Course Descriptions | American & New England Studies

Woodsman driving pulpwood on the Kennebago River

ANE 600 Creating New England I

Thursday, 4:10P-6:40P, J. Conforti

This required core course examines the development of New England regional identity from the 17th to the mid-19th century. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches and materials, the course focuses on how regional identity has been both historically grounded and culturally invented. Topics include: the invention of New England as a second England; the Yankee character; the New England town; the creation of regional traditions; and New England reform and cultural pluralism.

ANE 615 Folklore and Region

Monday, 4:10P-6:40P, K. Ryden

This course will begin by introducing students briefly to the study of folklore, particularly in a regional context, and to the identification and analysis of folkloric "texts" broadly conceived. It will then proceed topically, examining regional folk culture as it relates to various of the elements that help comprise a regional identity: history, economic activity as it is constrained by the region, and the natural and humanly shaped physical environment. Attention will also be paid to variations in regional folk culture according to gender, ethnicity, and class. Each topic will include an extended examination of an example from New England as well as materials from other regions of the country.

ANE 622 Food: History, Culture, Politics

Wednesday, 4:10P-6:40P, A. Cameron

This course will explore the history, culture and politics of food in America with a special emphasis on New England and regional differences. It will look at colonial food ways including diet, food theft, trade patterns, and regional diversity; nineteenth century health, sanitation, and temperance reforms; the rise of cooking schools, food writing, and regional cuisine; and contemporary issues such as fast and slow food, terminator seeds, organic farming, and the diet industry.

ANE 658 Visual Culture of 20th-Century America

Tuesday, 4:10P-6:40P, D. Cassidy

This course will look at the production and explosion of visual images in 20th-century America. Students will examine varied image types (advertising, film, painting, prints, photography, public art, television, and video) and how these images shape knowledge, experience, and culture. Topics include the spectacle of city; images that sell; the meanings of abstract art; and documentary photography and surveillance.

ANES 660: New England Autobiography

Tuesday, 7:00P-9:30P, J. Conforti

This course examines 19th- and 20th-century New England autobiography; it focuses on works that illuminate aspects of regional experience. The readings represent diverse forms of autobiographical expression as well as essays that introduce contemporary approaches to the study of autobiography. The course emphasizes a historical-cultural reading of autobiography, relating issues of style, self-representation, the life cycle, gender, class, ethnicity and place to particular historical contexts and cultural needs.

ANE 675 Workshop in Research and Writing

Monday, 7:00P-9:30P, A. Cameron

This course explores various modes of critical writing as they relate to contemporary practices and debates in American Studies. It is run as a collaborative workshop; students will read and comment on drafts of each other's papers as a central element of the process of revision. By semester's end, students will have produced an extensive research paper or a thesis chapter. This course is required for students writing a thesis or project, but is also open to all students who have completed at least 15 hours of course work. Prerequisite: 15 credits completed in the ANES Program, including ANE 600 and ANE 610. Students working on a thesis or project are strongly advised to have a proposal ready for submission to the ANES Curriculum Committee during the previous semester.

ANE 685 Reading and Research

Open to advanced students with exceptional records in the program, this course offers opportunities for reading and research under the direction of a faculty member. The approval of the ANES Curriculum Committee is required. This course may be taken only once.

ANE 687 Internship

Open to qualified students with exceptional records in the program; required for students in the Public Culture and History track. Internships are by application to the ANES Curriculum Committee. Participating organizations include: Portland Museum of Art, Old York Historical Society, Pejepscot Historical Society, and Maine Historical Society.

ANE 690 Project

Completion of a two-semester project that may be an independent project or that may combine independent study and work in a historical society, a museum, a cultural organization, or other public or private institution. In consultation with an advisor, the student defines and develops the project in relation to his or her particular interest in American and New England Studies.

ANE 695 Thesis

The product of original research, the thesis should embody an interdisciplinary combination of approaches and/or materials.

PPM Muskie School Course Descriptions

For students in the Public History and Culture Track, see the Muskie School of Public Service's course descriptions in non-profit management.

American & New England Studies

Fall 2008 Course Offerings