Program in American Studies
219 Bryan Hall
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400121
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
(434) 924-6616
www.virginia.edu/americanstudies
The United States is a country held together by different and
often conflicting stories of nationhood, and the American Studies major is an
interdisciplinary major designed to create dialogue about the multiple ways
in which these stories have been told over the last five centuries. The American
Studies major demands of its students self-consciousness about their own theories
and practices through a comparative perspective on national narratives. We hope
students will learn to describe those narratives in different modes - written
and electronic, verbal and nonverbal, visual and auditory. In addition, each
student will be expected to demonstrate the ability to transcend disciplinary
boundaries. Although we affirm the necessity and integrity of individual disciplines,
we want our American Studies students to understand the assumptions and methods
of several of them. An ongoing goal for the small group admitted to the major
will be to realize a sense of intellectual community that enables its members,
both students and faculty, to look beyond their personal interests as they pursue
studies in common.
For more information about American Studies, please call the
Director at 924-6676 or write americanstudies@virginia.edu.
Requirements for a Major in American Studies
- 30 credits
- 10 courses
- AMST 201 (Major Texts in American Studies) recommended but not required
- AMST 301-302 (Introduction to the American Studies Major)
- AMST 401 (Fourth-Year Seminar in American Studies)
- Seven additional courses from the list of approved courses available from
the Director of American Studies. These courses represent African-American
Studies, Anthropology, Architectural History, Art, Economics, English, Environmental
Sciences, Drama, Government, History, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious
Studies, Sociology, Studies in Women and Gender, Technology, Culture and
Communication and other relevant departments. Each student will design a
program of courses in consultation with the Director. General guideline
for these seven courses: a minimum of at least three courses in a single
department and courses in at least three departments.
- Attendance at special events/lectures and participation in an American
Studies reading group.
Sample program:
Second year: AMST 201
Third year: AMST 301-302
Fall: ARTH 258 American Art, ECON 206 American Economic History
Spring: ENAM 315 American Renaissance, DRAM 360 Modern American
Theatre and Drama
Fourth year: AMST 401
Fall: GFAP 331 American Presidency, ARTH 280 Art since 1945
Spring: HIUS 317 United States Society and Politics 1945-1990,
ARTH 358 Material Life in Early America
(This student has taken the required AMST courses; three courses
in Art History; and five other courses in five departments, one more than he
or she actually needs.)
Course Descriptions
AMST 201 - (3) (IR)
Major Works for American Studies
A small lecture course enrolling between 35 and 60 students,
AMST 201 offers students significant texts or works of American culture, texts
or works that are printed, graphic, artifactual, material or oral. Although
one faculty member will teach the course, guest lecturers from various disciplines
may contribute as well. The goal of this course is to show students what kinds
of insights and syntheses result from juxtaposing works across disciplinary
boundaries and from different methodological perspectives.
AMST 301, 302 - (3) (Y)
Introduction to the American Studies Major
A year-long sequence of two small seminars, this course will
introduce majors both to the history of American Studies and to various theories
and methods for the practice of American Studies. The three goals of these seminars
are (1) to make students aware of their own interpretive practices; (2) to equip
them with information and conceptual tools they will need for advanced work
in American Studies; and (3) to provide them comparative approaches to the study
of various aspects of the United States.
AMST 401 - (3) (Y)
Fourth-Year Seminar in American Studies
This seminar is intended to focus study, research, and discussion
on a single period, topic, or issue, such as the Great Awakening, the Civil
War, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, or the 1960s. Topics vary.
|
College
of Arts and Sciences