American Studies and Preservation Studies

Introduction to American Studies CAS AM 200
Tu/Th 9:30am – 10:45am
Prof. Battenfeld

An exploration of the multi-faceted themes of American society and culture in selected historical periods using a variety of approaches to interpret such topics as American art, literature, politics, material culture, and the mass media. Required of majors and minors. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Critical Thinking, Research and Information Literacy.

 

What’s Boston? CASAM 202
Tues 12:30pm – 3:15pm
Prof. Battenfeld

What’s Boston? explores Boston’s complex urban and natural world. University faculty share cutting-edge research, focusing on Boston as a PLACE and a guiding IDEA, introducing the perspectives of disparate scholarly disciplines. Discover where you stand and where you might go! Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills one unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.

 

Native American and Indigenous Studies CAS AM 220
MWF 11:15am – 12:05pm
Prof. Hunziker

Examines diverse cultural expressions of Native peoples, from oral traditions to modern fiction, and their historic and political contexts. Employs interdisciplinary perspectives from Native American and Indigenous Studies to ask critical questions about the arts, identity, community, and creativity. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation.

 

Research Seminar in American Studies CAS AM 502 A1
Fri 11:15am-2:00pm
Prof. Stevenson

American Studies majors and minors complete their program of study by undertaking a one- or two- semester (AM 501 and/or AM 502) senior project based on original research or criticism. Topics vary by semester. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive, Research and Information Literacy.

Topic for Spring 2025: Preservation and the Vernacular Environment. This seminar explores the unique challenges and solutions for preserving the vernacular environment—broadly construed as “everyday” buildings and landscapes—that many established preservation tools are ill-equipped to serve. From triple-deckers to rural farmsteads to postwar suburbs to fieldstone dams, this course demonstrates the importance of the mundane in the built environment and how to save ensure its survival.

 

Research Seminar in American Studies CAS AM 502 B1
Tues 3:30pm – 6:15 pm

Topic for Spring 2025: Ethics of Preservation This course focuses on the laws and policies of historic preservation on a national and international level and connects those laws and policies to ethical issues in myriad venues. What are the ethical and legal dimensions of historic preservation? Who should control historically significant places and things? To whom and to what are preservationists accountable? This course addresses these issues and more by examining how the past is employed for social, political, and economic purposes in the context of legal and policy frameworks.

 

Research Seminar in American Studies CAS AM 502 C1
Thurs 12:30pm – 3:15pm
Prof. Rivera

American Studies majors and minors complete their program of study by undertaking a one- or two- semester (AM 501 and/or AM 502) senior project based on original research or criticism. Topics vary by semester. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive, Research and Information Literacy.

Topic for Spring 2025: Critical StarTrek Studies: Space Race and Settler Colonialism “Critical Star Trek Studies: Space Race and Settler Colonialism” takes a serious look at 1960s-1990s Star Trek from the lens of critical ethnic studies, postcolonial theory, and queer theory. How has the show Gene Roddenberry once conceptualized as the “wagon train to the stars” both endorse and explode mythologies of American settler colonialism, gender, and race, and what can Star Trek’s utopianism provide for social justice struggles today?

 

Boston Architectural and Community History Workshop CAS AM 555
Wed 2:30pm – 5:15pm
Prof. Ahlstrom

Focuses on class readings, lectures, and research on a single neighborhood or community in Boston (or Greater Boston). Greatest emphasis is on using primary sources– land titles and deeds, building permits, fire insurance atlases and other maps. Explores places and sources that help assess and narrate the rich history of architectural and urban development.

 

American Cultural Landscape Studies CAS AM 525 A1
Tue/Thu 12:30-1:45pm
Prof. Moore

This seminar provides an introduction to analyzing and interpreting American cultural landscapes and acquaints students with the historiography of interdisciplinary study of the built environment. Also offered as CAS AH 525.

 

Preservation Planning CAS AM 554 A1
Thu 6:30-9:15pm
Prof. Wermiel

Introduces students to local, state, and national government policies and practices intended to protect historically and aesthetically significant structures. In addition, the course covers planning approaches aimed at managing redevelopment in established neighborhoods, to create livable and sustainable communities.

 

Topics in American Material Culture CAS AM 567 A1
Tue/Thu 2:00-3:15pm
Prof. Bunschoten

An interdisciplinary research seminar exploring a topic in American material culture. Specific content will vary by semester and may be repeated for credit as topics change.

Topic for Spring 2025: Material Culture of the Environment This seminar explores the connections between humans, non-human entities, and the environment to challenge the traditional separation of nature and culture. We will ask questions about matter and ask more questions about why matter matters. Working at the intersection of material culture studies and the environmental humanities, course texts include Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood as well as interdisciplinary array of scholarship  with selections from Stacy Alaimo, Jane Bennett, William Cronon, Max Liboiron, among others.

 

Affiliated Departments

This is only a sampling of courses. Please refer to individual department websites and the University Class Schedule for complete course offerings.

African American & Black Diaspora Studies

English

Film and Television

History

History of Art & Architecture

Religion

Sociology