Requirements for the Combined Major
Combined Major: A combined major in American Studies requires at least nine courses:
I. To introduce students to the field of American Studies, students take: (1) AMST 103 JT , 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
II. To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take: (2-3) A two-semester survey of U.S. history (at Pitzer, HIST 025 PZ and HIST 026 PZ or equivalents); (4) A course in Africana, Asian American or Chicano/a-Latino/a Studies, or one course on the histories and/or cultures of Native Americans.
III. To provide depth as well as breadth, students take: (5) AMST 180 SC , the American Studies Seminar, normally taken in the fall of the junior year; (6,7) Two seminar or upper-division courses from different disciplines that focus on a specific theme in American Studies (e.g. Race and Social Justice in the U.S.; the U.S. in a Transnational Context).
IV. For their capstone experience in American Studies, students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in a two-course, two-credit sequence. (8,9) Students will enroll in AMST 190 JT , a seminar, in the fall semester or a senior thesis seminar in their department of their other major. In the spring semester, students complete a thesis that meaningfully incorporates the approaches of both fields. Their thesis will be under the direction of one advisor from each discipline; at least one advisor must be from the student’s home campus.
