Students
will be able to synthesize an interdisciplinary dialogue among the different methodologies that compose American studies investigation of the history, politics, literature,
and arts of the peoples of the United States, as well as the Americas. Students will be able to write well;
speak articulately; and think critically, analytically, and creatively.
Majors will also become familiar with a basic bibliography in American studies and demonstrate an understanding of historical and literary texts; discuss paintings and photographs; analyze films and documentaries; explain patterns in
popular music; and discuss the
evolution of radio, television, and the internet.
In addition, majors will work with evidence drawn from such sources as
political rhetoric, visual or material culture, film, television, music,
advertising, journalism, ethnography, congressional testimony,
economic and demographic statistics, diaries, and letters; use and understand
key terms and concepts such as cultural hegemony, the
social construction of race, the
nation as an imagined entity; conditions under which media is produced and
consumed; and use categories of race, class, gender, and ethnicity for social
and cultural analysis.
Majors will
be able to conduct individual research in American studies and honors students
will be able to perform and present original research.
|
