American Studies 101: Comparative Perspectives on Power, Resistance and Change

Core Course

AMS 101 / ASA 101 / LAO 101 serves as the gateway to certificates in American studies, Asian American studies, and Latino studies.

AMS 101 / ASA 101 / LAO 101 on the Registrar site
Students in 'America Then and Now' in class at the Princeton University Art Museum. Photo by Sarah Malone

Students in “America Then and Now” in class at the Princeton University Art Museum. Photo by Sarah Malone

Signature ideas, events and debates from America’s past and present

AMS 101 / ASA 101 / LAO 101 This course introduces students to methods of American Studies, Asian American Studies and Latino Studies through discussion of some of the signature ideas, events, and debates in and about America's past and present. 

It presents students various scholarly approaches to historical and mythic manifestations of America from local, national, and global perspectives and considers the historical and cognitive processes associated with the delineation of America. The course examines a wide range of material and media from the point of view of multiple fields of study.

Teaching with Special Collections: ‘America Then and Now’ : Feature article

Students in the team-taught course “America Then and Now” explore cultural, social and political history through a range of experiences, including hands-on archival research.
Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús leads a discussion with students in the Princeton University Library

Students in the team-taught course “America Then and Now” explore cultural, social and political history through a range of experiences, including hands-on archival research. Pictured: At a visit to Princeton University Library’s Special Collections, Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús (standing center), professor of American studies and director of the Effron Center for the Study of America, leads an impromptu discussion about 19th- and 20th-century materials from minstrel shows. Photo by Shelley Szwast, Princeton University Library