consider how ideas and imaginings of who Latinxs are and what Latinidad is develop within political spaces (the electorate, the census), in local places, and through various media, including television, advertising, and music. We will consider how individual writers and artists contribute to the conversation. Throughout, we will engage with social and cultural theories about racial formation, gender, and sexuality.