HOW TO CHOOSE AND REQUEST CLASSES

This is the hardest part because there are so many courses available and the descriptions are short. Here are courses that are almost 100% guaranteed to be approved. (There are rare cases when a course might be declined, but that is rare.)

Choose courses for Fall semester first, but take a look at the spring offerings too–there could be courses you really want then, so you may want to finish your American Studies requirement in the Fall semester.

Step A

Choose courses from the lists below based on what Danielle mentioned in the Welcome letter and your own interests.

Step B

Email Danielle your 2 courses for Fall and 1 backup. You may also indicate your spring choices, but those may change.

Fall 2024 American Studies courses

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 200.001: Black Feminisms: Past, Present, and Futures

Tue Thu : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Black feminist expressions, dialectics, arts, and/or politics, through discussions on language, the body, institutions, history, cultures, communal relations, exercises of freedom, and practices of resistance.

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 201.001: Black Sexualities Studies: Past, Present, and Futures

Mon Wed : 2:40 PM-4:00 PM

Black Sexualities Studies through identity formation, dialectics, arts, and politics, through discussions on language, the body, institutions, history, cultures, politics, healing, exercises of freedom, and practices of resistance.

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 202: Black Genders Studies: Past, Present, and Futures

Mon Wed : 1:00 PM-2:20 PM

Gender ideologies, ideologies that produce gender, pursuits of resistant imaginaries, and gender fluidity particularly in Black lifewords, expressions, activism, and politics.

AIIS (Amer Indian & Indigenous Stdy) 201: Introduction to American Indian and Indigenous Studies

Tue Thu : 1:00 PM-2:20 PM

Introduction to the study of American Indian and other Indigenous peoples, including issues related to culture, knowledge, language, governance, colonization, sovereignty, and ongoing revitalization efforts.

ANP (Anthropology) 411: North American Indian Ethnography

Mon Wed : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

Social and cultural patterns of North American Indian societies. History, economy, politics, social organization, religion, and social change.

ANP (Anthropology) 420: Language and Culture

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Domain, issues, and methods of cultural linguistics. Relationship between language and culture. Language and ethnicity, status, and role. Pidgin and Creole languages. Crosscultural communication.

ANP (Anthropology) 432: American Indian Women

Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Role of women in a variety of North American Indian cultures, both traditional and contemporary, using autobiography, life history, historical biography, ethnography, and fiction. Interaction of Indian women and their cultures with Western European and American cultures

HST (History) 213: U.S. Business and Economic History

Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:20 PM

Evolution of American economy from colonial period to the present. Relationship between government and business. The relationship of labor to industry and government. Political culture and the world of business.

HST (History) 306: Modern United States

Mon Wed : 6:00 PM-7:20 PM

United States history from 1920 to the present. Transformations in political, economic, and social institutions and Americans’ responses to these changes. Development of the welfare-warfare state. The transformation to a post-industrial economy. Political and cultural responses to these changes.

HST (History) 320: History of Michigan

Mon Wed : 6:00 PM-7:20 PM

Political, social, and economic development from colonial beginnings to the present.

HST (History) 329: College Sports in the United States

Mon Wed : 8:00 AM-9:20 AM

Origins of sports in higher education. Effects of industrialization and television. Civil rights movement in sports: incorporation of women and members of minorities. Title IX era. History of individual sports.

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 206: Self, Society, and Technology (D) Focus: Language and our Lives

Section 021Fri : 11:30 AM-12:20 PM

Section 020 Fri : 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

Section 019 Fri : 9:10 AM-10:00 AM

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 207: Literatures, Cultures, Identities (I) Focus: Ideas of Class, Race, and Identity

Sec 001 Fri : 11:30 AM-12:20 PM AND Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:20 PM

Sec 002 Fri : 12:40 PM-1:30 PM AND Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:20 PM

Sec 003 Fri : 1:50 PM-2:40 PM AND Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:20 PM

PLS (Political Science) 100: Introduction to American Politics

Sec 001: Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Sec 003: Tue Thu : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

The policymaking process in national government, with emphasis on political participation, the presidency, Congress, Supreme Court, bureaucracy, and civil rights and civil liberties.

REL (Religious Studies) 232: Islam in America

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Introduction to the history and evolution of Islam in America.

Fall 2024 Professional courses

ENG (English) 308: Readings in Literature for Young Adults

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

This course in Young Adult Literature focuses on works written by Latinx authors about Latinx experiences in the socio-juridical space that is the United States. The readings give visibility to alternative systems and conceptions of knowledge, perception, value, justice and ancestry. For future teachers, the readings provide additional choices in building their own set of inclusive materials. The class will also develop critical reading strategies to enrich and develop pedagogical strategies and methodologies in preparation for the inclusive classroom. The class, however, is not meant solely for future teachers. The stories and our strategies of reading will be complex, theoretical and multidimensional, meant to challenge cultural assumptions about thematic, descriptive and narrative simplicity in literature written for young adults. We welcome all to our reading community!

