INTRO TO AMERICAN STUDIES

How can one approach America, what it has been and what it has produced? Given the length, breadth, diversity, and complexity, of American history and culture, how does one even begin to answer that question? In this panoramic look at some of most interesting, important, and emblematic work that has been created in the first centuries of American history, we attempt to approach the question – and, really, it’s not just a single question - from a wide variety of perspectives, befitting the variety and diversity of the Americans who created that work. Students will be asked to acquaint themselves with a wide variety of material, including but not limited to works of prose fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry, theater, visual art and architecture, and radio and film. Discussion section required: AMST UN1011

• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Jeremy Dauber
  CULPA: 21 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

SENIOR PROJECT COLLOQUIUM

This course is for American studies majors planning to complete senior projects in the spring. The course is designed to help students clarify their research agenda, sharpen their questions, and locate their primary and secondary sources. Through class discussions and a workshop peer review process, each member of the course will enter spring semester with a completed bibliography that will provide an excellent foundation for the work of actually writing the senior essay. The colloquium will meet every other week and is required for everyone planning to do a senior research project. Application due June 15. See American Studies website.

• W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Jeremy Dauber
  CULPA: 21 Wikipedia Info
• 1 points

TOPICS IN AMERICAN STUDIES

Tocqueville: Democratic Mind

Please refer to the Center for American Studies for section descriptions

• M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Mark Lilla
  CULPA: 57 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

TOPICS IN AMERICAN STUDIES

FREEDOM & CITIZENSHIP IN U.S.

Please refer to the Center for American Studies for section descriptions

• R 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Jessica H Lee
  Info
• 4 points

Democracy and De-Democratization, Theory

Democracy & De-Democratiz

The concepts of democratic backsliding, regime cycles (between oligarchy and populism, democracy and dictatorship), hybrid regimes and reverse waves, were devised with regard to newly democratized and/or insufficiently institutionalized democratic regimes. Yet today even long consolidated, wealthy western democracies seem to be at risk. This course will focus on the case of the United States.  While domestic and external threats to American constitutional democracy are not new, there is widespread concern today that both liberal constitutionalism and American democracy are at grave risk.  Our inquiry will involve an in-depth study of the political theory and American politics literature on the relevant concepts and dynamics. In the first part of the course, we will discuss the basic concepts and theories regarding democracy, oligarchy, constitutionalism and regime cycles developed in classical and early modern political thought.  The second part of the course will focus on the U.S., the oldest constitutional representative democracy and typically deemed the exemplar of a successfully consolidated democratic regime.  We analyze the processes, dynamics, reversals and limits to democratization in the US focusing on key tipping points from the founding to the present.  Our focus will be on four sets of factors and modes of explanation for the relevant shifts: constitutional, political, socio-cultural, and economic.  We conclude with analysis of the  contemporary conjuncture and current threats to American constitutional democracy.

• W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Jean L Cohen
  CULPA: 7 Wikipedia h-index: 63 Info
• 4 points

Ottoman Americana

This seminar explores the intertwined histories of the Ottoman Empire and the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through migration, mobility, and cultural exchange. It examines why diverse Ottoman subjects (Armenian, Greek, Turkish, Arab, Jewish, etc.) migrated to the United States and how they navigated life and contributed to the country’s evolving social and cultural fabric. Students will analyze migration experiences, community formations, and identity negotiations while considering how race, religion, class, and gender shaped the lives of transnational Ottoman communities in America. The course also investigates how Americans imagined the Ottoman world through missionary writings and journalism, and how Ottoman migrants themselves influenced these representations. Combining global and local perspectives, the seminar draws on historical, cultural, and sociological methods. Field-based learning, including visits to historic sites in New York City once home to Ottoman immigrant communities, complements classroom discussions.

• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Tunc Sen
  Info
• 4 points

American Business: A History

“The business of America is business,” President Calvin Coolidge famously said in 1925.
1
But what he said next is far less known, and central to the aims of this course: “They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world.” How, exactly, did that concern develop over the course of American history, in response to particular historical and cultural conditions? How did it shape, and how was it shaped by, other American concerns? And how do those concerns, anxieties, challenges, and opportunities manifest in today’s business landscape – and what does that mean for America’s place in the world tomorrow?

To find out, we’ll engage in a largely chronological analysis of the history of American business, focusing primarily on the last 150 years; and using a range of primary and secondary sources, ranging from Revolutionary-era documents to AI company press releases to business school case studies. It should be noted that there is no background in economics or finance required to take this course.

In addition to the readings, we will use Columbia’s largest advantage for the study of this subject – its location in New York City, the historical and still unquestioned home of American business – to bring in senior guest speakers from leading New York companies, offering unique perspectives on the past, present, and future business environment. We are fortunate that Matt Anestis, a former BlackRock managing director, Boston Consulting Group partner, and member of the Board of Visitors of American Studies, has agreed to actively support these efforts, and provide extensive real-world business insight to students throughout the term along with opportunities to visit top New York City businesses in various industries and meet with employees over coffee. These opportunities – ungraded and optional – will supplement the course and provide real-world complementary insight into what life is like on a world-class investment trading floor, Silicon Alley Startup office, publishing office, etc.  The schedule and choice of companies will reflect the goals and interests of students in the class.

1
Almost: the actual line reads “the chief business of the American people is business.” Always check your sources!

• T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Jeremy Dauber
  CULPA: 21 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

SENIOR THESIS IN AMER STUDIES

A year-long seminar for outstanding majors who want to conduct research -- or to design a creative project -- on any aspect of American history and culture. During the fall, students will clarify their research agenda or creative topic, sharpen their questions, locate their primary and secondary sources, and begin their project to be completed in the spring perhaps leading to departmental honors. See American Studies website for more details.

• 4 points

SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH

For students who want to do independent study of topics not covered by normal program offerings, or for senior American studies majors working on the Senior Honors Project independent of 3990y. The student must find a faculty sponsor and work out a plan of study; a copy of this plan should be submitted to the program director.

• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Jeremy Dauber
  CULPA: 21 Wikipedia Info
• 1-4 points