Director: Professor Michael McNally
Founded in the 1950s, the American Studies Program is one of the pioneers of interdisciplinary studies at Carleton. As an interdisciplinary program, the vast majority of our offerings don’t have an AMST prefix to the course number: they are in the home departments of our affiliate faculty (HIST, ENGL, SOAN, ARTH, etc.) but are “tagged” as American Studies courses and searchable through that tag. Importantly, we also have specifically AMST courses taught by our core faculty. The program’s courses, taught by faculty in Arts and Literature, Humanities, and the Social Sciences, examine the cultural, social, and political life of America in the past and present. Rather than focusing specifically on history, politics, or art, the program challenges students to think broadly about the shaping of American society and to learn to synthesize knowledge from multiple disciplines.
Can I major in it? Yes, an American Studies Major is offered.
Can I minor in it? Yes, an American Studies Minor is offered.
Topics explored: identity, place and space, immigration, regionalism, popular culture, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, social and political movements, class and status, arts and aesthetics, imperialism, and many others.
How to get started: AMST 115, an overview of the “interdisciplinary discipline” of American Studies, serves as the introductory course in this field. In addition, students interested in American Studies may take 100-level courses in History, English, Political Science, Religion, Art History, and Music, if those courses focus on American topics. Please review our major requirements for information about the courses in other departments that count towards the American Studies major.