Departments & Programs

American Studies

Major in American Studies

Purpose

The B.A. Major in American Studies provides an excellent preparation for nearly any graduate or professional degree, as well as careers in any number of traditional or nontraditional fields including the legal profession, social work, politics, academia, and public history, among others.

Upon completion of the B.A. in American Studies, graduates will be able to:

  • set the history, politics, and culture of the United States in a global and comparative context.
  • think logically and analytically, to make detailed observations, and to formulate interdisciplinary interpretations of the literature, art, music, and mass culture of the United States, Canada, and the Americas.
  • collect, document, maintain, and manage evidence, and organize and compose interpretive and research essays.
  • have developed oral and written communication skills.

American Studies explores the history, literature, and culture of the United States and the larger Americas from an interdisciplinary perspective. American Studies attracts students with diverse interests who wish to know more about the United States in a comparative, international context. The major provides students with an opportunity to pursue the study of American cultures from a transnational and hemispheric perspective. Courses are designed to examine significant aspects of U.S. institutions, policy, media, and cultural expressions by drawing on a wide range of resources from the social sciences and humanities.

Requirements

Students must complete 30 credit hours in American Studies. 15 credit hours must come from American Studies core courses.

Required Core Courses
  • A100 What Is America? (3 cr.) CASE A&H
  • A200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.) CASE A&H, CASE DUS
  • A350 Topics in Interdisciplinary American Studies (3 cr.)
  • A351 American Studies in Transnational Contexts (3 cr.) CASE A&H
  • A450 Senior Seminar in American Studies (3 cr.)

In consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies, students design an individual concentration (minimum of 15 credit hours) that provides focus and purpose to their remaining course work in the major and a solid background for their senior seminar topic. The concentration will be built from concentration courses offered through American Studies. At least 9 credit hours counted toward the concentration must be at the 300 or 400 level.

Concentration Courses
  • A150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC
  • A201 U.S. Movements and Institutions (3 cr.) CASE S&H
  • A202 U.S. Arts and Media (3 cr.) CASE A&H
  • A275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC
  • A298 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H
  • A299 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H
  • A300 The Image of America in the World (3 cr.) CASE S&H
  • A398 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies (3 cr.) CASE A&H
  • A399 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies (3 cr.) CASE S&H
  • A401 Readings in American Studies (1–3 cr.)
  • A402 Service Learning in American Studies (1–3 cr.)

Additional concentration courses are offered in other departments and programs and are cross-listed in American Studies (please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~amst/undergraduates/crosslisted.shtml).