American Studies Minor

Required courses:

An interdisciplinary approach to the study of America's heritage and the distinguishing features of the American mind and character.
A capstone course organized around a major theme or issue in the American experience. Themes and issues vary from year to year as the seminar rotates among faculty in several academic departments. Students are able to integrate their educational experience and implement further the interdisciplinary methodology in a holistic approach to a topic or subject. 3 credits.
† indicates a required course

At least one of

A historical survey of American music emphasizing stylistic developments and illustrative musical examples from colonial times to the present. Includes American musical theater, jazz, folk and popular styles.
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.
A survey of philosophical thought in the United States from colonial period to present, with emphasis on the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey.
A survey of American intellectual history and cultural criticism ranging from Puritanism and Enlightenment Rationalism to multiculturalism, feminism, and post-modernism.
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.
An examination of the social, political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s in the historical context.
This course incorporates a variety of approaches to working class studies: historical, sociological, cultural, and political. The primary focus of the class will be on the US, but some comparisons to other countries will be made to help highlight what is specifically American about our class system.
This course will introduce students to the complexities of the African-American experience in the past and present. It will survey how the black experience, thought and culture has been shaped and fractured by economics, politics, class, gender, and national origin. The basic disciplinary approach to the subject will be historical, but will include the analysis of black culture, notably writing and music.
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.
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.

At least one of

A study of American science and technology and their interrelations with economic, cultural, political and intellectual developments.
This team-taught, interdisciplinary course will critically examine how films reflect, construct, and question the dominant image and understanding of the American identity.
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.
An introduction to art from 1650 to the present day. The course offers a critical grounding in selected themes with an emphasis on cultural history and stylistic change. Includes painting, architecture, film, photography, and sculpture.
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.
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.