American Studies Major

Requirements for the Major

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There are two tracks available for completion of the major, one with a disciplinary focus, the other with a thematic focus. Students must choose which track they will follow by the beginning of their junior year. Those who opt for the theme-based track must choose a theme in consultation with their advisor and submit a 3-4 page proposal by week five of the fall semester of the junior year.

Track 1 (11 courses):

To introduce students to the field of American Studies, students take:

• AMST103 SC Introduction to American Cultures  a prerequisite course that is team-taught by members of the intercollegiate faculty in the spring semester to introduce th themes, concerns and methodologies of American Studies (one course).

To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take:

    A two-semester survey of U.S. history:

• HIST070A SC United States History to 1865  or equivalent course (HIST020 PO , HIST025 PZ , HIST080 CM ) 

       and

• HIST070B SC Introduction to Modern U.S. History  or equivalent course (HIST021 PO , HIST026 PZ , HIST081 CM )
• A survey-level course in another discipline focusing on the U.S., such as art history, literature, music, sociology (one course);
• A course in Africana, Asian American or Chicano/a-Latino/a studies, or one course on the histories and/or cultures of Native Americans (one course).

To provide depth as well as breadth, students take:

• AMST180 SC American Studies Seminar  normally taken in the fall of the junior year (one course);
• Three seminar or upper-division courses in a single discipline (e.g. anthropology, art history, English) - (three courses).

For their capstone experience in American Studies, students must complete: 

• AMST190 SC Senior Thesis Seminar  
• AMST191 SC Senior Thesis   All students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in a two-course, two-credit sequence.  Students will enroll in AMST190 SC , a seminar, in the fall semester. In the spring semester, students enroll in AMST191 SC  and complete the thesis under the direction of their thesis adviser and second reader, at least one of whom must be from the student’s home campus.

 

Track 2 (11 courses):

To introduce students to the field of American Studies, students take:

• AMST103 SC Introduction to American Cultures  a prerequisite course that is team-taught by members of the intercollegiate faculty in the spring semester to introduce th themes, concerns and methodologies of American Studies (one course).

To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take:

    A two-semester survey of U.S. history:

• HIST070A SC United States History to 1865  or equivalent course (HIST020 PO , HIST025 PZ , HIST080 CM ) 

       and

• HIST070B SC Introduction to Modern U.S. History  or equivalent course (HIST021 PO , HIST026 PZ , HIST081 CM )
• A course in Africana, Asian American or Chicano/a-Latino/a studies, or one course on the histories and/or cultures of Native Americans (one course).

To provide depth as well as breadth, students take:

• AMST180 SC American Studies Seminar  normally taken in the fall of the junior year (one course);
• Four courses drawn from at least two departments that focus on a specific theme (e.g., Race and Social Justice in the U.S.; the U.S. in a Transnational Context) - (four courses)

For their capstone experience in American Studies, students must complete:

•  AMST190 SC Senior Thesis Seminar  
•  AMST191 SC Senior Thesis  All students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in a two-course, two-credit sequence. Students will enroll in AMST190 SC , a seminar, in the fall semester. In the spring semester, students enroll in AMST191 SC  and complete the thesis under the direction of their thesis adviser and second reader, at least one of whom must be from the student’s home campus.

 

Honors Requirements

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Students may pursue an honors degree in American studies by fulfilling the following additional requirements:

1. Maintain a GPA in the major of 11.0 (A-).
2. Receive a grade of A- or better on the thesis.
3. Successfully defend the thesis in an oral examination before a committee of three members (the thesis committee, plus an additional member).

Students interested in the Honors Program should notify the coordinator of the American Studies Program at Scripps, in the spring of their junior year.