Requirements for the Major in American Studies
The major in American Studies consists of eleven courses. Students develop a thematic focus in consultation with their advisor by the beginning of the junior year.
To introduce students to the field of American Studies, students take:
AMST103 SC Introduction to American Cultures, a prerequisite course that is team-taught by members of the intercollegiate faculty in the spring semester to introduce the themes, concerns, and methodologies of American Studies (one course).
To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take:
A two-semester survey of U.S. history (two courses):
HIST020 PO United States Colonial Era to Gilded Age or equivalent course (HIST070A SC, HIST025 PZ, HIST080 CM) and HIST021 PO Dynamics of Power in the US or equivalent course (HIST070B SC, HIST026 PZ, HIST081 CM)
A course in Africana, Asian American or Chicano/a-Latino/a studies; or one course on the histories and/or cultures of Native Americans (one course).
To provide depth as well as breadth, students take:
AMST180 SC American Studies Seminar normally taken in the fall of the junior year (one course);
Four courses drawn from at least two departments that focus on a specific theme (e.g., Race and Social Justice in the U.S.; the U.S. in a Transnational Context) - (four courses)
For their capstone experience in American Studies, students must complete:
AMST190 PO Senior Thesis Seminar (offered fall)
AMST191 PO Senior Thesis (offered spring)
All students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in this two-course, two-credit sequence. Students will enroll in AMST190 PO, a seminar, in the fall semester. In the spring semester, students enroll in AMST191 PO and complete the thesis under the direction of their thesis adviser and second reader, at least one of whom must be from the student’s home campus.
