American Studies (BA)
The American Studies Program at the University of Connecticut provides students with the opportunity to gain a critical understanding of the American experience while allowing individual students to define what aspects of that experience they would like to explore. Although our required courses focus largely on the United States, the field also studies the United States in a global context by examining how other cultures have shaped this country and how this country has influenced the world.
Requirements
General Requirements
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Total Credits for the Major: 27 (nine courses, not including “Related Coursework”) In fulfilling the Course Requirements below, a single course can be “double-dipped” to fulfill two areas at once (but not triple-dipped). Note: Students who double dip must reach their 27 credits for the major by taking any of the classes listed in the course requirements below.
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General Distribution Requirement I. In fulfilling the requirements for the American Studies degree, students must take four AMST-designated courses (AMST 1201 Introduction to American Studies and AMST 3265W American Studies Methods count toward this total).
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General Distribution requirement II. In fulfilling the requirements for the American Studies degree, students must take courses listed in three different departments, not including AMST. Courses cross listed with AMST may count for this requirement, however (for example, AMST 3440 /ARTH 3440 Visual Culture of the United States, 19th Century counts as an Art History course).
Course Requirements
With the permission of the Director of American Studies, a student may also satisfy these requirements with a course not listed here.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Intro Course | ||
| AMST 1201 | Introduction to American Studies | 3 |
| American Studies Methods Requirement | ||
| AMST 3265W | American Studies Methods | 3 |
| Space, Place, Land, and Landscape | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Literature and Culture of North America before 1800 | ||
AMST/ARTH 3440 | ||
| Empire and U.S. Culture | ||
| American Utopias and Dystopias | ||
| Colonial America: Native Americans, Slaves, and Settlers, 1492-1760 | ||
| New England Environmental History | ||
| Immigration and Transborder Politics | ||
| City and Community in Film | ||
| Ethnohistory of Native New England | ||
ENGL 3235W | ||
| American Nature Writing | ||
| The History of Urban America | ||
| Social and Cultural History of Connecticut and New England | ||
HIST 3522 | ||
| Environmental History of the Americas | ||
HIST/AAAS/LLAS 3875 | ||
| The United States and the World | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Empire and U.S. Culture | ||
| Immigration and Transborder Politics | ||
| The American Revolution | ||
| Rise of U.S. Global Power | ||
| Black Experience in the Americas | ||
| Comparative Slavery in the Americas | ||
| History of the Ocean | ||
| Making the Black Atlantic | ||
HIST/AAAS/LLAS 3875 | ||
| Human Rights in the United States | ||
| Popular Culture and the Cultural Imagination | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Jewish Culture in American Film | ||
AFRA/AMST/HDFS/WGSS 3042 | ||
AMST/ARTH 3440 | ||
| History and Theory of Digital Art | ||
| Literature and Culture of North America before 1800 | ||
| American Utopias and Dystopias | ||
or AMST 2276W | American Utopias and Dystopias | |
or ENGL 2276W | American Utopias and Dystopias | |
| Hip Hop, Politics and Youth Culture in America | ||
AMST/MUSI 1002 | ||
| Law and Popular Culture | ||
| City and Community in Film | ||
ARTH 3715 | ||
| African-American Theatre | ||
| The American Film | ||
| American Literature to 1880 | ||
or ENGL 2201W | American Literature to 1880 | |
| American Literature Since 1880 | ||
or ENGL 2203W | American Literature Since 1880 | |
| American Literature since the Mid-Twentieth Century | ||
or ENGL 3207W | ||
| Native American Literature | ||
| Asian American Literature | ||
| African American Literature | ||
or ENGL 2214W | African American Literature | |
| Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century African American Literature | ||
| Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century African American Literature | ||
| Studies in African American Literature and Culture | ||
or ENGL 3217W | ||
or AFRA 3217W | ||
| Ethnic Literature of United States | ||
| Jewish American Literature and Culture | ||
or ENGL 3220W | Jewish American Literature and Culture | |
| American Nature Writing | ||
| LGBTQ+ Literature | ||
| Slavery in Film | ||
| Intersectionalities | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Asian American Studies | ||
