About the Program
Director: Lillie Johnson Edwards, Professor of History
The American Studies program provides opportunities for students who wish to understand and draw upon the richness and diversity of American culture. It offers a solid foundation in American literature and history accompanied by a study of related areas such as American politics or religion, the arts in America, or the sociology or economics of American life. The program provides considerable flexibility allowing special interests to be explored in depth. Drawing on the offerings of several departments, interested students may complete a minor in American Studies.
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Requirements for the Minor (20 Credits)
At least 16 credits must be at the intermediate or upper level, arranged as follows:
I. Four (4) credits in English, chosen from the following:
ENGL 20A/20th Century British and American Literatures (2)
ENGL 20B/19th Century British and American Literatures (2)
ENGL 34/Topics in American Ethnic, Immigrant, or Regional Literature (4)
ENGL 35/African-American Literature (4)
ENGL 36/Asian American Literature (2-4)
ENGL 37/Latino/a Literature (2-4)
ENGL 116/Advanced Studies in American Literature to the Civil War (2-4)
ENGL 117/Advanced Studies in American Literature from the Civil War to World War I (2-4)
ENGL 118/Advanced Studies in American Literature of the 20th Century (2-4)
ENGL 123/Intensive reading of a single text (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 124/Approaches to Literature: Genre (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 125/Approaches to Literature: Biographical (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 126/Approaches to Literature: Intertextual (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 127/Approaches to Literature: Cultural (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 128/Approaches to Literature: Interart Relations (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 132/Women's Literary Traditions (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 134/Advanced Studies in American Ethnic Literatures (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
ENGL 140/Topics in Literature (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 165/Topics in Literature (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 172/Studies in Fiction: Seminar (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 173/Studies in Fiction: Seminar (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 174/Advanced Literary Studies: Seminar (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 175/ Major Author: Seminar (when topic appropriate) (4)
ENGL 180/Independent Study in Literature (when topic appropriate) (4)
II. Four (4) credits in history, chosen from the following:
HIST 1/History of the United States, From Contact to 1877 (4)
HIST 2/History of the United States, 1876-Present (4)
HIST 15/African-American History: African Origins to 1877 (4)
HIST 16/The Struggle for Equality: African-American History from 1860 to the Present (4)
HIST 22/American Environment History (4)
HIST 23/Defining American Identity (2)
HIST 102/Colonial America (4)
HIST 104/The American Revolution (4)
HIST 105/The American Civil War (4)
HIST 107/Popular Culture and Its Critics (4)
HIST 108/The History of Work in America (4)
HIST 109/The United States Since World War II (4)
HIST 112/American Intellectual and Social History Since the Civil War (4)
HIST 115/American Intellectual and Social History (4)
HIST 122/Presidents and the Presidency in the United States, 1787-Present (4)
HIST 124/History of Business in America (4)
HIST 126/American Women's History (4)
HIST 190/Selected Topics in History (1-4)
HIST 196/Independent Study (4)
III. Twelve (12) credits from those listed above in English and history as well as related fields, at least one of which must be in neither English nor history.
ANTH 16/Folklore (4)
ANTH 52/Native North American Culture (4)
ANTH 58/Museums and Society (4)
ARTHST 107/American Art (4)
ARTHST 55/Museums and Society (4)
ARTHST 119/Special Topics in Art History (when topic appropriate) (4)
ECON 29/Selected Topics in Economics (when topic appropriate) (4)
ECON 49/Wall Street and the Economy (4)
ECON 50/Colloquium on Wall Street: Practical Realities and Recent Issues (4)
ECON 129/Selected Topics (when topic appropriate) (4)
ECON 134/American Economic Development (4)
ECON 136/Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender (4)
MUS 34/American Popular Music and All That Jazz (4)
MUS 40/Music in the American Century (4)
PHIL 104/Problems of Ethics and Meta-Ethics (4)
PSCI 6/American Government and Politics (4)
PSCI 100/Introduction to the American Legal System (4)
PSCI 101/Civil Liberties (4)
PSCI 102/Public Policy and Administration (4)
PSCI 103/Criminal Justice (4)
PSCI 114/United States Foreign Policy (4)
PSCI 115/Political Sociology (4)
PSCI 120/Interest Groups (4)
PSCI 121/Selected Studies in American Politics and Administration (when topic appropriate) (4)
PSCI 122/Political Parties and Interest Groups in the United States (4)
PSCI 123/Congress (4)
PSCI 124/American Political Campaigns (4)
PSCI 125/The American Presidency (4)
PSCI 126/Constitutional Law and Civil Rights (4)
PSCI 128/Introduction to Urban Politics (4)
PSCI 129/Urban Policy Research (4)
PSCI 132/Polling and Public Opinion (4)
PSCI 134/Latin America and U.S. Foreign Policy (4)
PSCI 142/Seminar on American Political Participation (4)
PSCI 152/Independent Study in Political Science (when topic appropriate) (4)
PSCI 155/Gender and U.S. Politics (4)
PSCI 159/American Political Economy (4)
PSCI 166/Practicum in Political Science (when topic appropriate)
PSCI 173/Internship Project in Washington (8)
PSCI 174/Policy Making in Washington (4)
PSCI 175/Research Projects: Washington (4)
PSCI 196/Constitutional Law and Civil Rights (4)
PSCI 197/Educational Policy and Politics (4)
PSCI 198/Race and Politics (4)
REL 24/Religion in America (4)
REL 38/Contemporary American Catholicism (4)
REL 49/Introduction to American Judaism (4)
REL 122/New Religious Movements in America (4)
REL 127/Business Ethics (4)
REL 133/Selected Topics in Religious Studies (when topic appropriate) (2-4)
REL 142/The Black Church in America (4)
REL 144/Native American Religions (4)
SOC 15/Contemporary Social Problems (4)
SOC 19/Sociology of Inequality (4)
SOC 25/Sociology of Gender (4)
SOC 26/Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (4)
SOC 27/Sociology of Families (4)
SOC 29/Sociology of Aging (4)
SOC 34/Introduction to Social Welfare (4)
SOC 49/Sociology of Work (4)
SOC 50/Sociology of Childhood and Youth (4)
SOC 104/Sociology of Immigration (4)
SOC 105/Social Change (4)
SOC 106/Urban Sociology (4)
SOC 107/Criminology (4)
SOC 108/Sociology of Population (4)
SOC 110/Sociology of Mass Communications (4)
SOC 111/Sociology of Health and Illness (4)
SOC 115/Political Sociology (4)
SOC 117/Sociology of Management (4)
SOC 118/Sociology of Education (4)
SOC 127/Crime and the Urban World (4)
SOC 131/Contemporary Issues in Sociology (when topic appropriate) (4)
SPAN 136/Literature of the Conquest of America (4)
SPAN 149/Hispanic Cultures in the U.S. (4)
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