Required courses:
AMS 111 Intro. to American Studies
| An interdisciplinary approach to the study of America's heritage and the distinguishing features of the American mind and character. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 1 (History). 3 credits. |
At least two of:
AMS 220 Amer Pop Cult: Product/Consum| This course will offer a critical investigation of the role of popular culture in American life. From Tin Pan Alley to hip-hop, from fast food to pro wrestling, popular culture shows an increasing influence on American economic, social, and political life, and has become central in helping to define American identity and even reality itself. We all participate in popular culture in some way, and this course will give students the chance to explore its meanings and importance in their lives and in American culture. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 1 (History). 3 credits. |
| A survey of American intellectual history and cultural criticism ranging from Puritanism and Enlightenment Rationalism to multiculturalism, feminism, and post-modernism. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 1 (History).Writing Process. 3 credits. |
| This course will explore both the historical origins and development of the cultural ideal of democracy in the United States. By focusing on the cultural ideal of democracy, it will seek to understand the impact and meaning of democracy in America beyond that of political institutions alone. It will include readings and discussions in history, literature, politics, and cultural anthropology. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 1 (History). 3 credits. |
| An examination of the social, political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s in the historical context. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with PHL 229) |
| This course explores the lives of those individuals living with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer identity (LGBTQ) and the relationship these individuals have with those around them. Exploration of the historical and contemporary implications of living with an LGBTQ identity, how these identities develop, the struggle for civil rights and legal protections, and how various factors such as the AIDS crisis, the media, religion, and others impact LGBTQ persons will also be explored. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
At least two of:
AMS 311 American Science & Technology| A study of American science and technology and their interrelations with economic, cultural, political and intellectual developments. Fulfills general education requirement: Disciplinary Perspectives. Prerequisite: Any laboratory science course. 3 credits. |
| This team-taught, interdisciplinary course will critically examine how films reflect, construct, and question the dominant image and understanding of the American identity. Fulfills general education requirement: Disciplinary Perspectives. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing. 4 credits. |
| This course will explore the relationship between religion and politics in the United States. It will include an examination of the role religion played in the founding vision of our nation's democracy, as well as the important separation between church and state that has been achieved over the course of our nation's history. With this historical backdrop in mind, special emphasis will then be given to the ascendancy of the religious right in recent electoral politics. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 1 (History). 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with REL 340) |
| This class offers you a chance to familiarize yourself with the variety of ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual groups and identities in the U.S. You will gain or enhance your intellectual framework for understanding and appreciating diversity. It also will prepare you to survive and thrive in our complex and challenging world. The course relies on history, literature, and cultural studies and will be challenging but also fun. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
One additional AMS course or any of the following courses that directly pertain to the study of American society and culture:
HIS 230 Electing the President| This course uses the current presidential election as a case study from which students can analyze the history of American parties and elections. The course will use political science concepts such as realignment and dealignment to study the rise and fall of the various "party systems" in American history, and will attempt to place the current presidential election within its historical context. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor. 3 credits. |
| This course offers students a chance to explore the origins, histories, institutions, and current practices of the American aristocracy. Students will learn about how the very rich families that currently enjoy enormous hereditary wealth obtained and maintain their fortunes. Students will also investigate the histories and current policies of the institutions that protect and promote the wealthy such as corporations, the stock market, and government. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| One of the central concerns of this course is the ability of music to represent American identity. Of particular interest are the historic contributions of minority peoples, particularly African Americans, to the rich diversity of musical styles in the United States. This course considers the importance of geographic and ethnic origins of a particular musical style as well as the consequences of a market-driven music industry which historically has privileged some people groups over others. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. 3 credits. |
| A survey of philosophical thought in the United States from colonial period to present, with emphasis on the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 6 (Religion and Philosophy). 3 credits. |
| This course provides a survey of key developments, institutions, and issues in American politics. Topics include the ideas that shaped the original American political system, the presidency; Congress and federal courts; the operation of political parties and interest groups; domestic and foreign policy debates; and contemporary issues such as civil rights and affirmative action. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 2 (Social Science). 3 credits. |
| This course uses the current presidential election as a case study from which students can analyze the history of American parties and elections. The course will use political science concepts such as realignment and de-alignment to study the rise and fall of the various "party systems" in American history, and will attempt to place the current presidential election within its historical context. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. 3 credits. |
| The aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the political operations of the U.S. Congress and the presidency and the extent to which they cooperate and compete with each other for influence in the political system. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor 3 credits. |
| This course examines key theories and contexts that shape American foreign policy strategy and important questions of foreign policy politics. It exposes students to foreign policy strategy as the means by which U.S. national interests and policies are formulated and to foreign policy politics as the roles played by institutions and actors within the foreign policymaking process. Fulfills general education requirement: Writing Process. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. 3 credits. |
| This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with regard to civil rights and civil liberties. Students will examine the Court's rulings concerning the establishment and free exercise of religion, protection of freedom of speech and of the press, privacy rights (abortion and sexual freedom), the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system, and the law governing racial or sexual discrimination. The course places particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. PSC 215 recommended. 3 credits. |
| Governmental institutions, characteristics of state and local political systems and the major inter-governmental problems in state and local relations with federal government. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 2 (Social Science).Writing Process. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and PSC 110 or permission of the instructor. 3 credits. |
| This course is designed to address a broad spectrum of issues related to the psychology of gender. Of central importance is the examination of empirical findings related to gender differences and similarities in biological, behavioral, cognitive, social, and emotional domains. The course will also involve a critical examination of the meaning of gender in the field of psychology and in the broader society. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: PSY 111 or 112, or junior-level psychology major or minor. 3 credits. |
| A study of the origin and development of religious expression in America. Special emphasis will be given to issues of religious diversity. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| An examination of the patterns of structured inequality in American society, including a variety of minority, racial, and ethnic groups. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: SOC 110. 3 credits. |