LIN (Linguistics) 225: Language and Gender

Sec 001 Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Gender and language in societies around the world. Issues such as status, power and politeness in monolingual and multilingual societies. The role of gender in language development, language variation and language change.

LIN (Linguistics) 230: Languages of the World

Mon Wed : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

Develop an understanding and appreciation of the world’s linguistic diversity by exploring facts about languages of the world and an appreciation of linguistic diversity as part of cultural diversity. Learn about language families and historical relationships, as well as language typology. Explore how the language situation today reflects historical movements of people and their settlements. Symbolic functions of language and what happens when languages come in contact.

LIN 424: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Phonetics, phonetics features and components, phonological phenomena, phonemic analysis, sound systems and data analysis.

LIN (Linguistics) 434: Introduction to Syntax

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Structure of sentences and structural relations among phrases. Methods of syntactic analysis and argumentation.

LIN (Linguistics) 437: Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics

Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Natural language semantics and pragmatics. How human languages encode meaning and put linguistic meanings to use. Basic mathematical tools used to formally analyze semantics and pragmatics data.

LIN (Linguistics) 455: Neurolinguistics

To Be Announced

Theoretical approaches to the study of language and the brain. Perspectives on normal and impaired linguistic functioning offered by lesion studies and brain-imaging techniques. The genetic basis of language as evidenced in family and twin studies.

LIN (Linguistics) 471: Sociolinguistics

Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Linguistic and social psychological bases for language choice. Accounts of language variation and related larger constructs such as speech community, communicative competence, dialect, and language change.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 807: Language Teaching Methods

Wed : 4:10 PM-7:00 PM

Approaches, methods, and materials for teaching foreign and second languages, including the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Selection and evaluation of materials, lesson planning, and management of activities and materials.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 809: Teaching Second Language Reading and Writing

Mon : 3:00 PM-5:50 PM

Teaching reading and writing in foreign and second language contexts. Vocabulary and pre-reading activities; materials development; integrating, assessing and researching reading and writing; reading and writing to learn language, academic reading and writing.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 813: CALL: Technology-mediated Language Learning and Teaching

Mon : 9:10 AM-12:00 PM

Overview of pedagogical, empirical, methodological, and theoretical issues regarding language learning and teaching in technology-mediated contexts. Discussion, simulations and case studies, the creation of a teaching portfolio, and the participation in action research.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 822: Interlanguage Analysis

Tue : 3:00 PM-5:50 PM

Phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax within the context of second language acquisition and teaching. Approaches to analysis of second language learner data.

THR (Theatre) 101N: Acting I for Non-Theatre Majors

Sec 004: Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:30 PM

Sec 005 Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:50 PM

Improvisational exercises, creative exercises, monologue and scene study.

WS (Women’s Studies) 201: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies

Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Foundational knowledge, theories, methods in women’s and gender studies and of women’s experience historically and across the globe.

Spring 2025 American Studies Courses

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 200: Black Feminisms: Past, Present, and Futures

Mon Wed : 2:40 PM-4:00 PM

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 202: Black Genders Studies: Past, Present, and Futures

Tue Thu : 2:40 PM-4:00 PM

Gender ideologies, ideologies that produce gender, pursuits of resistant imaginaries, and gender fluidity particularly in Black lifewords, expressions, activism, and politics.

AAAS (African American & Afr Studies) 302: Black Institutions, Sustainability, and Statecraft

Tue Thu : 4:10 PM-5:30 PM

Historical, philosophical, and emerging topics related to Black institutions, sustainability, and management systems of centralized governments as it relates to Black sovereignty, self-determination, solidarities, and co-existence.

HST (History) 225: Law, History and Society in the United States

Mon Wed : 1:00 PM-2:20 PM

Legal history of the United States. How law shapes and is shaped by culture and society. Framing the Constitution. Religious freedom. Gender and the law. Race and the law.

HST (History) 306: Modern United States

Mon Wed : 3:00 PM-4:20 PM

HST (History) 309: American Indian History: Precontact to the Present

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Gendered overview of indigenous history in the Americas. Precontact, encounter, intrusion and resistance to settler colonialism, forced removal, reservations, boarding schools, allotment, indigenous sovereignty.

HST (History) 311: African American History since 1876

Mon Wed : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

Blacks in America from Reconstruction to the present. Grass roots and cultural revitalization. The Civil Rights movement and black power.

HST (History) 320: History of Michigan

Mon Wed : 6:00 PM-7:20 PM

Political, social, and economic development from colonial beginnings to the present.

HST (History) 324: History of Sport in America

Mon Wed : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

Social and cultural ramifications of colonial sport. Rise of modern sport in the nineteenth century. Social significance of sport in modern America with special attention to economics, gender, race, and politics.

