American Studies
Interdisciplinary Minor
Directors: Catherine Danielou (Dean's Office, College of Arts and Sciences) and Deborah Littleton (College of Arts and Sciences)
The American Studies Program offers, through the College of Arts and Sciences, an interdisciplinary minor that examines various aspects of United States society and culture. Students are introduced to a wide range of different “texts” from American art, literature, music, history, science and technology, political science and sociology, justice sciences, and popular culture. These “texts” may include movies, media, music and audio recordings, material artifacts, folkways, and food ways, as well as traditional written material. Students learn how to interpret and interrelate these texts in order to acquire a more complete and multifaceted understanding of American life and history. The minor in American studies thus provides a broad background in liberal arts and social sciences while developing skills of interdisciplinary thinking useful in a variety of careers. An American studies minor complements and counterbalances more narrowly focused majors; at the same time, it enhances majors that are either national or international in scope.
A grade of C or better is required in all courses applied to the American Studies minor. Students interested in the minor may contact Dr. Catherine Danielou (Dean's Office, College of Arts & Sciences), Ms. Deborah Littleton (Director of CAS Advising) or their academic advisor.
Minor in American Studies
| Requirements | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Music, the Arts, Literature, and Philosophy | ||
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Jazz Styles: History and Appreciation | ||
| Introduction to African History and Culture | ||
| African American Music | ||
| History and Tradition of Gospel Music | ||
| African Aesthetics and Traditional Religion | ||
| African American Literature II | ||
| African American Poetry Tradition | ||
| The Art Experience | ||
| Special Topics: Museum Studies | ||
| Jazz Styles: History and Appreciation | ||
| African-American Music 1619-Present | ||
| American Music | ||
| The Evolution of Jazz | ||
| Literature for the Young Child | ||
| Children's Literature in Early Childhood and Elementary Education | ||
| American Literature I: Before 1865 | ||
| American Literature II: 1865-Present | ||
| African-American Special Topics | ||
| African American Literature, 1746-1954 | ||
| African American Literature, 1954-Present | ||
| Modern American Poetry | ||
| African-American Special Topics | ||
| African American Autobiography | ||
| African American Dramatic Tradition | ||
| African American Poetry Tradition | ||
| American Literature, 1620 - 1820 | ||
| American Literature, 1820 - 1870 | ||
| American Literature, 1870 - 1914 | ||
| American Literature, 1914 - 1945 | ||
| The Slave Narrative and Its Literary Expressions | ||
| The Harlem Renaissance | ||
| American Philosophy | ||
| Social and Behavorial Sciences | ||
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| Introduction to African-American Studies | ||
| History of Sport: The African American Experience | ||
| The Black Power Movement | ||
| Black Image: Screen and Television | ||
| Race and Representation in Media | ||
| Black Psychology | ||
| Special Topics in African-American Studies | ||
| The Psychology of Hip Hop | ||
| Race, Rhetoric, and Resistance | ||
| Public Health and Medical Issues in African Communities | ||
| Race, Crime, Gender and Social Policy | ||
| Ancient North America | ||
| Archaeology of Alabama | ||
| NAGPRA, Repatriation, and Indigenous Rights | ||
| Urban Economics | ||
| Introduction to the Criminal Justice System | ||
| Police in America: An Overview | ||
| The Judicial Process in America: An Overview | ||
| Corrections in America: An Overview | ||
| Media, Crime & Justice | ||
| Race, Crime, Gender and Social Policy | ||
| Urban Structures | ||
| Foundations of American Government | ||
| Crime and Place | ||
| American State and Local Government | ||
| Civil Liberties and Civil Rights | ||
| The American Judicial Process | ||
| The U.S. Congress | ||
| The American Presidency | ||
| The Politics of Constitutional Law | ||
| The Bill of Rights | ||
| Seminar in American Government | ||
| Politics and Race in America | ||
| American Constitutional Law | ||
| Psychology of Social Inequality | ||
| Psychology of Trap Music | ||
| Psychology of Race and Ethnic Relations | ||
| Urban Sociology | ||
| Popular Culture | ||
| Sociology of The South | ||
| Sport and Society | ||
| Sociology of Hip Hop | ||
| Population Dynamics | ||
| Introduction to Social Work | ||
| Social Welfare Policy Analysis | ||
| Birmingham Neighborhood Studies | ||
| History | ||
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| The United States To 1877 | ||
| The United States Since 1877 | ||
| The American Film | ||
| History of American Medicine | ||
| African-American History to 1865 | ||
| African-American History Since 1865 | ||
| History of Alabama | ||
| History and Development of Birmingham | ||
| Southern Industrial History | ||
| The Black Power Movement | ||
| LGBT History | ||
| Topics in African American History | ||
| Women in American History | ||
| U.S. Civil Rights Movement | ||
| Popular Culture in American History | ||
| The American Film | ||
| History of Popular Music in the United States | ||
| American Independent Film | ||
| Rock n Roll and Race Relations | ||
| The Great Depression in Film | ||
| Southern Politics in the 20th Century | ||
| Mansions, Mines, and Jim Crow | ||
| Popular Culture in the 1960s | ||
| Health & Illness in Modern America | ||
| History of American Medicine | ||
| Colonial American History to 1765 | ||
| War and Society in Early America | ||
| U.S. Constitutional History to 1877 | ||
| U. S. Constitutional History Since 1877 | ||
| Reconstruction in America | ||
| The Fifties in America | ||
| The Making of Modern America 1877-1920 | ||
| America in the 1920s and 1930s | ||
| Recent America 1945 to the Present | ||
| The Antebellum South | ||
| The American Civil War | ||
| The New South, 1877 to 1945 | ||
| Southern Women: Image and Reality | ||
| Emergence of Modern American 1877-1945 | ||
| History of American Technology | ||
| Technology and American Life | ||
| Workers in American Society | ||
| U. S. Labor History | ||
| American Film and Violent Society | ||
| American Urban History | ||
| Resistance and Revolution in British America | ||
| American Environmental History | ||
| Total Hours | 21 | |
A grade of 'C' or better is required for all classes counting toward the American Studies minor.
Courses
AS 201. Studies in American Culture. 3 Hours.
Team-taught, interdisciplinary study of American society and culture through selected readings from American literature and history, as well as other "texts" from art, mustic, industrial and technological developments, folk and popular culture. Specific topics vary with instructors; materials for study include culutral experiences and expressions of diverse groups within American society, including native Americans, African American, immigrants and women.
AS 202. Studies in American Culture. 3 Hours.
Team-taught, interdisciplinary study of American society and culture through selected readings from American literature and history, as well as other texts from art, music, industrial and technological developments, and folk and popular culture. Specific topics vary with instructors; materials for study include cultural experiences and expressions of diverse groups within American society, including Native Americans, African Americans, immigrants, and women.
AS 301. Studies in American Culture. 3 Hours.
Team-taught, interdisciplinary study of American society and culture throuh selected readings from American literature and history, as well as other texts from art, music, industrial and technological developments, and folk and popular culture. Specific topics vary with instructors; materials for study include cultural experiences and expressions of diverse groups within American society including Native Americans, African Americans, immigrants, and women.
AS 401. Senior Seminar in American Studies. 3 Hours.
Topics of national and regional interest from any discipline but sufficiently broad to allow focus on specific intellectual problems using analytical skills and interdisciplinary methods learned in Core Curriculum courses, required elective courses, and chosen major. Should be taken during senior year.
Prerequisites: AS 201 [Min Grade: D] and AS 202 [Min Grade: D]