AMERICAN STUDIES 2015 SUMMER COURSES

MAYMESTER:
AMST 291.001M

Ethics and American Studies

Instructor: Dr. Michelle Robinson

MTWRF
1:15-4:30;
Murphy 204
Ethics and American Studies: The Ethics of Stand Up
This Maymester seminar version of The Ethics of Stand Up will explore the historical, sociocultural, and legal
significance of twentieth and early twenty-first century stand-up comedy in the United States. We will
consider comedy as public voice; examine the ways humor constructs and disrupts American identities; and
discuss the ethics of the creative process, performance and reception in contemporary life. Our syllabus will
include a limited number of scholarly articles to guide our study, but will focus primarily on the work of
comedians, including Moms Mabley, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Woody Allen,
Margaret Cho, Mitch Hedburg, Louis C.K., Chris Rock, and Hari Kondabolu, among many others. Athletes and
other human beings are welcome!

SUMMER SESSION I
AMST 110.001

Intro to Cultures and Histories of Native North America (HIST 110)

Instructor: Dr. Daniel Cobb

ON-LINE
Please note that this course will be delivered in an online format only.
An interdisciplinary introduction to Native American history and studies. The course uses history, literature,
art, and cultural studies to study the Native American experience
AMST 202.001

Historical Approaches to American Studies

Instructor: Dr. Seth Kotch

MTWRF
9:45-11:15; Murphy 204
This course invites you to explore American history and culture through the voices of those who lived it.
Moving forward from the slave era to the recent past, you will approach American history through narratives
as expressed in oral histories, original writing, photographs, music, and film. These narratives will introduce
the human voice, and more broadly human expression, into American history and allow you to explore its
major problems, from issues of race, gender, class and other identities; to the influence of memory and
context on our understandings of our history; to the reliability of different versions of the past and how to
evaluate authenticity, reality, and truthshould it existin a historic context

AMST 275.001

Documenting Communities

Instructor: Dr. Julie Davis

MTWRF
9:45-11:15

Graham Memorial 212

*This class is cross-listed with AMT 795*

*This is an on-site field course based in Gastonia, North Carolina. Actual class meeting times will be determined by
course instructor. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor only (Dr. Julie Davis, juliedavis@unc.edu).

This course will provide students with an intensive, on-site field experience in public history/digital humanities
practice at the Loray Mill in Gastonia. Now transformed into a mixed-use residential and commercial space,
this former textile mill also houses a center for research, interpretation, public programming, and community
engagement around the story of the mill, the people who worked there, and their place in local and regional
history. Digital Loray, a companion project developed by UNCs Digital Innovation Lab, includes an online
historical collection, a public website, and tools for data visualization and analysis.
Students will contribute to the work of the history center and engage with Digital Loray resources through
hands-on projects that are shaped by individual interests, goals, and skills. (Work might include, but is not
limited to: oral history; exhibit research/design; public programs; public art/music; website/social media
development; or curriculum development.) Everyone will gain practical experience in the implementation of a
site-based, public/digital initiative at the intersection of historic preservation and post-industrial economic
revitalization. Projects will be framed and supported by common readings, discussion, collaboration, and
instructor guidance, as well as interaction with community members and cultural heritage professionals.

AMST 795.001

Documenting Communities

Instructor: Dr. Julie Davis

MTWRF
9:45-11:15

Graham Memorial 212

*This class is cross-listed with AMT 275*

*This is an on-site field course based in Gastonia, North Carolina. Actual class meeting times will be determined by
course instructor. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor only (Dr. Julie Davis, juliedavis@unc.edu).

This course will provide students with an intensive, on-site field experience in public history/digital humanities
practice at the Loray Mill in Gastonia. Now transformed into a mixed-use residential and commercial space,
this former textile mill also houses a center for research, interpretation, public programming, and community
engagement around the story of the mill, the people who worked there, and their place in local and regional
history. Digital Loray, a companion project developed by UNCs Digital Innovation Lab, includes an online
historical collection, a public website, and tools for data visualization and analysis.
Students will contribute to the work of the history center and engage with Digital Loray resources through
hands-on projects that are shaped by individual interests, goals, and skills. (Work might include, but is not
limited to: oral history; exhibit research/design; public programs; public art/music; website/social media
development; or curriculum development.) Everyone will gain practical experience in the implementation of a
site-based, public/digital initiative at the intersection of historic preservation and post-industrial economic
revitalization. Projects will be framed and supported by common readings, discussion, collaboration, and
instructor guidance, as well as interaction with community members and cultural heritage professionals.

SUMMER SESSION II
AMST 201.001

Literary Approaches to American Studies

Instructor: Dr. Sharon Holland

MTWR
3:00-5:00;
Murphy 204
What is it about animals that so intrigues us? What is the difference between human cognition and animal
cognition? What do we truly know about dogs, horses or cats? Why should we care? This course is an
introduction to the discipline of "Animal Studies" in American Studies work through literary approaches to the
question of the animal. We will read work from dog and horse trainers, get an inside look at the workings of
North Carolina barn culture and explore the history of the racetrack through such novels as Toni Morrisons A
Mercy and Jaimy Gordons Lord of Misrule. We will read works by Temple Grandin and view the HBO biopic
about her work. We will also read local dog trainer Cat Warrens book, What the Dog Knows. This course
defines the literary very broadly and will also include readings in philosophy, and of course, animal science.

FOLKLORE
FOLK 334.001

Folklore Art, Nature & Religion (ANTH 334)

Instructor: Dr. Norris Johnson

MTR
3:15-5:50
Hanes Art 215
This cross-cultural study of art focuses on the forms, images, and meanings of paintings, drawings, and
carvings produced by the Diyin Dine, {Navajo}, the Dogon (Mali, West Africa), and the Haida, Kwagiutl, Tlingit,
and Tshimshian (NW Coast of North of North America)(cross-listed: FOLK 334).