If I Could Turn Back Time

Better late than never? (Not at all! I understand I will NOT be receiving credit for this entry, but still!)

I'm not gonna lie... I totally forgot about posting a blog entry. But here I am nonetheless. I was a little bummed that we didn't have class this week! AMS is one of my favorite classes, it helps balance out my other dull classes. I totally registered for this class like a month before school started just to have a back up. I had originally planned to drop this class (before classes started) because I felt like I was taking too many credits. BUT NO. I went the first day and saw Lady Gaga on the first page of the syllabus... I knew it wouldn't be a typical class, so I decided to stick with it. I'M GLAD I DID!

I have enjoyed all of the topics we've covered (even if the text wasn't necessarily my favorite read). I really enjoyed the weekly articles. One that I found the most interesting was that of Rap music. I am a music lover, and whenever I get a chance to learn more about it in any class, I take it! The whole thing with MTV not wanting to play certain music videos was really interesting. It's weird looking at how much MTV, and our society, has evolved!

I apologize for the terribly late blog entry, but this week was kinda odd with not having class and having this due by midnight on Friday. My planner tends to be the last thing I look at on Friday nights, see you in class!

Semester in Review

I believe I'm with the majority of this class in saying they were pleasantly surprised with this course. The broad range of topics relating to America and American culture kept me interested and engaged with class. I especially enjoyed the unit spent discussing vampires and their origins. I feel like the more modern incarnations of vampires continue a trend of straying further and further from their true roots. I feel that this theme of adaptations based on the time period carries through to many other parts of the American Studies field.

Class

This course provided some really excellent information and commentary about society, and the indivial's place within society. The "other" was a very powerful theme that permeated through each concept that we studied. It's important to analyse how our ideological foundations have formed and changed as time has passed; and this course provided that analysis. The knowledge gained from this class will stay with me, and assist me in my other studies.

To be completely honest, I did not really know what an American Studies class was when I registered for it besides a course for my humanities credit. This class was completely different than any other class that I have taken. Most of my classes are in large lectures where we take notes and then go back to our dorms and memorize our notes. This class was completely different. I found myself going back to my room to look up more information on what we had talked about in class. The topics covered during class were very thought provoking and honestly things I had never really thought about at this level before. For example, we talked about disability in a way that was so far beyond the medical terms that I have learned in other classes. We focused on people instead of terminology and labels. Another thing that I got from the course is that there is more than one side to everything and definitely more than one opinion towards it.

Reflection

To be honest I did not really know what this class was gonna offer. I just took it to get enough credits. Once I got into the class I really started to enjoy it. It was very interesting to learn so of the things that you taught us. As the semester went on this was probably the only class that I actually looked forward to going to. It was the only class i did not skip atleast one class. Also I did not think that I would end up taking another AMS class but I really enjoyed this class so I wanted to take another. You were also a great teacher and made it enjoyable to come to class. You really opened my eyes to all the different things that happen in our society and what makes our country a unique place to live.

Class Reflection

In this course, American Study 107, I have learned a lot of American culture in the class. All of the themes that were taught and discussed in class were very interesting to me especially the Vampire. Compared to the old version Chinese vampire TV show that I used to watched before, Dracula was very intriguing for me. Actually, all of the themes that I learned in class were unfamiliar because it is very hard for me to find out some event about those themes such as disability and race in my homeland. Although I am not in American study major, the course materials are meaningful to learn it.

AMS 107 - Great Class!!

I lucked out when a seat became available the second week of the semester because this was a great class. I learned that almost everything in society is socially constructed and that as time goes on, things seem to change in an effort to adapt to the specific time period. So many things contribute to the "make-up" and identity of society (religion,race, gender, sex even vampires and freak shows) and as times goes on the influence of the media and internet become greater. I learned that the theme of "the other" has been prevalent in society for such a long time, when you think back to slavery and presently to vampires, the disabled and gays/lesbians. Through the years these groups have faced so much scrutiny and discrimination and I want to believe that as a society we are taking a look at history and learning from previous mistakes. Everyone should take an American Studies course so they can learn about people and see how many things contribute to who we are as a society and and as an individual.

Reflection

AMS has showed me a lot about American culture over time. I have never put that much thought into how all of these different movements and controversies effect our culture. Culture can be determined directed by anything such as music, racism, money, sexism, and even vampires. All of these different aspects can be related to American culture and can create different outcomes. It comes to show that literally anything can effect the movements of culture and how people react to certain aspects in society. The complete way of living can be drawn back to the a certain event or sequence in the past.

As for the class in general, I really liked the layout and curriculum. The class discussions brought up many topics and different point of views that really interested me and sparked learning. It was entertaining and I learned a lot.

What I've learned in AMS

Over the course of the semester, I have learned about several topics that are not openly discussed such as vampires, freak-shows, slavery, civil rights, and modern day issues such gay rights. The topics all share to some degree "The Other" or "Otherness". Before I took this class, I was not very enthusiastic to discuss these types of sensitive topics. I learned how to address and discuss these topics as well as further develop my opinions on these topics. I liked having the classroom discussions to hear what everyone had to say. It helped answer questions that I may have had as well as bring up new questions that helped my understanding of the material. Overall, I feel that i have learned a lot through these lectures, discussions and blogs as well as furthering my understanding of our culture and society.

AMS Rocks!!!!