| Jewish Culture in American Film | ||
| American Utopias and Dystopias | ||
or AMST 2276W | American Utopias and Dystopias | |
or AAAS 2276W | ||
| Disability in American Literature and Culture | ||
| Colonial America: Native Americans, Slaves, and Settlers, 1492-1760 | ||
| Hip Hop, Politics and Youth Culture in America | ||
| Critical Race Theory as Political Theory | ||
AMST 3834 | ||
| Immigration and Transborder Politics | ||
| Japanese Americans and World War II | ||
| Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism | ||
| Peoples and Cultures of North America | ||
| Postcolonial Indigenous Presence | ||
| White Racism | ||
ARTH 3715 | ||
| African-American Theatre | ||
| African American Literature | ||
| Native American Literature | ||
| Asian American Literature | ||
| Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century African American Literature | ||
| Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century African American Literature | ||
| Studies in African American Literature and Culture | ||
| Ethnic Literature of United States | ||
| Latina/o Literature | ||
| LGBTQ+ Literature | ||
| American Indian History | ||
| Immigrants and the Shaping of American History | ||
| Work and Workers in American Society | ||
| Constructions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in U.S. History | ||
| History of Women and Gender in the U.S. to 1850 | ||
| History of Women and Gender in the United States, 1850-Present | ||
| African American History to 1865 | ||
| Slavery in Film | ||
| African American History Since 1865 | ||
| Comparative Slavery in the Americas | ||
| History of Latinos/as in the United States | ||
POLS 3218 | ||
| African-American Politics | ||
| Ethnicity and Race | ||
SOCI 3459 | ||
| Politics, Social Movements, and Everyday Life | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Japanese Americans and World War II | ||
| Introduction to Asian American Studies | ||
| Crime, Policing, and Punishment in the United States | ||
| Hip Hop, Politics and Youth Culture in America | ||
| Immigration and Transborder Politics | ||
| Critical Race Theory as Political Theory | ||
| The American Revolution | ||
| Civil War America | ||
| Contemporary America | ||
HIST 3550 | ||
| Work and Workers in American Society | ||
| American Political Parties | ||
POLS 3218 | ||
| The Presidency and Congress | ||
| Black Feminist Politics | ||
| Constitutional Law | ||
| Constitutional Rights and Liberties | ||
| Law and Society | ||
| Law and Popular Culture | ||
| African Americans and Social Protest | ||
| Social Movements and Social Change | ||
| The Americas | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Immigration and Transborder Politics | ||
| Contemporary Latin America | ||
| Peoples and Cultures of North America | ||
| Postcolonial Indigenous Presence | ||
| The Caribbean | ||
ANTH 3042 | ||
| Maritime Archaeology of the Americas | ||
| North American Prehistory | ||
| Latina/o Literature | ||
| Black Experience in the Americas | ||
| Latin America in the Colonial Period | ||
| Latin America in the National Period | ||
| History of Urban Latin America | ||
| The Hispanic World in the Ages of Reason and Revolution | ||
HIST 3610 | ||
| Comparative Slavery in the Americas | ||
| Cuba in Local and Global Perspective | ||
| History of Gender and Sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean | ||
| History of Migration in Las Americas | ||
HIST/AAAS/LLAS 3875 | ||
POLS 3235 | ||
| Great Works of Modern Spanish-American Literature | ||
| Literature of Puerto Rico and the Spanish Caribbean | ||
| Electives | ||
| Select one elective, selected from any of the courses above | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 27 | |
Additions to these lists may be approved by the Director of American Studies.
Related Coursework
Four courses related to American Studies, approved by the advisor on the final plan of study. Courses from the American Studies course requirements list can also be used to satisfy Related Coursework, so long as they have not been used to satisfy other requirements, and so long as they do not have an AMST designation.
A minor in American Studies is described in the “Minors” section.
University General Education Requirements
Every student must meet a set of core requirements to earn a baccalaureate degree, in addition to those required by the student's major course of study and other requirements set by the student's school or college. For more information about these requirements, please see General Education Requirements.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Degree Requirements
Students must meet a set of requirements established by the college in addition to the University's General Education requirements. For more information, see the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of this catalog.