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:

  • One gateway course from the AMST 0600 “Questions” series. (Note: students who declared before Spring 2025 may substitute an AMST 1700 Junior Seminar for this requirement.)
  • Four seminars above the 1000-level, including a Senior Seminar.
    • 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 three other seminars may be listed in American Studies or Ethnic Studies, or in another department if linked to the student's focus area (requires concentration advisor approval; a maximum of 3 courses outside of AMST/ETHN can count toward the concentration).
  • Five additional elective courses, four of which must be above the 1000-level. These may be seminars or lecture courses listed in American Studies or Ethnic Studies, or in another department if linked to the student's focus area (requires concentration advisor approval; a maximum of 3 courses outside of AMST/ETHN can count toward the concentration).
  • 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. AMST 1800 counts as one of the four required 1000-level seminars listed above. Students pursuing honors are also required to take two independent study courses (AMST 1970) in their senior year in order to complete the honors thesis. These independent study course raises the total number of required concentration courses to 12. 

Courses in the AMST 0600 “Questions” series introduce students to American Studies by showing how a shared set of core questions can guide the investigation of myriad topics in this interdisciplinary field. Each course in the series engages with at least 3 of the following questions: 
1. How does [subject] shed light on issues of identity, place and power in the United States?
2. How does [subject] reveal contestations over citizenship, culture, and belonging in American society?
3. How does [subject] help us understand histories and practices of social change in the United States?
4. How does [subject] illuminate the international, transnational, or imperial relations that have shaped American politics and cultural practices? 

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.