Concentration Requirements

For the American Studies concentration, students are required to complete 4 prerequisite courses, two from Group A (below) and two from Group B, for a total of 12 credit hours:

Group A
Hist 111, American Past I
Hist 112, American Past II
Pol 101, Intro to American Government
Engl 237, Survey of American Literature

Group B
AAAS 275, Intro to Africana Studies
AAAS/Eng 239, Intro to African American Literature
Comm 220, Survey of Mass Communication
WS/Anth/Psych/Soc/Hum 274, Intro to Women’s Studies (if adequate American content, please check with advisor)

At the upper division level, students must complete 9 courses (a total of 27 credit hours), beginning with AS 300, the gateway course, which provides an introduction to the subject matter and methods of American Studies.

The remaining 8 courses must be chosen from the tracks listed below. An American Studies advisor will provide guidance to students in their choice of courses, as there are additional courses not listed in the representative tracks which may be appropriate, some of which have their own discipline prerequisites. Students are also strongly encouraged to take an internship or independent study course in their senior year.

Track 1. Comparative American Identities
One of the distinctive features of American culture is the multiplicity of subcultures it includes. This makes the process of finding a personal and social identity a more complex process than in other more homogeneous societies. A number of courses can give a further understanding of the historical development and intersection of the variety of racial, ethnic, gender, or class identities in American life. Some representative courses for this track are:

• Anth 455 Immigrants USA
• Soc 403 Minority Groups
• Soc 423 American Social Classes
• Eng/Wst 445/545 20th Century Literature by Women Authors
• Eng/AAAS/Hum 470 Black Women in Lit, Film, Music
• Hist/AAAS 368 Black Experience in US 1865-present
• Hist/Wst 370 American Women’s History

Track 2. Work, Technology and Globalization
This track encourages an understanding of American Studies through the world of work and technological innovation. Students will study how work and technology define and shape American culture—both in historic and in contemporary contexts. Students will explore how technology in America shapes both work identities and work environments. They will also consider how the American workforce is affected by the globalization of labor and other resources. Some representative courses for this track are:

• STS 300 Introduction to Science and Technology
• Econ 321 Labor in the American Economy
• Hist 349 Thomas Edison and His Era
• WS 481 Gender and Globalization
• Soc 460 America in Global Society
• Hist 3665 Automobile in American Life

Track 3. Literature, Arts and Culture
This track provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of literature, music, the visual and performing arts, popular culture, architecture and the environment, with the objective of understanding the arts in relation to major issues and themes in American social, political and historical development. In this track, exploration of the arts offers opportunities to further engage questions central to the American Studies field, such as, what is “American” about this novel, this school of painting, this music? What has been the role of the arts in the evolution of an American national identity? How has art inspired or reflected various American identities? The courses offered under this rubric feature a variety of historical periods as well as a diversity of gender, racial and ethnic special interests. Some representative courses for this track are:

• Arth 361 American Art
• Comm 420 Critical Media Studies
• Eng 452 Major American Authors of the 20th Century
• Film 456 American Cinema
• Mhis 331 Music of America
• Mhis 120 History of Jazz

Track 4. Society, Religion and Politics
This track examines the ways in which both personal and national identity are shaped through a dynamic process of interaction between American citizens and the broad array of civic, religious, and cultural institutions in American society. Within this framework, students will study competing ideas of citizenship and nationhood as they operate in a variety of historical and contemporary contexts. In addition, this same perspective affords students the opportunity to explore regional topics of interest such as Detroit culture, the history and sociology of the auto industry, and the diversity of religious experience in Southeastern Michigan. Some representative courses for this track are:

• Soc 441 Sociology of the Auto Industry
  
• Hist 363 Religion in American History 1607-1865
• Hist 3695 The American City
• Pol 304 American Political Thought
• Pol 360 American Policy Process