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AFRICAAM 18B: Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (AMSTUD 18B, MUSIC 18B)

Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Low, M. (PI); Koplitz, D. (TA)

AFRICAAM 21: African American Vernacular English (CSRE 21, LINGUIST 65, LINGUIST 265)

Vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical features of the systematic and vibrant vernacular English [AAVE] spoken by African Americans in the US, its historical relation to British dialects, and to English creoles spoken on the S. Carolina Sea Islands (Gullah), in the Caribbean, and in W. Africa. The course will also explore the role of AAVE in the Living Arts of African Americans, as exemplified by writers, preachers, comedians and actors, singers, toasters and rappers, and its connections with challenges that AAVE speakers face in the classroom and courtroom. Service Learning Course (certified by Haas Center). UNITS: 3-5 units. Most students should register for 4 units. Students willing and able to tutor an AAVE speaking child in East Palo Alto and write an additional paper about the experience may register for 5 units, but should consult the instructor first. Students who, for exceptional reasons, need a reduced course load, may request a reduction to 3 units, but more of their course grade will come from exams, and they will be excluded from group participation in the popular AAVE Happenin at the end of the course.
Last offered: Spring 2019 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

AFRICAAM 43: Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AMSTUD 12A)

In his bold study, What Was African American Literature?, Kenneth Warren defines African American literature as a late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century response to the nation's Jim Crow segregated order. But in the aftermath of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement, can critics still speak, coherently, of "African American literature"? And how does this political conception of African American literary production compare with accounts grounded in black language and culture? Taking up Warren's intervention, this course will explore African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals and slave narratives to texts composed at the height of desegregation and decolonization struggles at mid-century and beyond. English majors must take this class for 5 units.
Last offered: Spring 2022 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AFRICAAM 50C: The United States in the Twentieth Century (HISTORY 50C)

(Same as HISTORY 150C. 50C is 3 units; 150C is 5 units.) 100 years ago, women and most African-Americans couldn't vote; automobiles were rare and computers didn't exist; and the U.S. was a minor power in a world dominated by European empires. This course surveys politics, culture, and social movements to answer the question: How did we get from there to here? Suitable for non-majors and majors alike.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

AFRICAAM 101Q: Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AMSTUD 42Q, CSRE 41Q)

Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Last offered: Winter 2020 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AFRICAAM 105: Intro to Black Studies/Intro to African American Studies II

Beginning in post-1865 and ending in the present-day, this course examines African American life, history, culture and the development of the field of African American Studies. This interdisciplinary course will explore various historical, political, social, and artistic themes that impact our understanding of Black life and identity. To do this, we will draw from a broad range of scholarship to introduce students to the intellectual history of African American Studies as a field of study--its genealogy, development, and major debates. Though most of the course will focus on the United States, time will be dedicated to how to place the history of African Americans in the United States within a global context. Students will be exposed to a range of topics to develop a critical understanding of various movements in Black history and key concepts such as Black feminisms, mass incarceration, transformative and restorative justice, Afrocentricity, Pan-Africanism, and the African Diaspora.
Terms: Aut | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

AFRICAAM 150C: The United States in the Twentieth Century (AMSTUD 150C, HISTORY 150C)

(Same as HISTORY 50C. 50C is 3 units; 150C is 5 units.) 100 years ago, women and most African-Americans couldn't vote; automobiles were rare and computers didn't exist; and the U.S. was a minor power in a world dominated by European empires. This course surveys politics, culture, and social movements to answer the question: How did we get from there to here? Suitable for non-majors and majors alike.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

AFRICAAM 152G: Harlem Renaissance (AMSTUD 152G, ENGLISH 152G)

Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of "vicious Modernism", as a "BangClash", that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Last offered: Autumn 2015 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AFRICAAM 169A: Race, Ethnicity, and Water in Urban California (AMSTUD 169, CSRE 260, URBANST 169)

Is water a human right or an entitlement? Who controls the water, and who should control the water, in California? Private companies? Nonprofits? Local residents? Federal, state, or local governments? This course will explore these questions in the context of urban California more generally, the players and the politics to make sense of a complex problem with deep historical roots; one that defines the new century in California urban life. The required readings and discussions cover cities from Oakland to Los Angeles, providing a platform for students to explore important environmental issues, past and present, affecting California municipalities undergoing rapid population change. In addition, our research focus will be on the cities located on the Central Coast of California: agricultural Salinas, Watsonville, and Castroville and towns along the Salinas Valley; tourist based Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Pacific Grove; the bedroom community of Prunedale to the north, and former military towns, Marina and Seaside, as all of these ethnically, socioeconomically diverse communities engage in political struggles over precious, and ever scarcer water resources, contend with catastrophic events such as droughts and floods, and fight battles over rights to clean water, entitlement, environmental racism, and equity. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; McKibben, C. (PI)

AFRICAAM 255: Racial Identity in the American Imagination (AMSTUD 255D, CSRE 255D, HISTORY 255D, HISTORY 355D)

From Sally Hemings to Michelle Obama and Beyonce, this course explores the ways that racial identity has been experienced, represented, and contested throughout American history. Engaging historical, legal, and literary texts and films, this course examines major historical transformations that have shaped our understanding of racial identity. This course also draws on other imaginative modes including autobiography, memoir, photography, and music to consider the ways that racial identity has been represented in American culture.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Hobbs, A. (PI)

AMSTUD 12A: Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43)

In his bold study, What Was African American Literature?, Kenneth Warren defines African American literature as a late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century response to the nation's Jim Crow segregated order. But in the aftermath of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement, can critics still speak, coherently, of "African American literature"? And how does this political conception of African American literary production compare with accounts grounded in black language and culture? Taking up Warren's intervention, this course will explore African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals and slave narratives to texts composed at the height of desegregation and decolonization struggles at mid-century and beyond. English majors must take this class for 5 units.
Last offered: Spring 2022 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 18A: Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (MUSIC 18A)

From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Low, M. (PI); Haines, Z. (TA)

AMSTUD 18B: Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (AFRICAAM 18B, MUSIC 18B)

Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Low, M. (PI); Koplitz, D. (TA)

AMSTUD 42Q: Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AFRICAAM 101Q, CSRE 41Q)

Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Last offered: Winter 2020 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 54: The History of Ideas in America, Part I (to 1900) (HISTORY 54)

