Courses

Thursday, 11:00am - 1:00pm

Instructor: Will Riddell

This course explores the rise of capitalism – understood not simply as an economic system but as a political and cultural one as well. It aims to acquaint students with the more important socio-economic changes of the past 600 years with an eye towards informing the way they think about problems of the present time: globalization, growing disparities of wealth, and the exploitation of natural resources. It seeks to foster a critical approach to the way in which the world is organized. A dual mission stands at its centre: it utilizes a focus on capitalism as a tool of scholarly understanding of the way the world has evolved, and it assists students in developing a critique of capitalism as a system.

Check out the course trailer here.

Tuesday, 1:00pm - 3:00pm 

Instructor: Doug Jones

This course examines the history, culture, and politics of the U.S. through an engagement with primarily original source materials including speeches, manifestos, songs, essays, paintings, films and more. In doing so, it will ask the central questions: What is America? and Who counts as American? This course concentrates on a series of moments in which different groups of Americans—such as women, African Americans, indigenous people, immigrants, and workers — debated, struggled over, and changed the boundaries of who and what counts as American. We will draw from, analyze, and contextualize a variety of primary source materials that make up defining moments in the contours of longstanding debates about citizenship, nationhood, and empire. Required for majors and minors, but open to all who meet pre-requisites.

Friday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Instructor: Maya Harakawa

This introductory course will survey the interrelated history of Blackness and artistic production in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada. Starting in the eighteenth century with the advent of the transatlantic slave trade and covering up to Black Lives Matter movement, the course proceeds chronologically and considers the Black Art within its larger social context. By discussing the aesthetic qualities of artworks and the careers of Black artists alongside of the history of anti-Black racism in North America, we will explore both how the visual has been used as a tool of domination and how art can challenge or subvert racist ideologies. At the end of the course, students will be familiar with the primary figures, debates, and works of art that constitute the field. They will also be comfortable discussing the history anti-Black racism and its current manifestations. Topics include: the visual culture of slavery and abolition, hemispheric and transatlantic modernisms, the racial politics of “outsider” and “folk” art, the Black Arts Movement, and art and mass incarceration.

Monday, 1:00 pm- 3:00 pm

Instructor: Jason Lau

This seminar critically examines the intersection of AI, platform governance, and algorithmic decision-making in the digital landscapes of the U.S. and Asia. The course explores how AI-driven systems, transpacific digital infrastructures, and platform logics mediate cultural and political exchanges. Special attention is given to the geopolitics of AI, data governance, and algorithmic power, with case studies on cross-border AI development, digital identity politics, and state-platform relations. Drawing from American Studies, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and digital ethnography, students will engage with theoretical debates and conduct critical analyses of digital technologies.

Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 3:00pm 

Instructor: Amanda Sheely

This course, required for majors and minors but open to all who have met the pre-requisites, explores a range of approaches to the field of American Studies. Students will be introduced to some of the many ‘theories and methods’ that have animated the field of American Studies, including historical methods; formal analysis of visual and literary texts; and key concepts, such as commodity chain analysis; ‘race,’ ‘commodity,’ ‘gender,’ ‘diaspora,’ and ‘affect.’

Tuesday, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Instructor: AJ Bedward

This course examines the U.S. empire as a way of life through Black political thought from the mid-20th century to the present. It specifically focuses on the works of political prisoners, presidential advisors, educators, activists, and journalists, grappling with Black scholarship’s often diverging, overlapping, and contradictory perspectives concerning the U.S. empire. Through collective discussions, writing, and journaling, we engage with visions and strategies of emancipation as an intentional mediation on multiple forms of literature related to understanding racialization, gender, sexuality, ability, and asymmetrical relations of power, which are complex and evolving.