Requirements for a Major

Curricular Structure
The American Studies major consists of fourteen courses ( 11 content courses, plus the Introductory course and the Junior and Senior Seminar courses). The program conforms to the Policy on Interdisciplinary Programs as outlined in Section V of the Faculty Handbook. Courses in the Department of American Studies generally fall into one of three areas of emphasis: Racial Concepts and Theories; Cultures, Histories, and Practices; and Political Activism and Social Justice. We encourage students to take classes in all three areas.

Required Elements for the Major
1. Introductory course, "Introduction to American Studies." This course will concentrate on developing interpretive methods. To declare an American Studies major, students must have completed or be currently enrolled in this course.
2. Content Courses. The major plan will include eleven content courses chosen from within the three areas of emphasis. Majors can include courses from other ACTC colleges and/or study abroad and study away programs. The Advisory Committee will decide which courses can be listed as content courses for the major. These courses will engage the scholarship of race and ethnic studies. International courses will be included if the Advisory Committee deems them connected to the experiences of people of color inside the United States.
3. Civic Engagement Seminar, "Where Theory Meets Practice." This seminar is required of all majors in the junior year (or senior year if studying abroad during junior year).
4. Senior Capstone, "Critical Perspectives in American Studies." This capstone is required of all majors.

Other Elements of the Major
1. Majors must select at least one international and/or diasporic course.
2 . Majors will be encouraged to enroll in Study Abroad (in an international course of study) or Study Away Programs (in a U.S.-based urban studies program).
3 . Majors will be encouraged to have two years of work in a language other than English. Note: Native American languages would fulfill this requirement.
4 . Majors will be encouraged to take an internship after the Civic Engagement seminar.
5 . Majors who meet College criteria will be encouraged to conduct an honors project in conjunction with their Senior Capstone.

Requirements for the Minor
The minor in American Studies will require the Introduction to American Studies and four other courses chosen from the areas of emphasis. Minors can be declared at any time.

Domestic Diversity Requirements
The junior civic engagement seminar, "Where Theory Meets Practice," fulfills the domestic diversity requirement as do some of our other courses (AMST 101, 103, 110, 240, 285, 331 & 340). Please check the following web page for an updated listing of courses that meet the domestic diversity requirement: http://www.macalester.edu/registrar/diversity.html

General Distribution Requirements
Courses that are approved for the American Studies major or related minors but are offered through other departments count toward the general distribution requirements as specified by those departments. Courses offered uniquely by American Studies do not count toward the general distribution requirement.

List of Courses
General Courses
AMST 100 Race, Class, and Sexuality in U.S. Feminisms
AMST 101 Introduction to American Studies: Explorations of Race and
       Racism
AMST 103 The Problem of Race in U.S. Social Thought and Policy
AMST 110 Introduction to African American Studies
AMST 112 Sexuality, Race, and Nation: Introduction to
      Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender and Queer Studies
AMST 128 African American Religions
AMST 140 Black Public Intellectuals
AMST 203 Race, ethnicity, and Politics
AMST 210 Blacks in Paris
AMST 222 Imagining the American West
AMST 224 African American History: Slavery, Emancipation, and       Reconstruction
AMST 230 Women and Work in U.S. History
AMST 232 Immigration and Ethnicity in U.S. History
AMST 233 Introduction to the History of the U.S. Working Class
AMST 234 Cultural Studies and the Media
AMST 240 Race, Culture and Ethnicity in Education
AMST 248 Jim Crow
AMST 249 African Americans and the Transformation of the
      City: 1890-1945
AMST 250 Race, Place, and Space
AMST 254 Peoples and Cultures of Native America
AMST 264 The Psychology of Gender
AMST 285 Asian American Community and Identity
AMST 300 Where Theory Meets Practice (Civic Engagement Junior
        Seminar)
AMST 305 Race, Sex, and Work in the Globa Economy
AMST 331 Racial Formation, Culture and U.S. History
AMST 340 Living on the Edge: The Asian American Experience
AMST 354 Blackness in the Media
AMST 370 Understanding and Confronting Racism
AMST 380 Topics in Twentieth Century African American Literature
AMST 400 Senior Seminar: Critical Perspectives in American Studies
AMST 444 The Family as History: The Stories of U.S. Latinos
AMST 604 Tutorial
AMST 614 Independent Study
AMST 624 Internship
AMST 634 Preceptorship