American Studies Major

Requirements for the Major

The major in American Studies consists of eleven courses. Students develop a thematic focus in consultation with their adviser by the beginning of the junior year.

To introduce students to the field of American Studies, students take:

• AMST 103 JT Introduction to American Culture , a prerequisite course that is team-taught by members of the intercollegiate faculty in the spring semester to introduce the themes, concerns, and methodologies of American Studies (one course).

To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take:

• Two U.S. history courses, at least one of which must contain significant pre-1900 content such as: 

HIST070A SC United States History to 1865,or equivalent course: (HIST020 PO, HIST 025 PZ  , HIST 050A AF  , HIST090 CM, HIST114 CM, HIST116 CM, HIST 125 CM  

• A course in Africana, Asian American or Chicano/a-Latino/a studies; or one course on the histories and/or cultures of Native Americans (one course).

To provide depth as well as breadth, students take:

• AMST 180 SC Seminar in American Studies  normally taken in the fall of the junior year (one course);
• Four courses drawn from at least two departments that focus on a specific theme (e.g., Race and Social Justice in the U.S.; the U.S. in a Transnational Context) - (four courses)

For their capstone experience in American Studies, students must complete:

•  AMST190 SC Senior Thesis Seminar (offered fall)
•  AMST191 SC Senior Thesis (offered spring)

All students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in this two-course, two-credit sequence. Students will enroll in AMST190 SC, a seminar, in the fall semester. In the spring semester, students enroll in AMST191 SC and complete the thesis under the direction of their thesis adviser and second reader.

Honors:

Students may pursue an honors degree in American studies by fulfilling the following additional requirements:

1. Maintain a GPA in the major of 3.5 (A-).
2. Receive a grade of A- or better on the thesis.
3. Successfully defend the thesis in an oral examination before a committee of three members (the thesis committee, plus an additional member). At least one reader should be a Pitzer faculty member.

Students interested in the Honors Program should notify the coordinator of the American Studies Program at Scripps, in the spring of their junior year.