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AMERICAN STUDIES EXTENDED UNIVERSITY COURSE DESCRIPTIONS - SPRING 2013 WEST SIDE COURSES – call 925-8669 for locations
185.001 Intro to Race/Class/Ethnicity T 10:00 – 12:30 Olorunsiwa*16 weeksArts & Sciences group: Social Sciences/Core Curriculum: Social Sciences This is an interdisciplinary introduction to the issues, and social and cultural formation of race, class and ethnicity in American life and society. The course is designed to foster an appreciation of the heterogeneity of experience in American life. The course is focused on the study of cross-cultural group relations.
More specifically, this course will consider: Who are you? For most of us, self-description includes our race, class, and ethnicity, but what do these terms mean? Are these terms fixed and unchanging? This course introduces the terms, race, class and ethnicity and offers a critical discussion of their historical meaning and their meaning in modern society. We will pay attention to cross-cultural and interdisciplinary themes within these definitions.
186.002 Intro to Southwest Studies T 9:00 – 2:00 Cordova *2nd Eight weeks 186.003 Intro to Southwest Studies T 9:00 – 2:00 Cordova *1st Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities/ Core Curriculum: Humanities Provides both an introduction to the complex history and culture of the southwestern United States and a demonstration of the possibilities of the interdisciplinary study of regional American culture. It is multicultural in content and multidisciplinary in methodology. Examines cross-cultural relationships among the peoples of the Southwest within the framework of their expressions and experiences in art, culture, religion, and social and political economy.
More specifically, this course will consider: What is this place we call the Southwest? How is it defined- geographically, politically, and culturally? Who are the people that live there? How have their lives been transformed by social and historical forces into the cultures we see today? At the same time, how have these same groups retained their traditions, customs, and beliefs in response to change? This course will explore contemporary Southwestern cultures, their multiple voices and culture expressions, using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from geography, anthropology, history, literature, and the arts. 200.001 NM Hispanic Folk Traditions M 4:30 – 7:00 Moreno*16 weeks
310.004 Becoming What We Eat T 2:00 – 4:30 Martin*16 weeksArts & Sciences group: Humanities Food is one of the most powerful representations of culture, encompassing all of the senses and transmitting literal and symbolic values through its production, preparation, and presentation. Food sustains us, giving meaning, order, and values to our lives; and food reflects the symbolism in our ideological systems. As a vital necessity for sustaining life, the relations of power which shape humans’ means of food production, distribution, and consumption becomes central to the political, economic, ecological, and social relevance of our times. This survey course will explore history and context of food production; food as a representation of culture—including food traditions and taboos, social structures inherent in the receiving of food, food and sex, food and gender; food as popular culture; government policies and food regulation; fast food; the slow food movement; food justice in a global community; the use of pesticides in food production and the sustainability of organic production methods. We will explore problems representative in the discussions of soil ecology versus food affordability and justice; the local foods movement and its intersection with global shortages; veganism and animal rights versus traditional food ritual and practice; the concept of slow food and its relationship to changing identities and economic realities.
330.005 Chuck & Chick Flicks F 10:00 – 3:00 Gravagne *2nd Eight Weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities This course focuses on the interdisciplinary study of the construction of gender. Through watching films such as The Birdcage, North Country, Rabbit Proof Fence, and The Help, and reading about how gender is represented, normalized, disciplined, and contested, we will learn how the relationship of gender to sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, class, and age affects all our lives.
340.001 Aging, Sex, & Popular Culture F 10:00 – 3:00 Gravagne *1st Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities What stories are being told about aging in popular culture today? How do these stories both reinforce and resist the multiple and often invisible practices of ageism? In what ways do gender and class inflect these stories? What might be the consequences of telling these stories differently?
In this course, we attempt to answer these questions by exploring cultural representations of aging in contemporary movies such as “Gran Torino,” “Calendar Girls,” “Iris,” and “Beginners,” and TV programs such as “South Park” “Golden Girls,” and “30 Rock.” By learning to tell stories differently, we may find other ways to age.
340.003 UFO’s in America F 10:00 – 3:00 Dewan *2nd Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities This course traces the emergence and continued subsistence of the UFO phenomenon in American culture, from its origins in the Cold War era to its prosperousness in the Internet Age. In dealing with topics such as contemporary folk traditions, Cold War paranoia, conspiracy culture, and new religious movements, this course will teach students to critically examine how contemporary belief systems are formulated and integrated into popular culture, as well as how these beliefs inhabit “battlegrounds” of meaning between modern rationalist and quasi-religious ideologies.
340.004 Pop Music of the Chicano Movement W 9:00 – 2:00 Cordova *2nd Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities
340.012 American Popular Culture F 10:00 – 3:00 Dewan *1st Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities Popular Culture is a ubiquitous term that may be narrowly defined as the existing aspects of shared culture that encompass the most immediate and contemporary elements in our lives. In this course, we will critically examine the impact and role of popular culture in 21st century American life, including the realms of advertising, television, film, music, the internet, sports, and video games. Since these spheres penetrate nearly all aspects of our lives, learning how to critically think, speak, and write about them is an essential tool in navigating through the Information Age. This course is designed to teach students how to decipher the symbols and underlying meanings in popular culture, including its relationship to race, gender, and national identities.
