Search Results
Your search for courses · during 2025-26 · tagged with AMST America in the World · returned 19 results
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AMST 225 Beauty and Race in America 6 credits
In this class we consider the construction of American beauty historically, examining the way whiteness intersects with beauty to produce a dominant model that marginalizes women of color. We study how communities of color follow, refuse, or revise these beauty ideals through literature. We explore events like the beauty pageant, material culture such as cosmetics, places like the beauty salon, and body work like cosmetic surgery to understand how beauty is produced and negotiated.
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AMST 238 9/11 and the War on Terror in American Culture 6 credits
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.
Not offered in 2025-26
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ARTH 240 Art Since 1945 6 credits
Art from abstract expressionism to the present, with particular focus on issues such as the modernist artist-hero; the emergence of alternative or non-traditional media; the influence of the women’s movement and the gay/lesbian liberation movement on contemporary art; and postmodern theory and practice.
- Spring 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): One Art History (ARTH) course with a grade of C- better.
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ECON 262 The Economics of Sports 6 credits
In recent years, the sports business in the United States has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Understanding the sports business from an economic viewpoint is the subject of this course. Topics will include player compensation, revenue-sharing, salary caps, free agency, tournaments, salary discrimination, professional franchise valuation, league competitiveness, college athletics, and the economics of sports stadiums and arenas.
- Fall 2025
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 110 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 on the Macroeconomics AP exam or received a ECON 110 requisite equivalency and ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 5 on the Microeconomics AP exam or received ECON 111 requisite equivalency OR has received a score of 6 or better on the Economics IB exam.
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ECON 264 Healthcare Economics 6 credits
Healthcare deserves a course of its own because it accounts for one-sixth of US economic activity. This course studies the provision of healthcare and insurance. We explore alternative policy models of healthcare distribution, focusing on the tradeoffs between access, cost, and quality. These choices are complicated by economic incentives that lead healthy people to opt out of insurance and insured people to take on excess risk.
Not offered in 2025-26
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or ECON AL (Cambridge A Level Economics) with a grade of B or better or has received a score of 5 on the AP Microeconomics test or a score of 6 or better on the IB Economics test or received an ECON 111 requisite equivalency.
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ECON 271 Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment 6 credits
How do we address increasingly urgent problems of environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources? This course develops the economic approach to addressing a wide variety of related issues, while also considering how issues of law and political economy affect resource allocations and the desirability and feasibility of various policies. Topics covered include climate change, energy production, air quality regulation policies, wildlife management, endangered species protection, water resource management, and valuation of the environment.
- Winter 2026
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or ECON AL (Cambridge A Level Economics) with a grade of B or better or has received a score of 5 on the AP Microeconomics test or a score of 6 or better on the IB Economics test or received an ECON 111 requisite equivalency.
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ECON 273 Water and Western Economic Development 6 credits
This course examines scarce water resources as a legal/political/economic factor in the economic development of the western United States, using and combining insights from environmental economics, law and economics, institutional economics, and economic history. Topics include the economic growth of the western economy, surface- and groundwater management, water markets, western water law, Indian water rights, surface- and groundwater pollution, and instream flow protection.
Not offered in 2025-26
- QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): ECON 111 with a grade of C- or better or ECON AL (Cambridge A Level Economics) with a grade of B or better or has received a score of 5 on the AP Microeconomics test or a score of 6 or better on the IB Economics test or received an ECON 111 requisite equivalency.
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ENGL 235 Asian American Literature 6 credits
This course is an introduction to major works and authors of fiction, drama, and poetry from about 1900 to the present. We will trace the development of Asian American literary traditions while exploring the rich diversity of recent voices in the field. Authors to be read include Carlos Bulosan, Sui Sin Far, Philip Kan Gotanda, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jhumpa Lahiri, Milton Murayama, Chang-rae Lee, Li-young Lee, and John Okada.
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HIST 209 Slavery in the Atlantic World 6 credits
This course explores the history of enslavement in the Atlantic World, including West Africa, South America, the Caribbean, North America, and Europe. The course examines the intersecting themes of power, labor, law, race, gender, sexuality, and resistance. It will consider how these themes each shaped the construction of different institutions of enslavement while simultaneously focusing on the experiences of the enslaved who lived and died within in these systems. Using a comparative methodology, we will ask canonical questions, such as what constitutes a slave society and which forms did resistance, rebellion, and revolution by enslaved people take.
Not offered in 2025-26
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HIST 213 Politics and Protest in the New Nation 6 credits
In the first years of the United States, men and women of all races had to learn what it meant to live in the nation created by the U.S. Constitution. This class will focus on the American attempts to form a more perfect union, paying close attention to the place of slavery, Native dispossession, sexuality, and politics during the years 1787-1840. Throughout the course we will examine the ways in which the politics and protests of the early Republic continue to shape the current United States.