I enjoyed the discussions we had in this class. They were open, informative, thought-provoking, and above all else, inspiring. I really do want to take more AMS classes and continue on to double major in it. I didn't give disability much thought until this class, nor did I give vampires much thought, but when you delve into the histories and the ideas behind some of these popular concepts, you can generate academic discourse that leads to further research and exploration. Yes, some things you may argue need no explanation and so why over-think why people love vampires, buy a certain type of music, or enjoy watching a specific genre of movie. The reality is there is a rhyme and reason behind all human action and thought, even when we think there is not. We learn about our tendencies, our innate desires, drives, values, etc. through studying popular culture because we created it.

Slavery, Freakery, Feminism, Homosexualizm, what's next?

When learning and talking about each of these three topics individually, it's hard to notice the trend but when going back through all of my notes I couldn't help but to notice this trend. In the U.S., we first started with slavery, making Blacks the minority almost as if they were not even humans, completely unequal. Once slavery began to end and blacks started to become integrated into society, still with inequalities but becoming more 'human-like', freak shows began to emerge. Freak shows were dehumanizing somewhat like Blacks during slavery, both of these notions were essentially for the entertainment/help of U.S. white citizens. Once Freaks became people with psychological problems, they were rejected by the U.S. population. Also around the same time as freak shows came feminism, this idea that women were now speaking out about inequality, almost like the slaves and freaks. Now women were fighting for their rights, fighting out against men. Once all of these problems were essentially 'solved', Homosexualism began, people fighting out against gays and lesbians. Now homosexuals had to fight for their rights, fight to be an equal part of society. Today homosexuals are still slowly gaining their rights in order for full equality. However, in society today I feel that each of these types of individuals (Blacks, Freaks, women, and homosexuals) are still trying to become completely equal to white straight males. Will all individuals in our society ever be truly equal? If not, I wonder what will come next, who else can our society point the finger at? I am definitely interested in this notion, and I personally would not be able to imagine what type of individuals will be in the light next, if any.

Religion and Class Reflection

Personally, religion is not something that is held sacred to me. In fact, every since I can remember, I have always been told that there are two thing you never talk about in: religion and politics. I was told that those are the worst things to argue about because there is never any real correct or incorrect answers. Although I do believe that it is not something that should be discussed, I do believe it is something that should be accepted. Living in America, it only makes sense that there are many different types of religions in our nation. Due to all of the diversity, I think everyone should be able to express whatever they believe however they want to do it as long as it endangers no one. The chapter talks about how being Christian is a typical religion of America but in my opinion, I think there should be no typical religion. Why should we care what others practice in the comfort of their own homes?

And for the reflection of this course, I loved this course. I consider myself to be very open minded but just like most people, I have my many strong beliefs about certain things. This class really opened up my eyes to things and showed me a lot and I am very thankful for that. I also think this class was really fun and engaging and I liked the fact that we all could speak our mind and I felt as though no one was ever judged and I think thats a hard thing to do.

What I Have Learned

Throughout the semester I have learned about the issues of race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and class to name a few, as well as how all of these things shape American culture. One important thing that I have learned is that these topics overlap heavily and to understand one you must also have an understanding of the rest. I was also introduced to the concept of the "other", something i was unfamiliar with. I learned how social construction can shape a person's life and can hinder their ability to participate in society. Overall, this class helped to teach me a lot about how our culture has become what it has and how that has impacted the people of America

Semester Reflection

This class has definitely helped me gain an incentive to work towards confronting institutionalized racism, discrimination, to blatant racism. Although we did not cover extensively about it in class, I feel that it was just enough to lay the foundations to help others work towards confronting it.

I learned about disability as discrimination to music as segregation. It would not have occurred to me that swing dance was "whitened". I always thought of it as a white thing in the 1920's...

Overall, I was satisfied with the course - I thought instead of lecturing for an hour and twenty minutes, presenting music and clips were an invigorating and welcoming approach.

Reflection on the Semester

I feel like I have learned a lot from this class and in a way that will stick in my mind rather than just forgetting it all after December. I learned that music and music videos are not just created to entertain people and make money; they can teach us a lot about society and issues in our culture. Especially rap music, which is highly debated because of the way life is portrayed in the videos and how women are used as objects. I also learned that race is a socially constructed idea, as is the term freak, and both were developed to help make sense of "the other." Another interesting part of the course was learning about the Irish and how tough life was for them when they first came to America. This course has taught me much more and these are just the first three things that came to mind, but I definitely benefited from taking American Studies.

Separation of Church and State

Campbell and Kean state that Thomas Jefferson believed that the First Amendment of the US Constitution intended for a separation of church and state. What Jefferson believed may be somewhat correct it is not entirely. One example is that same sex marriage is not recognized across American. The only reason for this seems to be that it is not intended for two men or two women to be married in the Bible which shows that religion is factoring into government when it is not meant to. However, a counter example would be the Muslim group that is trying to build a mosque at Ground Zero. So far the mosque is still going to be built even though many Americans are against it.

Religions affect on America

I believe religion is a big part of american culture many people practice religion in America. I am not very religious but when i was younger I used to be involved in religious studies as a majority of students were probably also. Kean talks about how Americas population has become very diverse with many new religions such as Judaism and Islam. The typical mans religion in the United States is the christian religion and has been since the 1800's.Evangelicalism is a interesting religious expression in America today the latest type of political conservative evangelicalism is the issue of abortion. Many people are torn on this topic and the religious aspect ties into there decisions greatly.