American Studies (BA)

专业详情

The core requirements illustrate how different disciplines approach the study and interpretation of American life and include three courses in each of two main areas: history and institutions; and literature, culture, and the arts. One additional course in comparative race and ethnicity is also required. The required gateway seminar, AMSTUD 160 Perspectives on American Identity, explores the tensions between commonality and difference from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

Beyond the core requirements of the major, American Studies expects students to define and pursue their own interests in interpreting dimensions of American life. Accordingly, each student designs an interdisciplinary thematic concentration of at least five courses drawn from fields such as history, literature, art, communication, theater, political science, African American studies, feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, economics, anthropology, religious studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o studies, law, sociology, education, Native American studies, music, and film. At least one of the five courses in a student’s thematic concentration should be an approved advanced seminar designated as the capstone seminar and must require a substantial research project. With program approval, students may conclude the major with an honors research project during their senior year. Whether defined broadly or narrowly, the thematic focus or concentration should examine its subject from the vantage of multiple disciplines. Examples of concentrations include: race and the law in America; gender in American culture and society; technology in American life and thought; health policy in America; art and culture in 19th-century America; education in America; nature and the environment in American culture; politics and the media; religion in American life; borders and boundaries in American culture; the artist in American society; and civil rights in America.