American Studies

Undergraduate Concentration Requirements

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Undergraduate Concentration Requirements

In consultation with the Concentration Advisor, each concentrator develops an individualized program of study of 10 courses (or 12 courses for those completing an Honors Thesis). American Studies courses engage students in a range of different kinds of writing, from conventional research papers and analytical essays to writing for the public in the form of editorials, web sites, and exhibits.

Summary of requirements:

  • Ten courses. At least 8 must be above the 1000-level. A maximum of 2 courses may be counted toward multiple concentrations.
  • Three of the ten courses must be linked to an individual focus formulated by the student when the concentration is declared. The focus is the flexible core of the concentration.  Here each student builds a coherent and dynamic interdisciplinary cluster of related courses that develops their compelling interest in some aspect of American experience.
  • Four of the ten courses must be seminars above the 1000-level:
    • The Junior Seminar (AMST 1700) is taken during the junior year. Courses in this series focus on some aspect of the "public" as a way of engaging with communities near and far, informed by these themes and approaches that define our curriculum. American Studies and Ethnic Studies juniors take this course together.
    • The Senior Seminar is any AMST 1900-level course taken during the senior year. Students may take as many AMST 1900-level courses as they wish; however, for the course to count as the Senior Seminar it must be taken during the senior year.
    • The other two seminars may be in American Studies or Ethnic Studies, or they may include seminars outside the department that are linked to the student's focus area.
  • Two of the ten courses must be AMST or ETHN courses that have been tagged with a specific scholarly method. Each class must be tagged with a different method. These methods-tagged courses can count for any other concentration requirement (for instance, your Junior Seminar course might also carry a methods tag, depending on the topic and instructor). The concentration advisor will have a current list of methods-tagged courses.
  • Up to three courses from outside of AMST and ETHN may count toward the concentration if linked to the focus area (in consultation with the concentration advisor).
  • Up to two AMST or ETHN courses below the 1000-level may count toward the concentration (for instance, a first-year seminar and a sophomore seminar).
  • The Senior Capstone ePortfolio (an ungraded requirement).
  • Honors Thesis (optional): Concentrators hoping to pursue honors should take the Honors Seminar, AMST 1800, in the spring of their junior year. Students pursuing honors are required to take two independent study courses (AMST 1970) in their senior year in order to complete the honors thesis. These independent study courses raise the total number of required concentration courses to 12.

Honors Thesis

In the senior year, students may write an honors thesis, which can take a variety of forms, for example, an essay, a website, or a study that integrates quantitative research.

Publicly-engaged Scholarship

A unique aspect of the concentration in American Studies is our interest in publicly-engaged scholarship. By "publicly-engaged scholarship" or the "public humanities," we mean a variety of theories and practices that bring the world of academic scholarship and research into more dynamic relations to the communities large and small in which we live and study. This interest informs our decision to focus the required Junior Seminar of the concentration on the question of "the public," as well as to offer courses, support internships, and direct honors theses that create new forms and venues of knowledge of the vast variety of American experiences.