(Same as HISTORY 154. 54 is 3 units; 154 is 5 units.) How Americans considered problems such as slavery, imperialism, and sectionalism. Topics include: the political legacies of revolution; biological ideas of race; the Second Great Awakening; science before Darwin; reform movements and utopianism; the rise of abolitionism and proslavery thought; phrenology and theories of human sexuality; and varieties of feminism. Sources include texts and images.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 68N: Mark Twain and American Culture (ENGLISH 68N)

Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain defined the rhythms of our prose and the contours of our moral map. He recognized our extravagant promise and stunning failures, our comic foibles and¿ tragic flaws. He is viewed as the most American of American authors--and as one of the most universal. How does his work illuminate his society's (and our society's) responses to such issues as race, gender, technology, heredity vs. environment, religion, education, art, imperialism, animal welfare, and what it means to be "American"?
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 115A: Introduction to Native American History (NATIVEAM 115)

This course incorporates a Native American perspective in the assigned readings and is an introduction to Native American History from contact with Europeans to the present. History, from a Western perspective, is secular and objectively evaluative whereas for most Indigenous peoples, history is a moral endeavor (Walker, Lakota Society 113). A focus in the course is the civil rights era in American history when Native American protest movements were active. Colonization and decolonization, as they historically occurred are an emphasis throughout the course using texts written from the perspective of the colonized at the end of the 20th century in addition to the main text. Students will be encouraged to critically explore issues of interest through two short papers and one longer paper that is summarized in a 15-20 minute presentation on a topic of interest relating to the course.
| Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 124A: The American West (ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 142: The Literature of the Americas (COMPLIT 142, CSRE 142)

This course will focus on identifying moments of continuity and discontinuity in the literatures of the Americas, both in time and space. We will look at a wide-range of literatures of the Americas in comparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures, from the colonial period until today. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

AMSTUD 146A: Steinbeck

Introduction to the work of an American writer, beloved by general readers, often reviled by critics, whose career spanned from the Great Depression through World War II to the social upheavals of the 1960s. Focus on the social and political contexts of Steinbeck's major works; his fascination with California and Mexico; his interdisciplinary interest in marine biology and in philosophy; his diverse experiments with literary form, including drama and film.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 150: Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855 (ENGLISH 11B)

In this course we'll explore the uncanny world--at once strange and strangely familiar - of early American literature and culture, as we read diverse works - including poetry, captivity and slave narratives, seduction novels, Native American oratory, short stories, essays, autobiographies, and more - in relation to political, social, and artistic as well as literary contexts from the colonial period to the eve of Civil War. Note: students majoring (or planning to major) in English or American Studies should take the course for 5 units and for a letter grade.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Richardson, J. (PI)

AMSTUD 150A: Colonial and Revolutionary America (HISTORY 150A)

(HISTORY 50A is 3 units. HISTORY 150A is 5 units) This course surveys early American history from the onset of English colonization of North America in the late sixteenth century through the American Revolution and the creation of the United States in the late eighteenth. It situates the origins and the development of colonial American society as its peoples themselves experienced it, within the wider histories of the North American continent and the Atlantic basin. It considers the diversity of peoples and empires that made up these worlds as well as the complex movement of goods, peoples, and ideas that defined them. The British North American colonies were just one interrelated part of this wider complex. Yet out of that interconnected Atlantic world, those particular colonies produced a revolution for national independence that had a far-reaching impact on the world. The course, accordingly, explores the origins of this revolutionary movement and the nation state that it wrought, one that would rapidly ascend to hemispheric and then global prominence.
Terms: Aut | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 150B: Nineteenth Century America (CSRE 150S, HISTORY 150B)

(Same as HISTORY 50B. 150B is 5 units; 50B is 3 units.) This course is a survey of nineteenth-century American history. Topics include: the legacy of the American Revolution; the invention of political parties; capitalist transformation and urbanization; the spread of evangelical Christianity; antebellum reform; changing conceptions of gender, sex, and family; territorial expansion, Indigenous dispossession, and Manifest Destiny; the politics and experience of Indian removal; slavery and emancipation; the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Redemption; the crises and corruption of the Gilded Age; the Populist insurgency; Chinese exclusion; allotment and reservation life; and the emergence of the United States as a modern nation state.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 150C: The United States in the Twentieth Century (AFRICAAM 150C, HISTORY 150C)

(Same as HISTORY 50C. 50C is 3 units; 150C is 5 units.) 100 years ago, women and most African-Americans couldn't vote; automobiles were rare and computers didn't exist; and the U.S. was a minor power in a world dominated by European empires. This course surveys politics, culture, and social movements to answer the question: How did we get from there to here? Suitable for non-majors and majors alike.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 152G: Harlem Renaissance (AFRICAAM 152G, ENGLISH 152G)

Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of "vicious Modernism", as a "BangClash", that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Last offered: Autumn 2015 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

AMSTUD 154: The History of Ideas in America, Part I (to 1900) (HISTORY 154)

(Same as HISTORY 54. 154 is 5 units; 54 is 3 units.) How Americans considered problems such as slavery, imperialism, and sectionalism. Topics include: the political legacies of revolution; biological ideas of race; the Second Great Awakening; science before Darwin; reform movements and utopianism; the rise of abolitionism and proslavery thought; phrenology and theories of human sexuality; and varieties of feminism. Sources include texts and images.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

AMSTUD 160: Perspectives on American Identity (ENGLISH 165)

Required for American Studies majors. In this seminar we trace diverse and changing interpretations of American identity by exploring autobiographical, literary, and/or visual texts from the 18th through the 20th century in conversation with sociological, political, and historical accounts. *Fulfills Writing In the Major Requirement for American Studies Majors*
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Kessler, E. (PI)

AMSTUD 163: Queer America (ARTHIST 163, FEMGEN 163)

This class explores queer art, photography and politics in the United States since 1930. Our approach will be grounded in close attention to the history and visual representation of sexual minorities in particular historical moments and social contexts. We will consider the cultural and political effects of World War II, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, psychedelics, hippie culture and sexual liberation, lesbian separatism, the AIDS crisis, and marriage equality.
Last offered: Autumn 2019 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul

AMSTUD 169: Race, Ethnicity, and Water in Urban California (AFRICAAM 169A, CSRE 260, URBANST 169)

