Minor Course Descriptions - Art and Popular Culture

American Studies Minor Course Descriptions
Arts, Media and Technology (3 credits):
 

ART 1830:
  Racism in Film  Examines some of the causes and effects of racism within culture and analyzes how films organize their formal properties into strategies that promote and/or reinforce racist values and belief systems
ART 1840:
 Sexism in Cinema and Television This course analyzes the manner in which sexism functions as an ideological institution within American culture in and through cinema and television.
ART 2790:
 Contemporary Art and Culture, 1945-present Examination of avant-garde issues in visual art.  Artistic, theoretical and historical concerns are researched to discuss international developments in contemporary art and art criticism. Gallery and museum visits required.
MUS 1230:
 History of American Popular Music A survey of popular music in America from colonial times to the present; a study of how popular music reflects the times and trends of American society.
MUS 1260:
 American Musical Theater The history of the American musical; its early influences, its continued stylistic changes and its current trends.
MUS 1300:
 History of Jazz A survey of the history and development of jazz as a unique American art form; the sociological, folk and primitive backgrounds of jazz, as well as its development as an improvisatory art; the contributions of jazz to concert music.