American Studies Minor

Go to Interdisciplinary Studies Department

Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello, Coordinator

The American Studies minor exposes students to the methods, questions and materials of the field of American Studies, a discipline which uses the approaches and scholarship of many disciplines to explore the rich diversity of the United States as well as American cultural and national identity from local, regional and transnational vantage points. Students will learn much about the range of people, places and ideas that make up America past and present and consider the various ways in which “American” identity is constructed, contested, and transformed through formal and informal means in all areas of human activity. A pair of foundational interdisciplinary American Studies courses are augmented by courses selected from across the humanities and social sciences to meet the specific educational goals and interests of each student.

Minor Course Requirements

Required Courses (6 credits)

Electives (9 credits)

Social Scientific Perspectives

1 - 2 courses from the following departments - at the 200 level or above unless otherwise indicated:

Courses must focus on U.S. topics. This includes courses which explore the U.S. in comparative or transnational perpsectives.

History
Sociology
Political Science
Geography
Economics

Humanities Perspectives

1 - 2 courses from the following departments - at the 200 level or above unless otherwise indicated:

Courses must focus on U.S. topics. This includes courses which explore the U.S. in comparative or transnational perpectives.

Art + Design (Art History courses only)
Philosophy
English
Music (MUS 109 Popular Music in America is included among the approved courses)
World Languages and Cultures (culture courses only; not language courses)

Interdisciplinary Studies

Students may take one additional IDS course in lieu of one Social Science or Humanities elective as long as minimum requirements on one course in each of these areas has been met. Options include IDS 461 Seminar in American Studies or a IDS 400 Directed Study , IDS 375 Interdisciplinary Studies Research Practicum , or IIDS 401 Internship in Interdisciplinary Studies .