American Studies provides a solid foundation in theories and methods applicable to the investigation of American culture and society, past and present. The major also provides flexibility by enabling students to pursue a supporting area such as English, history, sociology, African American studies, women's studies, or media studies, in conjunction with course work in American Studies.
The major requires the completion of 42 credit hours, with a grade of C or higher in each course, distributed as follows:
• AMST 201 Introduction to American Studies (3 credits).
• One additional lower-level AMST course (3 credits).
• Two “Americanist Foundation” courses from the list of currently approved courses (6 credits).
• Four upper-level AMST courses (12 credits). One of these four courses may be an internship (AMST 386) or an independent study (AMST 398).
• AMST 340 Introduction to History, Theories and Methods in American Studies (3 credits). AMST 340 is a prerequisite to AMST 450 Seminar in American Studies and cannot be taken concurrently with the seminar.
• AMST 450 Seminar in American Studies (3 credits).
• Four courses in an approved Focus Area in a department, minor, or certificate program outside of AMST (12 credits).
Note:
In addition to fulfilling departmental requirements, majors in American Studies must fulfill the foreign language requirement of the College of Arts and Humanities, defined as language proficiency through the intermediate level. Majors who can document four years of language instruction in high school can normally use this to fulfill the College requirement.
For further information or to arrange an appointment to discuss the major in American Studies, contact:
Professor R. Gordon Kelly
Director of Undergraduate Studies
1105 Holzapfel Hall
301-405-1354
rgkelly@umd.edu
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