Program of American Studies
Director and Professor: B. Attebery
Bachelor of Arts in American Studies
The American Studies program offers students a broadly based, flexible, interdisciplinary approach to education. In so doing, the program challenges students to discover from a number of directions the complexity of human thought and society. Graduates can find their places in many fields, such as foreign service, civil service, public relations, and law. They also may choose to pursue further professional training in graduate programs in any of the areas chosen for emphasis. American Studies students are encouraged to design programs that meet personal aspirations.
Major in American Studies
The American Studies major requires no specific courses beyond the requirements for the B.A. degree in the College of Arts and Sciences. Rather, the student will complete an American Studies component and three areas of emphasis. For the former, the student must take a minimum of 18 credits in American Studies from all courses offered. Then, for a primary departmental emphasis, the student will select a minimum of 24 credits from any one of the following disciplines: English, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, or psychology. For a secondary emphasis, the student will select a minimum of 18 credits from another of the departments listed above or may substitute mass communication, economics, philosophy, biology, geology, or education. For a third area of emphasis, the student will select a minimum of 12 credits from any of the disciplines already listed or, with permission from the director, elect courses offered by multiple departments but focusing on a single topic, such as women's studies, religious studies, or museum studies. (The student desiring teaching certification in American Studies must meet the requirements established by the College of Education.)
Minor in American Studies
The American Studies minor is designed to give the student majoring in another field an interdisciplinary knowledge of American culture. The minor requires 18 credits in American studies, including the introductory course, AMST 200, and one senior seminar, AMST 401 or 402, or a substitute, cross-listed seminar approved by the program director. The remaining 12 credits must be divided equally between courses cross-listed with humanities and social science disciplines. No more than 6 credits cross-listed with any single discipline may be counted toward the minor.