UMBC logo
Undergraduate Catalog cover art

American Studies

Career and Academic Paths | Major Program | Minor Program | Honors Program | Special Opportunities | Special Opportunities |

Faculty

View faculty details

Chair

Patrice McDermott

Professors

Warren J. Belasco
W. Edward Orser

Associate Professors

Jason Loviglio

Lecturers

Kathy Bryan
Paula Nicole King

Courses in this program are listed under AMST.

The American Studies Program encourages and enables students to develop their understanding of the social structures and cultural values of the American experience in historical and contemporary perspective. Students are encouraged to examine their own backgrounds,assumptions and values as participants in American culture.

The program uses materials and methodologies from various disciplines. It also emphasizes learning through seminar experiences and independent projects.

Individual American studies courses focus on specialized topics presented as problems, issues or themes. The program does not “cover” American culture; such a task is virtually impossible. Rather, faculty lead students in seeking insight and perspective into patterns and relationships that are basic to understanding American life. Each course probes deeply into specialized issues while encouraging students to integrate insights and perceive connections.

The areas of emphasis enhance this process of cultural examination by asking students to propose a set of courses that examine specific areas of study, providing a unified perspective on one aspect of their native culture.

Career and Academic Paths

Communications
Education
Law
Public history and culture: museums and cultural institutions
Public policy
Public relations
Social and public service
Social work

Through the combination of the learning experiences American studies provides, students are prepared for many vocations, including teaching, public service, social service, law, ministry and communications, as well as for graduate school in numerous fields.

Many students in the program elect a field work experience either in education, social work or through American studies internships (AMST 404 or 406).

Specially designed dual program possibilities for students include a dual major with social work; a major/certificate program with education at the early-childhood, elementary and secondary social studies levels; and a major/certificate or minor program with women’s studies.

In each of these instances, courses in the American studies emphasis area are directly applicable or complementary to work in the second field.

Major Program

The American studies major leading to a B.A. degree consists of at least 36 credits distributed as follows:

A. American Studies Core Courses (18 credits)


AMST 100
Ideas and Images in American Culture
OR
(A comparable course as approved by advisor)

AMST 290
Approaches in American Studies
AMST 391
Studies in American Culture
AMST 392
Studies in American Society
 AMST 490
Senior Seminar

One additional 300- or 400-level course in American studies

B. Eighteen credits in one area of emphasis, consisting of courses that focus upon a particular dimension of American culture. Three courses must be taken from the set listed below for each emphasis area; an additional three courses may be taken from the required list or from a set of recommended courses in American studies or related fields (available from the department).

Twelve of the 18 credits in the emphasis area must be at the 300-400 level.

1. Communications and Media

    (includes courses in popular culture, media studies, broadcasting, film and print communication)

AMST 222
Introduction to Media Studies
AMST 320
Television in American Culture
AMST 322
American Society and Culture in Film
AMST 325
Studies in Popular Culture
AMST 374
Perspectives on the Future
AMST 420
Seminar in Mass Media

2. Community and Diversity

    (includes courses in multicultural studies, women’s studies, community and urban studies, regional and environmental issues, foodways and folklore)
AMST 200
Multicultural America
AMST 303
Ethnography in America
AMST 310
Gender and Inequality in America
AMST 372
American Food
AMST 380
Community in America
AMST 410
Seminar in Community and Diversity

3. Culture and Policy

    (includes courses in environmental studies, public culture, science and technology, politics and global studies)

AMST 270
American Culture and Science
AMST 352
American Culture in Global Perspective
AMST 372
American Food
AMST 374
Perspectives on the Future
AMST 388
American Environments
AMST 430
Seminar in Cultural Policy

4. Preprofessional Emphasis


a. Early-Childhood Education
    (for students seeking education certification in this field)

Three courses from the following list and three additional courses:
AMST 200
Multicultural America
AMST 310
Gender and Inequality in America
AMST 380
Community in America
AMST 382
Perspectives on the Family
AMST 384
Perspectives on Childhood and Adolescence
AMST 452
Seminar in Education, Policy and Culture

b. Elementary Education
    (for students seeking grades 1-8 certification with an emphasis in social studies)

