Course Requirements

Requirements for the Concentration in American Studies

Number of Units

Six units are required.

Required Courses

One American History course: AMST/HIST 110 or 111
One American Literature course: AMST/ENGL 269, 270, 275, or 276

Core Courses

Four additional courses from at least two of the following different categories:

History

  • AMST/HIST 110 History of the US I
  • AMST/HIST 111 History of the US II
  • HIST 201 Native American History
  • HIST 202 African American History: Slavery and Resistance
  • HIST 204 American Women's History to 1870
  • HIST 205 American Women's History since 1870
  • HIST 210/SEMN 224 Exceptional America?
  • HIST 211 History of Leisure and Recreation in America
  • HIST 212 American Environmental History
  • HIST 213 Unsettling Colonial America
  • HIST 214 Revolutionary America
  • HIST 215 Victorianizing America and Its Challengers
  • HIST 217 Post World War II America
  • HIST/RELG 218 The American Jewish Experience


Literature and Fine Arts

  • AMST/ENGL 269 New World Narratives: American Literature 1500-1790
  • AMST/ENGL 270 Reform and Renaissance: U.S. Literature 1790-1865
  • AMST/ENGL 275 American Realisms: U.S. Literature 1865-1914
  • AMST/ENGL 276 Modernism and Postmodernism: U.S. Literature 1914-Present
  • AMST/MUSC 264 History of American Music
  • ARTX 160 Art, Power, and Society
  • ARTX 224 The 1960s
  • ENGL 153 Reading the World: Classical Hollywood in a Global Context
  • ENGL 220 African American Literature
  • ENGL 222 U.S. Indigenous Literatures
  • ENGL 230 U.S. Ethnic Literature
  • ENGL 260 Studies in Film (depending on topic-contact director)
  • ENGL 310 Constructing Blackness
  • ENGL 323 Chicana/o Literature
  • ENGL/SEMN 491 Building the Archive: Baldwin & His Legacy
  • ENGL/SEMN 492 Advanced Literary Studies: American Indian Literature & Law
  • MUSC 165 Jazz: A Creative and Cultural Experience
  • MUSC 204 Intellectual Flows of Black Music
  • MUSC 205/SEMN 256 Music and Identity
  • THEA 155 Introduction to African American Theater

Politics

  • POLS 105 Introduction to U.S. Politics: Theory and Practice
  • POLS 220 Voting, Campaigns, and Elections
  • POLS 225 Constitutional Law
  • POLS 229 Race, Law, and U.S. Politics
  • POLS 230 Congress and the Presidency
  • POLS 263 American Political Theory
  • POLS 285 United States Foreign Policy

Society

  • ANSO 103 Introduction to Society and Culture
  • ANSO 220 The Family
  • ANSO/SEMN 226 Theory in Action
  • ANSO 236 Race and Racism
  • ANSO 270 Communities and Schools
  • ANSO/SEMN 292 Development and Dispossession
  • ANSO 322 Prisoners and Detainees
  • HIST/RELG 218 American Jewish Experience
  • PSYC 230 Psychology of Prejudice
  • RELG 123 Catholics in the Americas
  • RELG 205 Religion and Masculinity in the U.S.
  • RELG/SEMN 220 Bad Religion
  • RELG 222 Urban Religion

Students interested in Native American Studies should take: ENGL 222 and 435, HIST 201 and 216, and RELG 123, among other offerings. Students interested in African American Studies should take: ANSO 236, ENGL 220, 310, and 491, HIST 202, MUSC 165 and 310, POLS 229 and 315, RELG 222, and THEA 155, among other offerings.

Other courses may be accepted at the discretion of the director. Concentrators should consult with the Director of American Studies as early as possible to develop their program. Concentrators are encouraged to take as many courses as possible.

Senior Integrated Project (SIP)

The SIP in American Studies is encouraged but not required. Any faculty member regularly teaching in the American Studies program may direct a SIP in American Studies. Concentrators should consult with the Director of American Studies.