HST (History) 326: United States Foreign Relations since 1914

Tue Thu : 4:10 PM-5:30 PM

Foreign policy of the United States from the outbreak of World War I to the present. Topics include Wilson’s foreign policy, the policy of isolation, World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and current developments.

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 206: Self, Society, and Technology (D) Focus: Language and our Lives

Sec 001: Fri : 9:10 AM-10:00 AM

Sec 002 Fri : 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

Sec 003 Fri : 11:30 AM-12:20 PM

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 207: Literatures, Cultures, Identities (I) Focus: Flyover States: Midwestern Art and Literature

Sec 037 Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-12:10 PM

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 207: Literatures, Cultures, Identities (I) Focus: Ideas of Class, Race, and Identity

Sec 039 Mon Wed : 8:00 AM-9:50 AM

IAH (Integrative Studies Arts & Hum) 208: Music and Culture (I) Individual section topics not available yet.

Spring 2025 Professional Courses

LIN (Linguistics) 225: Language and Gender

Tue Thu : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

LIN (Linguistics) 424: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Phonetics, phonetics features and components, phonological phenomena, phonemic analysis, sound systems and data analysis.

LIN (Linguistics) 431: Introduction to Morphology

Mon Wed : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Word structure, word formation, morphological analysis, interface with phonology and syntax, and theoretical issues in morphology. Data from diverse languages of the world.

LIN (Linguistics) 434: Introduction to Syntax

Tue Thu : 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

Structure of sentences and structural relations among phrases. Methods of syntactic analysis and argumentation.

LIN 437: Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics

Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Natural language semantics and pragmatics. How human languages encode meaning and put linguistic meanings to use. Basic mathematical tools used to formally analyze semantics and pragmatics data.

LIN (Linguistics) 450: Child Language Acquisition

Tue Thu : 8:30 AM-9:50 AM

Linguistic issues, perspectives and research on the acquisition of language by children. Phonology, lexicon, morphology, syntax, semantics. Universal principles, variation, contexts. Implications for related disciplines.

LIN (Linguistics) 455: Neurolinguistics

LIN (Linguistics) 463: Introduction to Cognitive Science

Mon Wed : 12:40 PM-2:00 PM

Cognitive processing of information by animals, humans, and computers. Relevant issues in philosophy, linguistics, psychology, neurophysiology, and artificial intelligence.

LIN (Linguistics) 471: Sociolinguistics

Tue Thurs: 10:20 AM-11:40 AM

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 808: Assessment for Language Teaching and Research

Mon : 9:10 AM-12:00 PM

Classroom diagnostic and achievement assessment. Reliability and validity of language tests. Alternative assessment methods. Standardized and performance-based testing. Program-level assessment. Measuring language proficiency for research.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 821: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition

Wed : 11:30 AM-2:20 PM

This course focuses on the individual difference of emotions in SLA, and will also cover IDs related to emotions and affect. The course is practical for language teachers. The course is also for those interested in researching the topics in relation to language development, teaching, and learning in SLA.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 841: Topics in Second/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching Topic: Language Program Administration.

Wed : 4:10 PM-7:00 PM

This course focuses on language program administration and will over the following topics: curriculum, administration and coordination, teacher training and supervision, evaluation, recruitment and marketing, contextual factors (abroad, at home, K-12, university, community programs, online. F2F, etc.)

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 842: Teaching and Learning Vocabulary in Another Language

Tue : 9:10 AM-12:00 PM

Overview of second language vocabulary acquisition research and its implications for second language teaching. Dimensions of vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary and the four communicative skills. Incidental versus intentional vocabulary learning. Vocabulary learning strategies.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 846: English Structures and Functions

Mon : 3:00 PM-5:50 PM

Phonological, morphological, grammatical, lexical, discourse and pragmatic systems of English, including historical origins and social, regional, and gender variations. Application to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 862: Advanced Research in Second Language Acquisition

Thu : 12:40 PM-3:30 PM

Continuation of LLT 861. Professional development seminar in second language acquisition. Research project. Collecting and analyzing data. Preparing projects for conference presentation and publication. Topics vary.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 864: Second Language Psycholinguistics

Thu : 9:10 AM-12:00 PM

Second and foreign language learning from a psycholinguistic perspective. Discussion of major research findings and theories of second and foreign language perception, comprehension, and production.

LLT (Language, Learning & Teaching) 872: Research Methods for Language Teaching and Foreign/Second Language Learning

Tue : 3:00 PM-5:50 PM

Concepts and procedures for designing and conducting research in second/foreign language learning and teaching.

ENG (English) 308: Readings in Literature for Young Adults

Tue Thu : 1:00 PM-2:20 PM

Extensive readings across a range of genres of literature for young adults, including realistic and historical fiction, fantasy, myth and legend.