Is water a human right or an entitlement? Who controls the water, and who should control the water, in California? Private companies? Nonprofits? Local residents? Federal, state, or local governments? This course will explore these questions in the context of urban California more generally, the players and the politics to make sense of a complex problem with deep historical roots; one that defines the new century in California urban life. The required readings and discussions cover cities from Oakland to Los Angeles, providing a platform for students to explore important environmental issues, past and present, affecting California municipalities undergoing rapid population change. In addition, our research focus will be on the cities located on the Central Coast of California: agricultural Salinas, Watsonville, and Castroville and towns along the Salinas Valley; tourist based Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Pacific Grove; the bedroom community of Prunedale to the north, and former military towns, Marina and Seaside, as all of these ethnically, socioeconomically diverse communities engage in political struggles over precious, and ever scarcer water resources, contend with catastrophic events such as droughts and floods, and fight battles over rights to clean water, entitlement, environmental racism, and equity. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; McKibben, C. (PI)

AMSTUD 183: Re-Imagining American Borders (CSRE 183, FEMGEN 183)

Borders of all kinds in this America have been tight for a long time, and the four years of the Trump regime have shown new violent dangers in such divisions in race, ethnicity, gender and class in this country. In the inordinately difficult years of 2020-2021 as the pandemic has uncovered even more lethal created divisions via closed crossings and early deaths reflecting difference, our task in this course is to both examine how systemic inequities have been developed as part of American history and our daily life, especially as we see the pandemic effects, and to see how American artists, including novelists, poets, visual and performance artists, filmmakers, photographers and essayists, have developed approaches to examine, resist or re-create how the shards of our fractured identities may make sense to us. Films from Raoul Peck on colonialism and white supremacy in this America, Barry Jenkins and Kara Walker on slavery in visual narratives, poets Shailja Patel, Naomi Shihab Nye, Claudia Rankine, Layli Long Soldier, Janice Lobo Sapiago, Felicia Zamora, Zhenyu Yuan, from within the power of multiple languages, and Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones of the '1619' Project who bring US education into the story, all speak to recent art and social action. Nearby guest speakers from the newly produced Mini Museum Honoring the Black Panther Party in West Oakland, and creators of the Stanford Graphic Novel Project's visual art book with revelations on California prison conditions will also provide more vivid examples for all. Students' work for the quarter includes both written analysis and creative final projects.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

AMSTUD 197: Dance in Prison: The Arts, Juvenile Justice, and Rehabilitation in America (DANCE 197, TAPS 197)

This class uses the lens of performance, and particularly dance, to explore the aesthetic, cultural, historical, and legal issues in the lives of incarcerated youth. In the process students gain an understanding of incarceration and its cultural dimensions. Class readings and discussions foreground the legal and social contexts surrounding prisons in the U.S., Particular attention will be paid to the nexus of art, community, and social action, and how dance might be used to study the performing arts effects on self-construction, perception, experiences of embodiment, and social control for incarcerated teenagers. The class includes guest speakers who bring important perspectives on criminal justice including returned citizens, a juvenile justice attorney, a restorative conferencing facilitator and a dancer who teaches women in prison to be their own dance instructors.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

ANTHRO 16: Native Americans in the 21st Century: Encounters, Identity, and Sovereignty in Contemporary America (ARCHLGY 16, NATIVEAM 16)

What does it mean to be a Native American in the 21st century? Beyond traditional portrayals of military conquests, cultural collapse, and assimilation, the relationships between Native Americans and American society. Focus is on three themes leading to in-class moot court trials: colonial encounters and colonizing discourses; frontiers and boundaries; and sovereignty of self and nation. Topics include gender in native communities, American Indian law, readings by native authors, and Indians in film and popular culture.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul

ARCHLGY 16: Native Americans in the 21st Century: Encounters, Identity, and Sovereignty in Contemporary America (ANTHRO 16, NATIVEAM 16)

What does it mean to be a Native American in the 21st century? Beyond traditional portrayals of military conquests, cultural collapse, and assimilation, the relationships between Native Americans and American society. Focus is on three themes leading to in-class moot court trials: colonial encounters and colonizing discourses; frontiers and boundaries; and sovereignty of self and nation. Topics include gender in native communities, American Indian law, readings by native authors, and Indians in film and popular culture.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul

ARTHIST 152: The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

ARTHIST 163: Queer America (AMSTUD 163, FEMGEN 163)

This class explores queer art, photography and politics in the United States since 1930. Our approach will be grounded in close attention to the history and visual representation of sexual minorities in particular historical moments and social contexts. We will consider the cultural and political effects of World War II, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, psychedelics, hippie culture and sexual liberation, lesbian separatism, the AIDS crisis, and marriage equality.
Last offered: Autumn 2019 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul

CHILATST 180E: Introduction to Chicanx/Latinx Studies (CSRE 180E, EDUC 179E)

This course draws on intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to introduce students to the range of issues, experiences, and methodologies that form the foundation of Latina/o/x studies. By considering the relationship between the creation of "Latinx" and "American" identities, students will critically reconsider the borders that constitute the U.S. as a political and cultural formation. The course balances depth and breadth in its study of the variety of perspectives and experiences that come to be associated with U.S. Latinxs. Thus, we will analyze the histories of predominant U.S. Latinx sub-groups, such as Mexicans/Chicanxs and Puerto Ricans, while also incorporating considerations of the ways in which broader populations with ties to Central America, South America, and the Caribbean play crucial roles in constituting U.S. Latinx identities. Topics include the U.S./Mexico border and the borderlands; (im)migration and diaspora; literary and cultural traditions; music and expressive practices; labor and structural inequality; social movements; Latinx urbanism; gender and sexuality; political and economic shifts; and inter- and intra-group relations. Sources include a range of social science and humanities scholarship. This course will meet at Sequoia High School. Transportation will be provided.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul

COMPLIT 142: The Literature of the Americas (AMSTUD 142, CSRE 142)

This course will focus on identifying moments of continuity and discontinuity in the literatures of the Americas, both in time and space. We will look at a wide-range of literatures of the Americas in comparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures, from the colonial period until today. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

CSRE 21: African American Vernacular English (AFRICAAM 21, LINGUIST 65, LINGUIST 265)

Vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical features of the systematic and vibrant vernacular English [AAVE] spoken by African Americans in the US, its historical relation to British dialects, and to English creoles spoken on the S. Carolina Sea Islands (Gullah), in the Caribbean, and in W. Africa. The course will also explore the role of AAVE in the Living Arts of African Americans, as exemplified by writers, preachers, comedians and actors, singers, toasters and rappers, and its connections with challenges that AAVE speakers face in the classroom and courtroom. Service Learning Course (certified by Haas Center). UNITS: 3-5 units. Most students should register for 4 units. Students willing and able to tutor an AAVE speaking child in East Palo Alto and write an additional paper about the experience may register for 5 units, but should consult the instructor first. Students who, for exceptional reasons, need a reduced course load, may request a reduction to 3 units, but more of their course grade will come from exams, and they will be excluded from group participation in the popular AAVE Happenin at the end of the course.
Last offered: Spring 2019 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

CSRE 41Q: Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AFRICAAM 101Q, AMSTUD 42Q)

Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Last offered: Winter 2020 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

CSRE 45Q: Understanding Race and Ethnicity in American Society (SOC 45Q)

Preference to sophomores. Historical overview of race in America, race and violence, race and socioeconomic well-being, and the future of race relations in America. Enrollment limited to 16.
Last offered: Autumn 2019 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

CSRE 50S: Nineteenth Century America (HISTORY 50B)

(Same as HISTORY 150B. HISTORY 50B is 3 units; HISTORY 150B is 5 units.) Territorial expansion, social change, and economic transformation. The causes and consequences of the Civil War. Topics include: urbanization and the market revolution; slavery and the Old South; sectional conflict; successes and failures of Reconstruction; and late 19th-century society and culture.
Terms: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

CSRE 100: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (EDUC 166C, ENGLISH 172D, PSYCH 155, SOC 146, TAPS 165)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Rosa, J. (PI)

CSRE 117S: History of Native Americans in California (HISTORY 250A, NATIVEAM 117S)

This course examines the political histories and cultural themes of Native Americans in California, 1700s1950s. Throughout the semester we will focus on: demographics, diversity of tribal cultures; regional environmental backgrounds; the Spanish Era and missionization; the Mexican Era and secularization; relations with the United States Government and the State of California, including the gold rush period, statehood, unratified treaties, origin of reservations/rancherias, and other federal policies, e.g., Allotment Act, Indian Reorganization Act and termination.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

CSRE 121: Discourse of the Colonized: Native American and Indigenous Voices (NATIVEAM 121)

Using the assigned texts covering the protest movements in the 20th century to the texts written from the perspective of the colonized at the end of the 20th century, students will engage in discussions on decolonization. Students will be encouraged to critically explore issues of interest through two short papers and a 15-20 minute presentation on the topic of interest relating to decolonization for Native Americans in one longer paper. Approaching research from an Indigenous perspective will be encouraged throughout.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul

CSRE 142: The Literature of the Americas (AMSTUD 142, COMPLIT 142)

This course will focus on identifying moments of continuity and discontinuity in the literatures of the Americas, both in time and space. We will look at a wide-range of literatures of the Americas in comparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures, from the colonial period until today. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

CSRE 145: Race and Ethnic Relations in the USA (SOC 145, SOC 245)

(Graduate students register for 245.) Race and ethnic relations in the U.S. and elsewhere. The processes that render ethnic and racial boundary markers, such as skin color, language, and culture, salient in interaction situations. Why only some groups become targets of ethnic attacks. The social dynamics of ethnic hostility and ethnic/racial protest movements.
Last offered: Spring 2021 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul

CSRE 149A: The Urban Underclass (SOC 149, SOC 249, URBANST 112)

(Graduate students register for 249.) We explore the history of residential segregation, urban policy, race, discrimination, policing and mass incarceration in the US. What are the various causes and consequences of poverty? How do institutions that serve the poor work and sometimes fail? We will read deeply into the social, political, and the legal causes of today¿s conflicts.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Rosenfeld, M. (PI)

CSRE 150S: Nineteenth Century America (AMSTUD 150B, HISTORY 150B)

(Same as HISTORY 50B. 150B is 5 units; 50B is 3 units.) This course is a survey of nineteenth-century American history. Topics include: the legacy of the American Revolution; the invention of political parties; capitalist transformation and urbanization; the spread of evangelical Christianity; antebellum reform; changing conceptions of gender, sex, and family; territorial expansion, Indigenous dispossession, and Manifest Destiny; the politics and experience of Indian removal; slavery and emancipation; the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Redemption; the crises and corruption of the Gilded Age; the Populist insurgency; Chinese exclusion; allotment and reservation life; and the emergence of the United States as a modern nation state.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

CSRE 180E: Introduction to Chicanx/Latinx Studies (CHILATST 180E, EDUC 179E)

This course draws on intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to introduce students to the range of issues, experiences, and methodologies that form the foundation of Latina/o/x studies. By considering the relationship between the creation of "Latinx" and "American" identities, students will critically reconsider the borders that constitute the U.S. as a political and cultural formation. The course balances depth and breadth in its study of the variety of perspectives and experiences that come to be associated with U.S. Latinxs. Thus, we will analyze the histories of predominant U.S. Latinx sub-groups, such as Mexicans/Chicanxs and Puerto Ricans, while also incorporating considerations of the ways in which broader populations with ties to Central America, South America, and the Caribbean play crucial roles in constituting U.S. Latinx identities. Topics include the U.S./Mexico border and the borderlands; (im)migration and diaspora; literary and cultural traditions; music and expressive practices; labor and structural inequality; social movements; Latinx urbanism; gender and sexuality; political and economic shifts; and inter- and intra-group relations. Sources include a range of social science and humanities scholarship. This course will meet at Sequoia High School. Transportation will be provided.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul

CSRE 183: Re-Imagining American Borders (AMSTUD 183, FEMGEN 183)

