American Studies Department

Using the insights of many academic fields, students in American Studies investigate the diverse experiences, values, and cultural traditions that have made the United States what it is today. Courses explore questions that have intrigued foreign visitors and Americans, past and present: What are the origins of American politics, morals, business systems, and perceptions of themselves and each other? What goals and beliefs unite the different peoples who call themselves "American"? How are individual American lives shaped by race, ethnicity, class, and gender? Students use insights from history and literature, as well as sociology, psychology, politics, business, education, religion, art, music, and the natural sciences to gain a comprehensive understanding of the many brands of American experience that have shaped our increasingly complex world. Because of the many fields of study involved, students prepare for the uncertainties of the future by learning to think flexibly and to make connections among the many facets of cultural life.

The department faculty participates in cross-disciplinary work on campus, including the Africana Studies Program, the Environmental Studies Program, the Honors Program, the Journalism Minor, the Urban Studies Program, and the Women and Gender Studies Program, providing students with a multitude of resources for integrating their learning. Students who study abroad or in other programs, such as the Washington Semester, may use those credits toward the major or minor. The department also actively encourages students to link their academic work with practical experience in internships, on and off campus (for example, the department offers a grant for student research in science and religion and a series of internships in businesses and community organizations). The major and minor in American Studies provide the foundations for careers in law, education, government service, the non-profit sector, the ministry, communications media, and business, and work in this department has prepared students for professional school and graduate training in many disciplines.

American studies at Stetson University gives students the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of American culture and to develop a working appreciation of the relation of many liberal arts disciplines. A central part of our educational mission is to foster students' ability to assess American cultural values and to express their perspectives clearly and forcefully in person and on paper. Finding one's own voice begins with learning about the cultural debates of previous generations, and so the purposes of an American studies education intertwine as students both learn about diverse strands of the American experience and find their own place in relation to the American scene.

The structure of the major reflects these goals. A large portion of the major is flexible: students can develop an individualized curriculum that focuses on specific interests.

American studies provides a comprehensive means for you to explore and analyze American culture and society, past and present. The major draws on many parts of the university, emphasizing the connections among such varied fields as: history, literature, art, sociology, politics, religion, science and philosophy. This broad approach -- an extension of the liberal arts goals of the university in general -- enriches students' understanding of the United States as a whole.

With the United States as a case study and multiple fields as guides, American studies can also help students to understand the multifaceted world of modern times.

Because American culture is a point of fascination for many people around the world, there are active American studies organizations in almost every country. See the web page for the European Association for American Studies. Stetson University's American studies department is connected to this international network of scholars with its Stetson American Studies International (SASI) Program, which provides a study-abroad program from international students of American studies. Students of United States culture can come to Stetson University to take courses and learn about American culture from first-hand experience.

At Stetson University, American studies involves a combination of courses to introduce the field and to provide students with an overview of the American cultural landscape, as well as courses on a variety of special topics areas and personalized choices based on students' chosen themes. Classes are small (no more than 30 students in lower-division courses and fewer than 10 students in upper-division classes), with many opportunities for professors and students to interact. With the four-course concentration, students act on their interdisciplinary learning by integrating their course work in other departments as part of the American studies major. Examples include "Politics, Race, and Inequality," "Business and Society," and "Literature and the Arts." These focus areas are often the bases of students' senior research projects.

The American studies major is especially suited to students with a strong interest in American history and culture, to students with a broad liberal arts background, to students with a variety of interests who are looking for a home base for integrating their learning, and to students who anticipate working in fields that require a keen understanding of how Americans think and behave.

Students who turn toward American studies keep their openness to the variety of liberal arts subjects; our majors avoid feeling locked into one disciplinary major. After our majors and minors graduate, they benefit from this training in flexibility by being open to many vocational possibilities. Future employers like to see this well-rounded education because it encourages the ability to see connections and think creatively on the job.

The Focus Area is a distinctive program feature that allows students to design part of their own major by choosing an area of concentration with selection of courses from different disciplines that address American Studies topics. The Focus Area requires four courses from different disciplines that explore a common theme, for example, culture and the arts, gender and popular culture, race and politics, or religion and values. In Class Search, look for courses particularly well suited to the Focus Area under both Subject (for AMST courses) and Interdisciplinary Programs (for AMST-Attribution courses). Of the 11 courses required for the American Studies major, 4 of them are in the student self-defined Focus Area. By the end of the first semester of the junior year, each major presents the Program Chair with a written Focus Statement that includes

• a  descriptive title,
• the list of four courses, and
• a detailed explanation (about one page) of the Focus Area's theme and the way the courses relate to each other.

The Mini-Focus Area for minors requires two courses, and the same type of Focus Statement. Of the 5 courses required for the American Studies minor, 2 of them are in the student self-defined Focus Area.