American Studies Combined Major

A combined major in American Studies requires at least nine courses:

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.
To provide a broad knowledge and set of skills in the field, students take: (2-3) A two-semester survey of U.S. history; (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.
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).
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.

American Studies Courses

American Studies

Anthropology

• ANTH 012 PZ -Native Americans & Environments

Asian American Studies

Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies

English and World Literature

Environmental Analysis

• EA 086 PZ -Environmental Justice

History

Political Studies

Sociology

American Studies Honors

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

Maintain a GPA in the major of 3.5 (A-).
Receive a grade of A- or better on the thesis.
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.