A program is offered in American Studies which leads to the Bachelor of Arts.

Program Requirements

American Studies is an interdisciplinary program that studies the history, literature, culture, and institutions that make up the American experience. This interdisciplinary character is exhibited in two ways:

1. students take their twelve hours of mandated American Studies electives from among a wide variety of courses offered by the college in the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts;
2. students also take twelve hours of special American Studies seminars in their junior and senior years. These seminars are organized around specific topics in the American experience.

They give the concentration its special strength and character.

American Studies allows individuals to design their programs according to their own needs and interests. Each major works closely with an advisor to develop a course of studies that will be most individually beneficial. It is possible, therefore, to concentrate one’s American Studies electives within a single traditional discipline. It is also possible to effect a new synthesis by carefully choosing from among the more than eighty courses designed as American Studies electives. A list of designated electives is posted by the director of the program before registration each semester.

Sequence for the Major:

A major in American Studies requires 30 credits:

•  6 credits in U.S. history, taken in the freshman or sophomore year;
• 12 credits of American Studies electives, taken in the junior and senior years from among the more than eighty designated courses;
• 12 credits in the junior–senior seminars.