343.001 Urban Legends F 10:00 – 3:00 Dewan *2nd Eight weeks Arts and Sciences group: Humanities This course is an exploration of urban legends in contemporary culture. We will explore recurring themes and means of transmission, as well as the cultural meanings and interpretations that have been ascribed to them. Our readings and discussions will examine the underlying components of these stories, including issues of race, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and ideology.
350.007 Borderland Roles of Women W 9:00 – 2:00 Cordova *1st Eight weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities
360.003 Southwest Critical Landscape M 6:30 – 9:00 Berger *16 weeks Arts & Sciences group: Humanities This course examines cultural landscapes through two major approaches. The first part of the course will focus on theoretical understandings of cultural landscapes. These include ideas on landscapes as sites of cultural production, the tensions and contestations in cultural landscapes as they are inscribed, memorialized and contested, landscapes as material discourse, connections between cultural landscapes and political, cultural and other identities, and landscape memory. Students will be expected to demonstrate theoretical knowledge on a midterm. The second part of the course focuses on methodology and the practice of documenting cultural landscapes in the field. We will cover archival work, site sketching, assessment of the built environment, preservation, historical recording and place ethnography. We will also explore a variety of recognized and lesser known cultural landscape types in the Southwest. Students will document a cultural landscape for their final exam project.
Online Courses
182.004 Intro to Environment, Science & Tech Abbott 182.006 Intro to Environment, Science & Tech Byszewski 182.007 Intro to Environment, Science & Tech Berger Arts & Sciences group: Social Science / Core Curriculum: Social Science This is an introduction to American attitudes toward nature, science, technology and the impacts of those attitudes on built and natural environments regionally, nationally and globally. This course covers the period from World War II to the present, focusing on the environmental effects of such diverse scientific and technological products as chemical pesticides, nuclear power, and television.
More specifically, this course will consider: In this course we will look at current environmental issues, delving into contentious topics and passionate debates, while asking difficult questions. How does consumerism impact the environment, and how much stuff do we really need? Is wilderness a necessity or a luxury? Should an endangered fish have water rights? Are pesticides giving us cancer? We'll consider debates within the scientific community, explore conflicts between developers and environmentalists, and look at the promise and limitations of technological solutions. For more information, special technology fees and computer requirements, please go to the EU Website at eu.unm.edu
184.005 Intro to American Pop Culture Fishken-Harkins 184.006 Intro to American Pop Culture Gravagne Arts & Sciences group: Humanities Popular culture can be defined as the beliefs and practices that characterize a particular culture, as well as the objects, narratives, and rituals through which they are organized and that are widely shared, enjoyed, and understood among a population. It is also generally understood as the culture of ordinary people, as opposed to highly educated or specialized elites.
This course examines many aspects of popular culture, including movies, action figures and other toys, cartoons/comics, advertising, television, and urban legends. The class involves learning how to read popular culture as a text and as an indicator of societal norms, diversions, and diversities.
185.006 Intro to Race/Class/Ethnicity Diaz 185.007 Intro to Race/Class/Ethnicity McSherry Arts & Sciences group: Social Sciences/Core Curriculum: Social Sciences This is an interdisciplinary introduction to the issues, and social and cultural formation of race, class and ethnicity in American life and society. The course is designed to foster an appreciation of the heterogeneity of experience in American life. The course is focused on the study of cross-cultural group relations.
More specifically, this course will consider: Who are you? For most of us, self-description includes our race, class, and ethnicity, but what do these terms mean? Are these terms fixed and unchanging? This course introduces the terms, race, class and ethnicity and offers a critical discussion of their historical meaning and their meaning in modern society. We will pay attention to cross-cultural and interdisciplinary themes within these definitions.
186.007 Intro to Southwest Studies Cammack 186.008 Intro to Southwest Studies Yazzie 186.009 Intro to Southwest Studies Eleshuk Roybal Arts & Sciences group: Humanities/ Core Curriculum: Humanities Provides both an introduction to the complex history and culture of the southwestern United States and a demonstration of the possibilities of the interdisciplinary study of regional American culture. It is multicultural in content and multidisciplinary in methodology. Examines cross-cultural relationships among the peoples of the Southwest within the framework of their expressions and experiences in art, culture, religion, and social and political economy.
More specifically, this course will consider: What is this place we call the Southwest? How is it defined- geographically, politically, and culturally? Who are the people that live there? How have their lives been transformed by social and historical forces into the cultures we see today? At the same time, how have these same groups retained their traditions, customs, and beliefs in response to change? This course will explore contemporary Southwestern cultures, their multiple voices and culture expressions, using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from geography, anthropology, history, literature, and the arts.
330.048 Women of the Civil Rights Movement Hardeman Arts & Sciences group: Humanities This course is offered with AFST 397.048, Women of the Civil Rights Movement. A course description should be requested from Africana Studies.
350.001 Race, Nature and Disaster Daniel Arts & Sciences group: Social Science This interdisciplinary course examines the intersections of race, politics, and environmental and biological disaster. We will look at how ideas about race in the U.S. have shaped and been shaped by social policy, global politics and economics, and U.S. foreign policy, and investigate how certain populations within and outside the U.S. become disproportionately vulnerable to wide‑scale disaster. Readings and discussions focus on the human‑made dimensions of disasters like the destruction of New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the AIDS epidemic, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
357.049 Blacks in Theatre Hardeman Arts & Sciences group: Humanities This course is offered with AFST 397.049, Blacks in Theatre. A course description should be requested from Africana Studies.
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