Borders of all kinds in this America have been tight for a long time, and the four years of the Trump regime have shown new violent dangers in such divisions in race, ethnicity, gender and class in this country. In the inordinately difficult years of 2020-2021 as the pandemic has uncovered even more lethal created divisions via closed crossings and early deaths reflecting difference, our task in this course is to both examine how systemic inequities have been developed as part of American history and our daily life, especially as we see the pandemic effects, and to see how American artists, including novelists, poets, visual and performance artists, filmmakers, photographers and essayists, have developed approaches to examine, resist or re-create how the shards of our fractured identities may make sense to us. Films from Raoul Peck on colonialism and white supremacy in this America, Barry Jenkins and Kara Walker on slavery in visual narratives, poets Shailja Patel, Naomi Shihab Nye, Claudia Rankine, Layli Long Soldier, Janice Lobo Sapiago, Felicia Zamora, Zhenyu Yuan, from within the power of multiple languages, and Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones of the '1619' Project who bring US education into the story, all speak to recent art and social action. Nearby guest speakers from the newly produced Mini Museum Honoring the Black Panther Party in West Oakland, and creators of the Stanford Graphic Novel Project's visual art book with revelations on California prison conditions will also provide more vivid examples for all. Students' work for the quarter includes both written analysis and creative final projects.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

CSRE 255D: Racial Identity in the American Imagination (AFRICAAM 255, AMSTUD 255D, HISTORY 255D, HISTORY 355D)

From Sally Hemings to Michelle Obama and Beyonce, this course explores the ways that racial identity has been experienced, represented, and contested throughout American history. Engaging historical, legal, and literary texts and films, this course examines major historical transformations that have shaped our understanding of racial identity. This course also draws on other imaginative modes including autobiography, memoir, photography, and music to consider the ways that racial identity has been represented in American culture.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Hobbs, A. (PI)

CSRE 260: Race, Ethnicity, and Water in Urban California (AFRICAAM 169A, AMSTUD 169, URBANST 169)

Is water a human right or an entitlement? Who controls the water, and who should control the water, in California? Private companies? Nonprofits? Local residents? Federal, state, or local governments? This course will explore these questions in the context of urban California more generally, the players and the politics to make sense of a complex problem with deep historical roots; one that defines the new century in California urban life. The required readings and discussions cover cities from Oakland to Los Angeles, providing a platform for students to explore important environmental issues, past and present, affecting California municipalities undergoing rapid population change. In addition, our research focus will be on the cities located on the Central Coast of California: agricultural Salinas, Watsonville, and Castroville and towns along the Salinas Valley; tourist based Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Pacific Grove; the bedroom community of Prunedale to the north, and former military towns, Marina and Seaside, as all of these ethnically, socioeconomically diverse communities engage in political struggles over precious, and ever scarcer water resources, contend with catastrophic events such as droughts and floods, and fight battles over rights to clean water, entitlement, environmental racism, and equity. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; McKibben, C. (PI)

DANCE 197: Dance in Prison: The Arts, Juvenile Justice, and Rehabilitation in America (AMSTUD 197, TAPS 197)

This class uses the lens of performance, and particularly dance, to explore the aesthetic, cultural, historical, and legal issues in the lives of incarcerated youth. In the process students gain an understanding of incarceration and its cultural dimensions. Class readings and discussions foreground the legal and social contexts surrounding prisons in the U.S., Particular attention will be paid to the nexus of art, community, and social action, and how dance might be used to study the performing arts effects on self-construction, perception, experiences of embodiment, and social control for incarcerated teenagers. The class includes guest speakers who bring important perspectives on criminal justice including returned citizens, a juvenile justice attorney, a restorative conferencing facilitator and a dancer who teaches women in prison to be their own dance instructors.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

EDUC 166C: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100, ENGLISH 172D, PSYCH 155, SOC 146, TAPS 165)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Rosa, J. (PI)

ENGLISH 11B: Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855 (AMSTUD 150)

In this course we'll explore the uncanny world--at once strange and strangely familiar - of early American literature and culture, as we read diverse works - including poetry, captivity and slave narratives, seduction novels, Native American oratory, short stories, essays, autobiographies, and more - in relation to political, social, and artistic as well as literary contexts from the colonial period to the eve of Civil War. Note: students majoring (or planning to major) in English or American Studies should take the course for 5 units and for a letter grade.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Richardson, J. (PI)

ENGLISH 68N: Mark Twain and American Culture (AMSTUD 68N)

Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain defined the rhythms of our prose and the contours of our moral map. He recognized our extravagant promise and stunning failures, our comic foibles and¿ tragic flaws. He is viewed as the most American of American authors--and as one of the most universal. How does his work illuminate his society's (and our society's) responses to such issues as race, gender, technology, heredity vs. environment, religion, education, art, imperialism, animal welfare, and what it means to be "American"?
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

ENGLISH 124: The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

ENGLISH 152G: Harlem Renaissance (AFRICAAM 152G, AMSTUD 152G)

Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of "vicious Modernism", as a "BangClash", that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Terms: Win | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Elam, M. (PI)

ENGLISH 165: Perspectives on American Identity (AMSTUD 160)

Required for American Studies majors. In this seminar we trace diverse and changing interpretations of American identity by exploring autobiographical, literary, and/or visual texts from the 18th through the 20th century in conversation with sociological, political, and historical accounts. *Fulfills Writing In the Major Requirement for American Studies Majors*
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Kessler, E. (PI)

ENGLISH 172D: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100, EDUC 166C, PSYCH 155, SOC 146, TAPS 165)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)

FEMGEN 155: The Changing American Family (FEMGEN 255, SOC 155, SOC 255)

What are the historical trajectories and consequences of marriage, divorce, and premarital cohabitation? Where have gay rights come from and what is the future of gay rights in the US? What are the gender differences in marriage, family and housework? What does it mean for the personal to be political? What are the racial differences in family life and how have those differences been politicized? How did marriage equality go from being impossible to being the law of the US? We will study social change from the perspective of public opinion, legal changes, and family politics.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Rosenfeld, M. (PI)

FEMGEN 163: Queer America (AMSTUD 163, ARTHIST 163)

This class explores queer art, photography and politics in the United States since 1930. Our approach will be grounded in close attention to the history and visual representation of sexual minorities in particular historical moments and social contexts. We will consider the cultural and political effects of World War II, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, psychedelics, hippie culture and sexual liberation, lesbian separatism, the AIDS crisis, and marriage equality.
Last offered: Autumn 2019 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul

FEMGEN 183: Re-Imagining American Borders (AMSTUD 183, CSRE 183)

