American Studies Objectives

American Studies Objectives

Cultural and Theoretical Competency:

A primary goal of the program is for students to achieve deep knowledge of the cultures and histories of the United States. Students will learn to consider the construction and contestation of American identities, including those formed based on gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, religion, their intersections, and many others, in order to grasp the wealth of diversity of the American experience. Students will be exposed to theoretical, critical, analytical, and methodological approaches from diverse perspectives within the humanities and social sciences, including cultural studies, history, literary studies, media studies, black studies, philosophy, women and gender studies, music, sociology, visual art, political science, theology, and other fields. Students will gain competence in a broad range of theories and methods appropriate to interdisciplinary work in American Studies, and will learn how to apply these interdisciplinary frameworks and the tools of cultural analysis to their own lived experience.

Critical Thinking Skills:

American Studies is fundamentally interdisciplinary. In addition to learning how to analyze the production, circulation, and critical reception of material culture, students will be trained in thinking across disciplines: synthesizing and critically evaluating knowledge from diverse fields. Students will learn how to develop a topic of interest, formulate a theoretical question, and utilize the tools of multiple disciplines to create their own intellectually nuanced answers. They will learn how to think historically, and how to use an intersectional lens (thinking together race, class, gender, sexuality, and other social locations) as a mode of critical analysis.

Communication and Research Skills:

Students will learn how to communicate effectively about the histories, cultures, politics, and social formations of the United States in both written and oral forms. By the end of the program, students will be trained in developing a topic, doing research in interdisciplinary ways, and formulating written and oral arguments supported by evidence and cogent analysis. The program encourages students to pursue coursework and ultimately research in the areas of American Studies that reflect their own individual interests and goals.

Professionalization and Life Skills:

With an American Studies major, students will be prepared to pursue graduate work in American Studies or its related fields, and will have gained the written and oral skills and the critical thinking skills necessary to thrive in any profession they choose. Students will also have learned how to critically assess and engage with their environment, being now able to identify the structures of power and the various histories that undergird the United States today. 

Resources for Students