    Courses required for this emphasis:
Social Studies Courses
HIST 101 AND 102 GEOG 102

Non-U.S. History: World history OR Non-Western History
      American Institutions: (one course from each of the following categories; one course substitutes for the 300-/400-level course requirement in the core):

Family/Childhood
AMST 382 OR 384

Multicultural Perspectives
AMST 200 OR 352

Community and Diversity
AMST 310 OR 380

c. Secondary Education 
  (social studies) (Maryland State Department of Education-approved certificate program, 42 credits)

    Courses required for this emphasis:
Social Studies Courses
GEOG 102 OR 110
POLI 100
ECON 101 OR 102
HIST 101 AND 102

World Culture Courses
World history OR Non-Western history

Advanced emphasis on American Institutions (one course each from two of the following categories; one course substitutes for the 300-/400-level course requirement in the core):
Family
AMST 310 OR 382

Community
AMST 380 OR 480

Mass Media
AMST 320, 325 OR 420

d. Social Work
    (for students seeking a double major with SOWK; SOWK 360 and 481 apply to the emphasis)

Three courses from the following list and one additional course.
AMST 200
Multicultural America
AMST 310
Gender and Inequality in America
AMST 355
Special Topics in Cultural Policy
AMST 380
Community in America
AMST 382
Perspectives on the Family
AMST 384
Perspectives on Childhood and Adolescence
AMST 410
Seminar in Community and Diversity

5. American Studies or a Related Field

Courses that focus primarily upon American culture or upon cross-cultural perspectives in one of the following single fields of study:

American studies
Africana studies
American literature
American history
Anthropology
Gender and women’s studies (may be fulfilled in conjunction with the GWST minor or
certificate)
Geography and
        environmental systems
History
Political science
Psychology
Sociology
Visual and performing arts

Additional guidelines for the major:

All courses applicable to the major must carry a grade of “C” or above.

A maximum of six credits may be applied to the American studies degree from the second field in dual programs.

The student should consult with a faculty advisor to select an emphasis and for approval of specific courses; the emphasis must be approved by the departmental faculty.

For all American studies majors, the department strongly recommends at least one course in both American history and American literature, as well as one course in either sociology, psychology or anthropology.

Minor Program

The minor in American studies is intended to provide a concentration of interdisciplinary courses in American culture studies to complement majors in other fields. It may prove particularly beneficial for students in related majors from the humanities/arts and social sciences, where the methods of interdisciplinary study and the focus upon American materials are directly applicable. For such students, it mirrors the American studies major, both in terms of the set of core course experiences and in the conception of the emphasis area (the first major substituting for the American studies major’s emphasis area).

The American studies minor should be equally beneficial for students in majors outside the humanities/arts and social sciences, where the broad interdisciplinary intention of the courses could provide an excellent opportunity for focused study that integrates perspectives both from the humanities/arts and the social sciences. For such students, the American studies minor would afford depth and breadth in focused study outside the major.

The American studies minor consists of 18 credits. It mirrors the requirements for the major, but it does not require the senior research seminar. It includes the key core courses: AMST 100: Ideas and Images, AMST 290: Approaches in American Studies, AMST 391: Studies in American Culture and AMST 392: Studies in American Society. In addition, students would elect two American studies topics courses, at least one of them at the 300-400 level. As with the major, only courses in which a student receives a grade of “C” or higher may count toward the minor.

Honors Program

A departmental honors program offers qualified senior students the opportunity for in-depth study. Close discussion between faculty and students and student research projects characterize this program. Information and application forms are available in the department office.

Special Opportunities

Many students in the program elect a field work experience either in education, social work or through the American studies internships (AMST 404 or 406).
Students have taken advantage of the internship program to gain valuable work experience with organizations as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution, Planned Parenthood and WJZ-TV.

Special Opportunities

American Studies
Council of Majors
American studies students are welcome to join the American Studies Council of Majors. This departmental club hosts informal student-faculty gatherings on issues related to American culture.