Borders of all kinds in this America have been tight for a long time, and the four years of the Trump regime have shown new violent dangers in such divisions in race, ethnicity, gender and class in this country. In the inordinately difficult years of 2020-2021 as the pandemic has uncovered even more lethal created divisions via closed crossings and early deaths reflecting difference, our task in this course is to both examine how systemic inequities have been developed as part of American history and our daily life, especially as we see the pandemic effects, and to see how American artists, including novelists, poets, visual and performance artists, filmmakers, photographers and essayists, have developed approaches to examine, resist or re-create how the shards of our fractured identities may make sense to us. Films from Raoul Peck on colonialism and white supremacy in this America, Barry Jenkins and Kara Walker on slavery in visual narratives, poets Shailja Patel, Naomi Shihab Nye, Claudia Rankine, Layli Long Soldier, Janice Lobo Sapiago, Felicia Zamora, Zhenyu Yuan, from within the power of multiple languages, and Ta-Nehisi Coates and Nikole Hannah-Jones of the '1619' Project who bring US education into the story, all speak to recent art and social action. Nearby guest speakers from the newly produced Mini Museum Honoring the Black Panther Party in West Oakland, and creators of the Stanford Graphic Novel Project's visual art book with revelations on California prison conditions will also provide more vivid examples for all. Students' work for the quarter includes both written analysis and creative final projects.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II

HISTORY 50A: Colonial and Revolutionary America

(Same as HISTORY 150A. 50A is 3 units; 150A is 5 units.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

HISTORY 50B: Nineteenth Century America (CSRE 50S)

(Same as HISTORY 150B. HISTORY 50B is 3 units; HISTORY 150B is 5 units.) Territorial expansion, social change, and economic transformation. The causes and consequences of the Civil War. Topics include: urbanization and the market revolution; slavery and the Old South; sectional conflict; successes and failures of Reconstruction; and late 19th-century society and culture.
Terms: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

HISTORY 50C: The United States in the Twentieth Century (AFRICAAM 50C)

(Same as HISTORY 150C. 50C is 3 units; 150C is 5 units.) 100 years ago, women and most African-Americans couldn't vote; automobiles were rare and computers didn't exist; and the U.S. was a minor power in a world dominated by European empires. This course surveys politics, culture, and social movements to answer the question: How did we get from there to here? Suitable for non-majors and majors alike.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

HISTORY 54: The History of Ideas in America, Part I (to 1900) (AMSTUD 54)

(Same as HISTORY 154. 54 is 3 units; 154 is 5 units.) How Americans considered problems such as slavery, imperialism, and sectionalism. Topics include: the political legacies of revolution; biological ideas of race; the Second Great Awakening; science before Darwin; reform movements and utopianism; the rise of abolitionism and proslavery thought; phrenology and theories of human sexuality; and varieties of feminism. Sources include texts and images.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

HISTORY 107: Introduction to Urban Studies (URBANST 110)

Today, for the first time in history, a majority of people live in cities. By 2050, cities will hold two-thirds of the world's population. This transformation touches everyone, and raises critical questions. What draws people to live in cities? How will urban growth affect the world's environment? Why are cities so divided by race and by class, and what can be done about it? How do cities change who we are, and how can we change cities? In this class, you will learn to see cities in new ways, from the smallest everyday interactions on a city sidewalk to the largest patterns of global migration and trade. We will use specific examples from cities around the world to illustrate the concepts that we learn in class. The course is intended primarily for freshmen and sophomores.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

HISTORY 150A: Colonial and Revolutionary America (AMSTUD 150A)

(HISTORY 50A is 3 units. HISTORY 150A is 5 units) This course surveys early American history from the onset of English colonization of North America in the late sixteenth century through the American Revolution and the creation of the United States in the late eighteenth. It situates the origins and the development of colonial American society as its peoples themselves experienced it, within the wider histories of the North American continent and the Atlantic basin. It considers the diversity of peoples and empires that made up these worlds as well as the complex movement of goods, peoples, and ideas that defined them. The British North American colonies were just one interrelated part of this wider complex. Yet out of that interconnected Atlantic world, those particular colonies produced a revolution for national independence that had a far-reaching impact on the world. The course, accordingly, explores the origins of this revolutionary movement and the nation state that it wrought, one that would rapidly ascend to hemispheric and then global prominence.
Terms: Aut | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

HISTORY 150B: Nineteenth Century America (AMSTUD 150B, CSRE 150S)

(Same as HISTORY 50B. 150B is 5 units; 50B is 3 units.) This course is a survey of nineteenth-century American history. Topics include: the legacy of the American Revolution; the invention of political parties; capitalist transformation and urbanization; the spread of evangelical Christianity; antebellum reform; changing conceptions of gender, sex, and family; territorial expansion, Indigenous dispossession, and Manifest Destiny; the politics and experience of Indian removal; slavery and emancipation; the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Redemption; the crises and corruption of the Gilded Age; the Populist insurgency; Chinese exclusion; allotment and reservation life; and the emergence of the United States as a modern nation state.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

HISTORY 150C: The United States in the Twentieth Century (AFRICAAM 150C, AMSTUD 150C)

(Same as HISTORY 50C. 50C is 3 units; 150C is 5 units.) 100 years ago, women and most African-Americans couldn't vote; automobiles were rare and computers didn't exist; and the U.S. was a minor power in a world dominated by European empires. This course surveys politics, culture, and social movements to answer the question: How did we get from there to here? Suitable for non-majors and majors alike.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

HISTORY 151: The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, POLISCI 124A)

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

HISTORY 154: The History of Ideas in America, Part I (to 1900) (AMSTUD 154)

(Same as HISTORY 54. 154 is 5 units; 54 is 3 units.) How Americans considered problems such as slavery, imperialism, and sectionalism. Topics include: the political legacies of revolution; biological ideas of race; the Second Great Awakening; science before Darwin; reform movements and utopianism; the rise of abolitionism and proslavery thought; phrenology and theories of human sexuality; and varieties of feminism. Sources include texts and images.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

HISTORY 250A: History of Native Americans in California (CSRE 117S, NATIVEAM 117S)

This course examines the political histories and cultural themes of Native Americans in California, 1700s1950s. Throughout the semester we will focus on: demographics, diversity of tribal cultures; regional environmental backgrounds; the Spanish Era and missionization; the Mexican Era and secularization; relations with the United States Government and the State of California, including the gold rush period, statehood, unratified treaties, origin of reservations/rancherias, and other federal policies, e.g., Allotment Act, Indian Reorganization Act and termination.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

