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 at least 30 credit hours in American Studies, including the CASE Credit Hour and Residency Requirements and the following:

1. Core Courses. Complete both of the following requirements:
   1. AMST-A 100 What is America?
   2. Any three (3) courses from the following:
      • AMST-A 150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies
      • AMST-A 200 Comparative American Identities
      • AMST-A 201 U.S. Movements and Institutions
      • AMST-A 202 U.S. Arts and Media
      • AMST-A 275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas
      • AMST-A 298 Special Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies
      • AMST-A 299 Special Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies
2. Advanced Courses. Complete at least 18 credit hours from the following:
   • AMST-A 300 The Image of America in the World
   • AMST-A 350 Topics in Interdisciplinary American Studies
   • AMST-A 351 American Studies in Transnational Contexts
   • AMST-X 370 Service Learning in American Studies
   • AMST-X 390 Readings in American Studies
   • AMST-A 397 Foreign Studies in American Studies
   • AMST-A 398 Advanced Topics in Arts and Humanities for American Studies
   • AMST-A 399 Advanced Topics in Social and Historical Studies for American Studies
   • AMST-A 450 Senior Seminar in American Studies
   • AMST-A 451 Honors Senior Seminar in American Studies