Students and faculty in the American studies minor program engage in the interdisciplinary study of the rich diversity of the United States, its peoples and cultures. Students develop broad intercultural, social scientific, and arts-and-humanities-based perspectives from which they can understand their own experiences, as well as those of Americans past and present.

The American studies minor allows students to create an individualized course of study that draws on insights and methods from the arts and media, history, literature, and the social sciences.

Students may enroll in American Studies courses either for elective credit or as a minor. There is no major available in American studies.

Enrollment in AMST 111 satisfies the core requirement Humanities/History.

Area of Focus

Each student’s four elective courses for the minor must be related in some coherent way. With his/her American studies minor advisor, a student will identify a particular focus (e.g., an era, a topic, a theme, a region, a population, or a problem in American culture) that he or she wishes to explore closely through interdisciplinary study.