HISTORY 255D: Racial Identity in the American Imagination (AFRICAAM 255, AMSTUD 255D, CSRE 255D, HISTORY 355D)

From Sally Hemings to Michelle Obama and Beyonce, this course explores the ways that racial identity has been experienced, represented, and contested throughout American history. Engaging historical, legal, and literary texts and films, this course examines major historical transformations that have shaped our understanding of racial identity. This course also draws on other imaginative modes including autobiography, memoir, photography, and music to consider the ways that racial identity has been represented in American culture.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Hobbs, A. (PI)

LINGUIST 65: African American Vernacular English (AFRICAAM 21, CSRE 21, LINGUIST 265)

Vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical features of the systematic and vibrant vernacular English [AAVE] spoken by African Americans in the US, its historical relation to British dialects, and to English creoles spoken on the S. Carolina Sea Islands (Gullah), in the Caribbean, and in W. Africa. The course will also explore the role of AAVE in the Living Arts of African Americans, as exemplified by writers, preachers, comedians and actors, singers, toasters and rappers, and its connections with challenges that AAVE speakers face in the classroom and courtroom. Service Learning Course (certified by Haas Center). UNITS: 3-5 units. Most students should register for 4 units. Students willing and able to tutor an AAVE speaking child in East Palo Alto and write an additional paper about the experience may register for 5 units, but should consult the instructor first. Students who, for exceptional reasons, need a reduced course load, may request a reduction to 3 units, but more of their course grade will come from exams, and they will be excluded from group participation in the popular AAVE Happenin at the end of the course.
Last offered: Spring 2019 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

MUSIC 8A: Rock, Sex, and Rebellion

Development of critical listening skills and musical parameters through genres in the history of rock music. Focus is on competing aesthetic tendencies and subcultural forces that shaped the music. Rock's significance in American culture, and the minority communities that have enriched rock's legacy as an expressively diverse form. Lectures, readings, listening, and video screenings. Attendance at all lectures is required.
Last offered: Spring 2023 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

MUSIC 18A: Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (AMSTUD 18A)

From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Low, M. (PI); Haines, Z. (TA)

MUSIC 18B: Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (AFRICAAM 18B, AMSTUD 18B)

Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Low, M. (PI); Koplitz, D. (TA)

NATIVEAM 16: Native Americans in the 21st Century: Encounters, Identity, and Sovereignty in Contemporary America (ANTHRO 16, ARCHLGY 16)

What does it mean to be a Native American in the 21st century? Beyond traditional portrayals of military conquests, cultural collapse, and assimilation, the relationships between Native Americans and American society. Focus is on three themes leading to in-class moot court trials: colonial encounters and colonizing discourses; frontiers and boundaries; and sovereignty of self and nation. Topics include gender in native communities, American Indian law, readings by native authors, and Indians in film and popular culture.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul

NATIVEAM 115: Introduction to Native American History (AMSTUD 115A)

This course incorporates a Native American perspective in the assigned readings and is an introduction to Native American History from contact with Europeans to the present. History, from a Western perspective, is secular and objectively evaluative whereas for most Indigenous peoples, history is a moral endeavor (Walker, Lakota Society 113). A focus in the course is the civil rights era in American history when Native American protest movements were active. Colonization and decolonization, as they historically occurred are an emphasis throughout the course using texts written from the perspective of the colonized at the end of the 20th century in addition to the main text. Students will be encouraged to critically explore issues of interest through two short papers and one longer paper that is summarized in a 15-20 minute presentation on a topic of interest relating to the course.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Red Shirt, D. (PI)

NATIVEAM 117S: History of Native Americans in California (CSRE 117S, HISTORY 250A)

This course examines the political histories and cultural themes of Native Americans in California, 1700s1950s. Throughout the semester we will focus on: demographics, diversity of tribal cultures; regional environmental backgrounds; the Spanish Era and missionization; the Mexican Era and secularization; relations with the United States Government and the State of California, including the gold rush period, statehood, unratified treaties, origin of reservations/rancherias, and other federal policies, e.g., Allotment Act, Indian Reorganization Act and termination.
Last offered: Autumn 2021 | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

NATIVEAM 121: Discourse of the Colonized: Native American and Indigenous Voices (CSRE 121)

Using the assigned texts covering the protest movements in the 20th century to the texts written from the perspective of the colonized at the end of the 20th century, students will engage in discussions on decolonization. Students will be encouraged to critically explore issues of interest through two short papers and a 15-20 minute presentation on the topic of interest relating to decolonization for Native Americans in one longer paper. Approaching research from an Indigenous perspective will be encouraged throughout.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul
Instructors: ; Red Shirt, D. (PI)

PEDS 65N: Understanding Children's Health Disparities

The social and economic factors that affect children and their health status. The principal sources of disparities in the health of children in the U.S. are not biologic, but social and economic. Topics include ethnic, cultural, and behavioral factors that affect children's health, both directly and indirectly; lack of health insurance; and current proposals for health care reform, focusing specifically on how they will impact existing health disparities among children.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

POLISCI 124A: The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151)

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

PSYCH 155: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100, EDUC 166C, ENGLISH 172D, SOC 146, TAPS 165)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Last offered: Winter 2023 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)

SIW 105: Education Policy

This seminar has three primary goals: 1) introduce today's major education policy issues; 2) investigate the ways education policy questions are addressed at the federal level, and by implication, the state and local levels; and 3) develop skills to develop and recommend appropriate policy options and solutions. You will become familiar with major education policy questions and over the course of the quarter, analyze these issues, consider policy options, and provide written and oral support for possible solutions.
Last offered: Autumn 2022 | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul

SIW 107: Civil Rights Law

This course analyzes the major civil rights laws that Congress has enacted since the 1960s, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act, the Public Accommodations ACt, the AGe Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The course provides an in-depth study of the statutory language of each of these laws, examines how courts have interpreted the statutes, and explores the policy arguments in favor and against such laws. The course also reviews the history context surrounding the enactment of these statutes, including an examination of the civil rights movement as a political and social force. This course is offered in person in Washington, D.C. only to students who are participating in the Bing Stanford in Washington Program.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

SOC 45Q: Understanding Race and Ethnicity in American Society (CSRE 45Q)

Preference to sophomores. Historical overview of race in America, race and violence, race and socioeconomic well-being, and the future of race relations in America. Enrollment limited to 16.
Last offered: Autumn 2019 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

