California State University, Fullerton.
Department of American Studies
Undergraduate Program http://amst.fullerton.edu/academics/undergrad_prog.asp#Major
• Requirements for the Major
• Double Majoring
• Requirements for the Minor
• Advising
• Undergraduate Courses
American Studies Major
The 36-unit undergraduate major requires 12 units of American Studies core courses
and 24 elective units in American Studies and related fields. Another way to think of
these 36 units is to imagine your normal progress through the program. In this sense, it
is best to think of the program as consisting of a "beginning," a "middle," and an "end".
The "beginning" consists of two required core courses, AMST 201 (Introduction to
American Studies) and AMST 301 (The American Character) which, taken together,
introduce the student to the major approaches we adopt in the study of American
cultures.
• AMST 201 emphasizes historical development and periodization, and it introduces the
student to the concept of culture and to interdisciplinarity
• AMST 301 emphasizes cultural pluralism and the formation and maintenance of
personal, group, and national identities in the modern world.
The "middle" portion of the student's progress through the major consists of nine threeunit courses. One of these nine is a required core course, AMST 350 (Theory & Method
of American Studies), which examines the history of the American Studies movement,
the culture concept , and the major methodologies used in the discipline. Since this
course is designed both to help students put together what they have learned so far and
to deepen their understanding for coursework to come, they are encouraged to
schedule taking AMST 350 midway through the "middle" portion of their progress
through the major.
The remaining eight courses are electives, which the major selects in consultation with
a faculty adviser. All faculty perform this advisement function. Students may take all
eight electives in American Studies courses or they may include up to four courses from
other departments.
Students who choose to include courses from other departments must follow one of two
plans in selecting those courses, a "theme approach" or a "disciplines approach."
Whichever plan is followed, all non- American Studies coursework must be substantive
rather than skill or how-to courses and must have an American focus or a cross-cultural
focus involving America.
If they follow the theme approach, students determine a concentration or theme, such
as gender, popular culture, regionalism, law and society, or urban studies. All courses
taken outside American Studies must be upper-division and must fit this concentration
or theme.
If they follow the disciplines approach, students may take upper-division courses from
one or two other disciplines, such as Afro-Ethnic studies, anthropology, art, Chicano
studies, communications, criminal justice, English, geography, history, political science,
psychology, radio-tv-film, or sociology. They must take at least two courses in any one
discipline.
The "end" consists of our a required core course, AMST 401T (Proseminar in American
Studies) which serves as a capstone to the student's work as a major.
AMST 401T is a variable topic course. Recent (and likely future) topics have included
Mark Twain's America, Nature and Culture, Sexual Orientations, American Culture
through Social Science, Reading the City, and Adolescent America. Students in AMST
401T conduct individual research projects on some aspect of the common topic,
drawing on subject matter understandings and methodological approaches which they
studied during the "middle" portion of their progression through the major.
Double Majoring
You might want to consider pursuing coursework in American Studies as part of a
double major. You can double count 12 units in another major, applying those units to
degree requirements in both American Studies and the other major.
Approximately 20% of American Studies majors are double majors. The most common
double majors combine American Studies with Communications, History, or Political
Science.
American Studies Minor
The 21-unit undergraduate minor requires 9 units of American Studies core courses and
12 elective units, three of which may be in a related field.
The 9-unit required core consists of:
• AMST 201 - Introduction to American Studies
• AMST 301 - The American Character OR AMST 345 - The American Dream
• AMST 401T - Proseminar in American Studies
The 12 units of electives must be chosen in consultation with a faculty adviser. They are
subject to the following requirements:
• 9 units must be American Studies courses. That is, 3 units may be from another
department. You may double-count a course from your major, so long as the
course is a substantive one (not a methods or how-to course) and has an
American-focused content .
• 9 units must be upper-division courses. That is, 3 units may be lower division, for
example, AMST 101 - Introduction to American Culture Studies.
Undergraduate Advising
Majors and minors should always remember to see a faculty adviser once a semester to
plan course work for the upcoming semester. Any full-time faculty member in the
department can serve as an adviser. The American Studies department office can tell
you any faculty member's office hours. The department office is located in UH-313, or
can be reached by phone at (657) 278-2441. Or, you can click on a faculty member's
name on the faculty listing page to see their office hours for the current semester.