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PHIL 304 Decolonial Feminisms 6 credits
This course familiarizes students with major issues and debates within the emerging field of decolonial feminist philosophy. We will start by considering some of the historical, geopolitical, and theoretical underpinnings from which decolonial feminisms emerged. We will then investigate core concepts and problems pertaining to decolonial feminisms as a critical methodology and as a practice to build solidarity between and across anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-sexist, anti-capitalist schools of thought and/or political coalitions. We will pay particular attention to Latina feminist philosopher María Lugones and her development of the “colonial modern gender system” and her articulation of “decolonial feminism.” Recommended preparation: One prior course in Philosophy or a relevant area of studies.
Not offered in 2025-26
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POSC 122 Politics in America: Liberty and Equality 6 credits
An introduction to American government and politics. Focus on the Congress, Presidency, political parties and interest groups, the courts and the Constitution. Particular attention will be given to the public policy debates that divide liberals and conservatives and how these divisions are rooted in American political culture.
- Fall 2025, Winter 2026, Spring 2026
- IDS, Intercultural Domestic Studies QRE, Quantitative Reasoning SI, Social Inquiry
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POSC 231 American Foreign Policy 6 credits
An introduction to the actors and processes of American foreign policymaking and to the substance of American foreign policy. The course aims to provide students with an understanding of how knowledge of the past, the global policy environment, the processes of foreign policymaking, and the specifics of a foreign policy issue come together to help determine modern American foreign policy. The course will review the structure of the international system of states, state power and interests, the historical context of American foreign policy, actors in American foreign affairs, models of foreign policy decision making, and the instruments of foreign policy.
Recommended Preparation: POSC 122, AP American Government or AP U.S. History.
Not offered in 2025-26
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POSC 274 Covid-19 and Globalization 6 credits
What are the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on global politics and public policy? How do state responses to COVID-19 as well as historical cases such as the Black Death in Europe, the SARS outbreak in East Asia and Middle East, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa help us understand the scientific, political, and economic challenges of pandemics on countries and communities around the world? We will apply theories and concepts from IR, political economy, and natural sciences to explore these questions and consider what we can learn from those responses to address other global challenges like climate change.
Not offered in 2025-26
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RELG 243 Native American Religious Freedom 6 credits
This course explores historical and legal contexts in which Native Americans have practiced their religions in the United States. Making reference to the cultural background of Native traditions, and the history of First Amendment law, the course explores landmark court cases in Sacred Lands, Peyotism, free exercise in prisons, and sacralized traditional practices (whaling, fishing, hunting) and critically examines the conceptual framework of “religion” as it has been applied to the practice of Native American traditions. Service projects will integrate academic learning and student involvement in matters of particular concern to contemporary native communities.
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RELG 261 Race & Empire in American Islam 6 credits
From colonial times when Muslims were brought to America as slaves, to the aftermath of the Spanish-American War when the United States found itself ruling over a large Muslim population in the Philippines, to the more recent War on Terror, Muslims and Islam have long been entangled in the politics of race and empire in America. This course will examine these entanglements through primary and secondary sources to better understand the role that race, religion, and empire have played in the forging of American Islam today.
Not offered in 2025-26
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RELG 289 Global Religions in Minnesota 6 credits
Somali Muslims in Rice County? Hindus in Maple Grove? Hmong shamans in St. Paul hospitals? Sun Dances in Pipestone? In light of globalization, the religious landscape of Minnesota, like America more broadly, has become more visibly diverse. Lake Wobegon stereotypes aside, Minnesota has always been characterized by some diversity but the realities of immigration, dispossession, dislocation, economics, and technology have made religious diversity more pressing in its implications for every arena of civic and cultural life. This course bridges theoretical knowledge with engaged field research focused on how Midwestern contexts shape global religious communities and how these communities challenge and transform Minnesota.
Not offered in 2025-26
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SOAN 125 Southeast Asian Migration and Diasporic Communities 6 credits
2025 is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Many Southeast Asian (SEAn) refugees resettled in the U.S. in the aftermath. First, we begin in Southeast Asia (SEA) to understand the social, political, and historical circumstances that have led to SEA migration. Then we will examine how SEAn have adapted to life in the U.S. and how those communities—many are here in Minnesota—are thriving today. We’ll work on a project in collaboration with SEAn organizations to commemorate the 50th anniversary and also travel to SEAn communities in the Twin Cities, dates TBD.
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SOAN 283 Immigration, Citizenship, and Belonging in the U.S. 6 credits
Immigration has been a defining feature of the United States that is tied to legal and cultural forms of citizenship, and more broadly, to questions of belonging. This course explores these three concepts through multiple aspects of immigration, including the migration experience, immigration policy, community, education, culture and others, for both immigrants and the children of immigrants. Special attention is given to how differences among immigrants–such as race, gender, class, national origin, and others–matter in all of these areas. These questions and issues are explored through academic readings, popular and public discourse, immigrant voices, and civic engagement in local communities.
The department strongly recommends that 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses number 200 or above.