• AMST 1050

    Slavery and Its Legacies
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    3.74

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This course examines the history of slavery and its legacy at UVA and in the central Virginia region. The course aims to recover the experiences of enslaved individuals and their roles in building and maintaining the university, and to contextualize those experiences within Southern history.

  • AMST 2500

    Major Works for American Studies
     Rating

    4.00

     Difficulty

    3.00

     GPA

    3.45

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    Topics vary according to instructor. The goal of the course is to introduce students to interdisciplinary work in American Studies by juxtaposing works across disciplinary boundaries and from different methodological perspectives.

  • AMST 2660

    Spiritual But Not Religious: Spirituality in America
     Rating

    4.63

     Difficulty

    2.63

     GPA

    3.67

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    What does "spiritual but not religious" mean, and why has it become such a pervasive self-description in contemporary America? This interdisciplinary course surveys spirituality in America, with a particular eye for the relationship between spirituality and formal religion, on the one hand, and secular modes of understanding the self, such as psychology, on the other.

  • AMST 3001

    Theories and Methods of American Studies
     Rating

    4.20

     Difficulty

    3.24

     GPA

    3.53

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This seminar course will introduce majors to various theories and methods for the practice of American Studies. The three goals of the seminars are (1) to make students aware of their own interpretive practices; (2) to equip them with information and conceptual tools they will need for advanced work in American Studies; and (3) to provide them with comparative approaches to the study of various aspects of the United States. Prerequisites: American Studies Major

  • AMST 3180

    Introduction to Asian American Studies
     Rating

    4.22

     Difficulty

    2.89

     GPA

    3.54

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    An interdisciplinary introduction to the culture and history of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America. Examines ethnic communities such as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, and Native Hawaiian, through themes such as immigration, labor, cultural production, war, assimilation, and politics. Texts are drawn from genres such as legal cases, short fiction, musicals, documentaries, visual art, and drama.

  • AMST 3280

    Introduction to Native American Studies: (Mis)Representations
     Rating

    4.00

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    3.99

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    An intro to the broad field of Native Studies, this class focuses on themes of representation and erasure. We read Indigenous scholars and draw from current events, pop culture, and historical narrative to explore complex relationships between historical and contemporary issues that Indigenous peoples face in the US. We examine the foundations of Native representations and their connections to critical issues in Native communities.

  • AMST 3471

    American Cinema
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    3.00

     GPA

    3.69

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This course provides an introduction to film studies through an examination of American film throughout the 20th & 21st centuries. We will learn basic film techniques for visual analysis, and consider the social, economic, and historical forces that have shaped the production, distribution & reception of film in the US Examples will be drawn from various genres: melodrama, horror, sci-fi, musical, Westerns, war films, documentary, animation, etc.

  • AMST 3559

    New Course in American Studies
     Rating

    3.93

     Difficulty

    2.20

     GPA

    3.64

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    New Course in the subject of American Studies

  • AMST 4321

    Caribbean Latinx: Cuba, Puerto Rico and the DR
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.66

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    In this course we will read texts by Latinx writers from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. We will explore how their works speak to issues of race, colonialism and imperialism based on their individual and shared histories. We will discuss their different political histories and migration experiences and how these in turn impact their literary and artistic productions in the US.

  • AMST 4500

    Fourth-Year Seminar in American Studies
     Rating

    4.67

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    3.59

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This seminar is intended to focus study, research, and discussion on a single period, topic, or issue, such as the Great Awakening, the Civil War, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, or the 1960s. Topics vary.

  • AMST 4893

    Independent Study in Asian Pacific American Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    An elective course for students in the Asian Pacific American Studies minor. Students will work with an APAS core faculty member to support the student's own research. Topics vary, and must be approved by the APAS Director. 

  • AMST 4993

    Independent Study
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    An elective course for American Studies majors who have completed AMST 3001-3002. Students will work with an American Studies faculty member to support the student's own research. Topics vary, and must be approved by the Program Director. Prerequisite: AMST 3001, 3002, Instructor Consent.

  • AMST 4999

    Distinguished Majors Thesis Seminar
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This workshop is for American Studies majors who have been admitted to the DMP program. Students will discuss the progress of their own and each other's papers, with particular attention to the research and writing processes. At the instructor's discretion, students will also read key works in the field of American Studies. Prerequisites: admission to DMP.

  • AMST 5232

    Oral History Workshop: A Hands-On Approach to Researching the Past
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    The course is run as a workshop, a space for students to learn oral history methodologies in a hands-on manner. In partnership with local/regional organizations, students will learn to conduct interviews and related research, which may include completing historical surveys, doing genealogical work, & completing archival or database research. Students will learn new skills while helping expand historical archives and knowledge of regional history.

  • AMST 5500

    Graduate Topics in American Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    Various topics offered in American Studies at the graduate level

  • AMST 5559

    New Course in American Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.80

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    New Course in the subject of American Studies.

  • AMST 8001

    Approaches to American Studies
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2025

    This course introduces graduate students to the field of American Studies, the interdisciplinary study of US culture. Students will be exposed to a variety of influential theoretical and methodological interventions that have occurred over the field's history, and will also be introduced to some of the principal intellectual, political, and professional issues they will face while pursuing a career in the field.