AM ST 303

One

In this course, students will gain insights into the field of American Studies that will orient them as they, outside of class, create and tweak their plans of study and pursue extra-curricular activities. These insights into the discipline of American Studies will also help students to maintain a sense of themselves as American Studies majors even as they are enrolled in courses taught in other disciplines.

Two

Through a series of readings, discussions, and writing assignments, this course affords students a view of American Studies as a coherent field with its own disciplinary history and preoccupations. These activities will also help students gain a knowledge of the ways in which the field of American Studies has been interdisciplinary, drawing intellectual energy from history, literary studies, anthropology, feminist studies, and other fields

Three

 In this course, students will think systematically about the ways American Studies scholars analyze various aspects of American culture. Students will also put these thoughts into practice

Four

 American Studies graduates will be able to formulate both their oral and written arguments coherently, support them clearly, and communicate them effectively to their audiences using correct conventions of language and some stylistic flair-all according to the best practices of the variety of disciplines and situations in which they are engaged. In this course, students will present oral arguments; they will also write two formal papers.