SOC 145: Race and Ethnic Relations in the USA (CSRE 145, SOC 245)

(Graduate students register for 245.) Race and ethnic relations in the U.S. and elsewhere. The processes that render ethnic and racial boundary markers, such as skin color, language, and culture, salient in interaction situations. Why only some groups become targets of ethnic attacks. The social dynamics of ethnic hostility and ethnic/racial protest movements.
Last offered: Spring 2021 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul

SOC 146: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100, EDUC 166C, ENGLISH 172D, PSYCH 155, TAPS 165)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Rosa, J. (PI)

SOC 149: The Urban Underclass (CSRE 149A, SOC 249, URBANST 112)

(Graduate students register for 249.) We explore the history of residential segregation, urban policy, race, discrimination, policing and mass incarceration in the US. What are the various causes and consequences of poverty? How do institutions that serve the poor work and sometimes fail? We will read deeply into the social, political, and the legal causes of today¿s conflicts.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Rosenfeld, M. (PI)

SOC 152: The Social Determinants of Health (SOC 252)

When we consider a person's health, we often look first to the body. But our bodies don't exist in a vacuum: how we feel, whether we get sick, even how long we live depends on many factors beyond our biology. In this course, we will shift our focus to the world our bodies inhabit, considering how our circumstances affect our health, healthcare, and well-being. We will explore the 'social determinants' of health outcomes, including neighborhoods, social networks, healthcare systems, inequalities, and power structures. We will also reflect on what it means to live a healthy life and the extent to which individuals may or may not be able to determine their own health outcomes.n nBeyond the substantive topic of health, a core component of applying the sociological lens is being able to use research to explain and analyze the social world. To build your critical analysis skills, you will read and engage with social science research and apply theoretical concepts to empirical observations. Throughout the course, we will engage with case studies, both in class and in assignments that ask you to turn your sociological lens to health disparities in the world around you. We will also brainstorm ways to build a world without health inequality.
Last offered: Winter 2022 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-SI

SOC 155: The Changing American Family (FEMGEN 155, FEMGEN 255, SOC 255)

What are the historical trajectories and consequences of marriage, divorce, and premarital cohabitation? Where have gay rights come from and what is the future of gay rights in the US? What are the gender differences in marriage, family and housework? What does it mean for the personal to be political? What are the racial differences in family life and how have those differences been politicized? How did marriage equality go from being impossible to being the law of the US? We will study social change from the perspective of public opinion, legal changes, and family politics.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Rosenfeld, M. (PI)

TAPS 165: Introduction to Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE 100, EDUC 166C, ENGLISH 172D, PSYCH 155, SOC 146)

Race and ethnicity are often taken for granted as naturally occurring, self-evident phenomena that must be navigated or overcome to understand and eradicate the (re)production of societal hierarchies across historical, geopolitical, and institutional contexts. In contrast, this transdisciplinary course seeks to track and trouble the historical and contemporary creation, dissolution, experiences, and stakes of various ethnoracial borders. Key topics include: empire, colonialism, capital/ism, im/migration, diaspora, ideology, identity, subjectivity, scientism, intersectionality, solidarity, resistance, reproduction, and transformation. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center for Public Service . (Formerly CSRE 196C)
Terms: Win | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI | Repeatable 2 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Rosa, J. (PI)

TAPS 197: Dance in Prison: The Arts, Juvenile Justice, and Rehabilitation in America (AMSTUD 197, DANCE 197)

This class uses the lens of performance, and particularly dance, to explore the aesthetic, cultural, historical, and legal issues in the lives of incarcerated youth. In the process students gain an understanding of incarceration and its cultural dimensions. Class readings and discussions foreground the legal and social contexts surrounding prisons in the U.S., Particular attention will be paid to the nexus of art, community, and social action, and how dance might be used to study the performing arts effects on self-construction, perception, experiences of embodiment, and social control for incarcerated teenagers. The class includes guest speakers who bring important perspectives on criminal justice including returned citizens, a juvenile justice attorney, a restorative conferencing facilitator and a dancer who teaches women in prison to be their own dance instructors.
Last offered: Spring 2020 | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP

URBANST 110: Introduction to Urban Studies (HISTORY 107)

Today, for the first time in history, a majority of people live in cities. By 2050, cities will hold two-thirds of the world's population. This transformation touches everyone, and raises critical questions. What draws people to live in cities? How will urban growth affect the world's environment? Why are cities so divided by race and by class, and what can be done about it? How do cities change who we are, and how can we change cities? In this class, you will learn to see cities in new ways, from the smallest everyday interactions on a city sidewalk to the largest patterns of global migration and trade. We will use specific examples from cities around the world to illustrate the concepts that we learn in class. The course is intended primarily for freshmen and sophomores.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI

URBANST 112: The Urban Underclass (CSRE 149A, SOC 149, SOC 249)

(Graduate students register for 249.) We explore the history of residential segregation, urban policy, race, discrimination, policing and mass incarceration in the US. What are the various causes and consequences of poverty? How do institutions that serve the poor work and sometimes fail? We will read deeply into the social, political, and the legal causes of today¿s conflicts.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Rosenfeld, M. (PI)

URBANST 169: Race, Ethnicity, and Water in Urban California (AFRICAAM 169A, AMSTUD 169, CSRE 260)

Is water a human right or an entitlement? Who controls the water, and who should control the water, in California? Private companies? Nonprofits? Local residents? Federal, state, or local governments? This course will explore these questions in the context of urban California more generally, the players and the politics to make sense of a complex problem with deep historical roots; one that defines the new century in California urban life. The required readings and discussions cover cities from Oakland to Los Angeles, providing a platform for students to explore important environmental issues, past and present, affecting California municipalities undergoing rapid population change. In addition, our research focus will be on the cities located on the Central Coast of California: agricultural Salinas, Watsonville, and Castroville and towns along the Salinas Valley; tourist based Monterey, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Pacific Grove; the bedroom community of Prunedale to the north, and former military towns, Marina and Seaside, as all of these ethnically, socioeconomically diverse communities engage in political struggles over precious, and ever scarcer water resources, contend with catastrophic events such as droughts and floods, and fight battles over rights to clean water, entitlement, environmental racism, and equity. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; McKibben, C. (PI)
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