American Studies Minor
Coordinator: Assistant Professor Pearson
American Studies is the interdisciplinary study of American culture. The minor provides an opportunity for students to meld interests in the culture and history of the United States in a way that they cannot in single, traditional disciplines. Students will combine knowledge and methods from anthropology, art history, communications, history, law, literature, political science, sociology and other disciplines to interrogate multiple perspectives, recognizing how various individuals, peoples and groups help create American society as well as challenge its institutions, both within and outside the United States.
“America” is here understood to comprise not only the geographically and historically delineated space of the United States, but also the symbolic construction of “America” and “American.” As a result, students will understand “America” through a variety of methodological lenses, ranging from “myth and symbol,” the earliest methodology of American Studies that interrogated recurring themes in texts that reflected American culture, to contemporary combinations of multidisciplinary approaches. American Studies also provides a place for investigating American culture in the rest of the world and throughout history, ranging from its significance during the age of exploration to its current influence in the global experience.
The American Studies minor complements many majors and provides an opportunity for students to explore their intellectual interests beyond single disciplines. Students will find that the program provides an experience that supplements training for graduate and professional programs as well as various professions.
Minor Requirements:
Required course: 4 sh
| AMS2100 | Concepts in American Studies | 4 sh |
Select sixteen hours of American Studies-related courses: 16 sh
| ANT1123 | Exploring Virtual Space | 4 sh |
| COM1000 | Communications in a Global Age | 4 sh |
| GBL1060 | Preparatory Seminar for Hawaii: Nation or State? | 1 sh |
| HST1210 | Unruly Origins: US to 1865 | 4 sh |
| HST1220 | Contested Democracy: US From 1865 | 4 sh |
| POL1110 | American Politics | 4 sh |
| REL1120 | Religion and Power | 4 sh |
| REL1280 | Religion, Race, and Resistance | 4 sh |
| REL1860 | Irreligious and Secular Traditions | 4 sh |
| AMS2110 | American Gangsters | 4sh |
| AMS2200 | Playing in the USA | 4 |
| ENG2230 | American Literature Before 1865 | 4 sh |
| ENG2240 | American Literature After 1865 | 4 sh |
| ENG2250 | African-American Literature Before 1945 | 4 sh |
| ENG2260 | African-American Literature Since 1945 | 4 sh |
| ENG2350 | Asian-American Literature | 4 sh |
| GBL2060 | Hawaii: Nation or State? In Search of Hawaiian Identity | 4 sh |
| IDS2140 | The Italian-American Experience | 4 sh |
| IDS2220 | The Black Man in America | 4 sh |
| POL2220 | State and Local Government and Politics | 4 sh |
| SOC2210 | Rethinking Race: Inequality, Colorblindness, and the "Post-Racial" Era | 2 sh |
| ANT3235 | Anthropology of the Internet | 4 sh |
| ARH3000 | Issues in L.A. Art & Architecture | 4 sh |
| ARH3200 | Issues in Contemporary Art | 4 sh |
| ARH3210 | Issues in American Art | 4 sh |
| CTA3060 | Development and Influence of Cinema | 4 sh |
| COM3330 | Religion and Media | 4 sh |
| COM3340 | Politics and Media | 4 sh |
| COM3350 | Sports and Media | 4 sh |
| COR3000 | Race, Memory, and the "Lost Cause" | 4 sh |
| COR3580 | American Crime Fiction through a Legal Lens | 4 sh |
| ECO3120 | Money and Banking | 4 sh |
| ENG3340 | Native American Literature | 4 sh |
| ENG3351 | Narratives of Slavery Before and After Emancipation | 4 sh |
| ENG3590 | African-American Novels | 4 sh |
| GEO3600 | Geography of North America | 4 sh |
| HST3520 | Canada/U.S. Relations Since 1865 | 4 sh |
| HST3570 | America's Civil War | 4 sh |
| HST3630 | African-American History, 1850-Present | 4 sh |
| HST3640 | History of Women in the U.S. | 4 sh |
| HST3930 | LGBTQ History in the United States | 4 sh |
| MUS3420 | History of Jazz | 4 sh |
| MUS3403 | History of American Music | 4 sh |
| MUS3404 | African-American Composers | 4 sh |
| PHL3630 | Rap, Race, Gender, and Philosophy | 4 sh |
| POL3010 | American Political Thought | 4 sh |
| POL3130 | American Politics and Film | 4 sh |
| POL3160 | Race to the White House | 4 sh |
| POL3240 | Civil Liberties | 4 sh |
| POL3250 | The Presidency | 4 sh |
| POL3260 | Congress | 4 sh |
| POL3280 | Race and Ethnicity in American Politics | 4 sh |
| PUB3420 | U.S. Foreign Policy | 4 sh |
| REL3300 | Religion and American Popular Culture | 4 sh |
| REL3360 | Religion and War in America | 4 sh |
| SOC3110 | Sociology of Families | 4 sh |
| SOC3410 | Racism and Race in the United States | 4 sh |
| SOC3440 | Protest: Legacy of the 1960'S | 4 sh |
| SOC3510 | Sociology of Popular Culture | 4 sh |
| SOC3550 | Criminology | 4 sh |
| COR4600 | Film, Race, and Politics | 4 sh |
| COR4050 | Prison Nation: Deconstructing the Prison Industrial Complex | 4 sh |
- At least 8 semester hours must be at the 3000-4000 level
- No more than 8 semester hours can have the same prefix, unless it is AMS
- Students wishing to include a course not on this list or which does not clearly indicate American content in its title may submit the syllabus of a proposed course to the coordinator for approval.
Total Credit Hours: 20