American Studies Minor
American Studies focuses on the power and the mythology connected with the symbol of “America.” When people use the term “America” or “American,” they are often talking about something much more than the people, institutions, geography, culture, or history of the United States. They are talking (positively or negatively) about a symbol that may represent divine intervention in human affairs, or colonialist, imperialist, commercial oppression of others.
American Studies is an examination of the construction of what citizens of the United States and of the world think or mean when they speak of “America” or “American.” It takes as its focus an investigation of the meaning of “America” from the perspective of the peoples who consider themselves (or are considered by others to be) central, peripheral, or excluded by that term. Inclusive of but more than an area study, American Studies is by definition inter- and cross-disciplinary, and minors are required to take courses offered by a variety of departments.
The American Studies minor consists of five courses:
| UNIV 229 | Introduction to American Studies (or approved replacement) | 1 |
| Select four of the following: 1 | 4 | |
| Anthropology of Native North America | ||
| Economic History of Women in the United States | ||
| Higher Education in the United States | ||
| Early American Colonial Literature | ||
| Early American National Literature | ||
| American Romanticism 1800-1865 | ||
| American Realism and Naturalism | ||
| Modern American Literature 1900-1950 | ||
| Contemporary American Literature | ||
| Special Topics in American Literature | ||
| Studies in American Literary Genres | ||
| Studies-Selected American Authors | ||
| Introduction to African American Literature | ||
| Seminar in American Literature Topics | ||
| Seminar in Selected American Writers | ||
| Seminar in Early American Literature | ||
| Seminar in 19th-century American Literature | ||
| Seminar in Modern American Literature | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary American Literature | ||
| Seminar in African-American Literature | ||
| American Environmental History | ||
| Frontiers and Borderlands | ||
| Topics in American History | ||
| American Colonial History | ||
| American Revolution | ||
| Antebellum America | ||
| American Civil War and Reconstruction | ||
| U.S. History: 1880s to 1930s | ||
| U.S. History from the 1940s to the Present | ||
| Twentieth-century African-American History | ||
| Topics in American Political and Economic History | ||
| Topics in American Intellectual History | ||
| Twentieth-century Afro-Caribbean and African-American Thought | ||
| Science and Technology in US | ||
| Medicine in the US | ||
| U.S. History to 1865 | ||
| U.S. History since 1865 | ||
| American Social History | ||
| African-American History | ||
| American Immigrants | ||
| American Politics | ||
| The American Congress | ||
| The American Presidency | ||
| American Judicial Politics | ||
| Race Ethnicity and American Politics | ||
| Twentieth-century American Legal Thought | ||
| Race and Ethnicity in American Legal Thought | ||
| American Foreign Policy | ||
| U.S. National Security Policy | ||
| U.S. Foreign Policy and the Middle East | ||
| Seminar in American Politics | ||
| Religion and Constitutional Law | ||
| Religion and American Politics | ||
| Topics in American Religion | ||
| American Culture and Society | ||
| Marriages and Families in the 21st Century | ||
| Remaking America: Latin American Immigration | ||
| Twentieth-century Afro-Caribbean and African-American Thought | ||
| Mating and Marrying in America | ||
| Inner Journey: Sam Shepard and American Theatre | ||
| Total Credits | 5 | |
| 1 | Or appropriate substitution approved by the program co-coordinator. |
Minors may not take more than two courses in any one department, and may take no more than two at the 100 level.
Any changes or substitutions must be approved by one of the program’s coordinators.
Faculty
Coordinator: John P. Enyeart