American Studies Concentration

Coordinator: Kathleen Pfeiffer (English)

Committee: Gladys Cardiff (English), Sara Chapman (History), Daniel J. Clark (History), Todd A. Estes (History), Susan Hawkins (English), Edward Haworth Hoeppner (English), Jeffrey Insko (English), Karen A.J. Miller (History), Janice Schimmelman (Art History)

The American studies concentration provides both a broad understanding of the American experience and an introduction to the practice of focused interdisciplinary study. The concentration is taken in addition to a departmental major. By electing departmental courses with an American focus in two or three areas outside the major and framing the concentration with two interdisciplinary American studies courses, students may expect to gain a coherent sense of the national experience and appreciate the various contributions of different academic disciplines.

Although not a vocationally directed program, the American studies concentration should be of particular interest to students preparing for careers in law, government and journalism, and those planning graduate work in American studies or any of its contributing disciplines.

Concentration requirements include AMS 300  and AMS 401 , one course in anthropology, one American history course at the 300 level and three electives from the courses listed as electives in the current catalog. No more than two electives may be taken from any one department’s offerings, and at least one must represent a field or fields outside the student’s major. (Those majoring in anthropology or history should be aware that no more than 8 credits may be counted toward both the major and a concentration.) Students interested in pursuing this concentration should file a plan of study with the coordinator.