Graduate Program Requirements

Candidates for the MA degree in American Studies must satisfactorily complete 30 credits of graduate work, including a final project (AmSt 688, 3 credits) based on original research. Students may choose to do a traditional MA thesis (6 credits) in lieu of a final project. This is a more substantial piece of original research, prepared under the guidance of an individual faculty advisor, and must be defended before a committee of three faculty members. The curriculum is built around a core of six three-credit courses:

AmSt 601 (Introduction to American Studies)
AmSt L602 (Historical Sequence I: American Society and Political Culture: 1600-1865)
AmSt 603 (Historical Sequence II: Modern Political, Social, and Cultural History)
AmSt 604 (Gender and Sexuality in US History and Culture)
AmSt 605 (Ethnicity, Race, and Nationality)
AmSt 606 (Studies in Popular Culture and Technology)

Elective courses may be drawn from additional graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in American studies, anthropology, English, women's studies, Africana studies, politics, history, and public policy.