Goucher College 2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalogue 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Goucher College 2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalogue PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived catalog. Programs are subject to change each academic year.

American Studies Major


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The American Studies Major (38 credits)

American Studies is defined by its sustained engagement with two questions: “What is America?” and “What does it mean to be an American?” American Studies is further defined by its commitment to interdisciplinary approaches to answering these questions. Once students have acquired a foundation in American culture, society, and history, they design a path through the major that reflects their special interest in American culture. 

Students earn honors in the major by completing a Senior Thesis with a grade of A or A- or by earning a minimum GPA of 3.70 in courses for the major.

Foundations


(Four credits at the 100- or 200-level in each of the following three areas.)

One aim of American Studies is to help you understand the American present in relation to its past. Another is to learn about the emergence of social groups and their political struggles. And a third, no less important, is to understand America as reflected in and shaped by its artistic expressions. Coursework in each of these areas helps lay the foundation for your understanding of American culture as well as allowing you to discern the nature of your own particular interests in American Culture. Students can select from the following preapproved courses and/or choose courses in consultation with the director of American Studies.

Thematic Core (22 credits, with 16 at the 300- or 400-level)


The American Studies program allows you to construct an interdisciplinary program, made up of subjects drawn from different disciplines, centered on your particular interests. American Studies students collaborate closely with their academic advisor (ordinarily the director of the American Studies Program) to work out a thematic core around which to build your course of study. Themes may be centered on a specific era (e.g. Colonization and Settlement, the New Republic) or a topic (e.g. immigration and migration, American Indian History, reform movements). Coursework must come from at least three different programs.

A thematic core on Progressive Era America might include:

 

A themematic core on Immigration and Migration might include:

 

A thematic core on American Education might include:

 

A thematic core in American Educaton for students who wish to enroll in the Goucher College Masters of Arts in Teaching 4+1 Program might include: (note: separate application to the graduate program required by senior year)

 

 

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