Support the ProgramAmerican Studies at Miami University
Courses
The following courses satisfy requirements for the American Studies major and minor. This list of courses is meant to be informative. On a semester-to-semester basis additional course offerings will be made available during pre-registration each semester.
Core Courses (16 credit hours)
Students must take all of the following core courses. Students must achieve an average GPA of 2.0 in all 5 AMS core courses to successfully graduate with a major in American Studies.
- MPF/AMS 205 - Introduction to American Studies
(3 hrs; formerly AMS 101) - This course introduces students to the study of culture in the United States from an interdisciplinary perspective. Drawing from a variety of source materials ranging from literary and historical texts to visual images and material objects, and relying on a range of interpretive techniques, students examine aspects of thought, expression, and behavior that have shaped and defined the complex modern society of the United States. Students must achieve a 2.0 GPA in this course to complete the major.
- AMS 206 - Approaches to American Culture
(3 hrs; formerly AMS 201) - This course, required of all majors and minors, introduces students a range of approaches to the field of American Studies. It focuses on a specific topic or case study, for example, a place, a historical moment, a social movement, a person. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary skills, teaching students to analyze and inter-relate different kinds of texts to explore the idea of culture.
Prerequisite: AMS 205 - AMS 207 - America: A Global Perspective
(3 hrs) - Explores the local dimensions of globalization by focusing on how global networks and practices affect life and culture in the United States. Students examine the theoretical and practical questions associated with membership in local communities, in the US as a nation-state, and in the global community at large.
- AMS 301 - Practice in American Studies
(3 hrs) - This course is designed to offer opportunities for collaborative and interactive learning that link students and faculty in the university with communities and constituencies outside the university. Focusing on a specific theme, issue, or ongoing project, students explore notions of public culture through some form of applied study and research. Drawing from a range of approaches to interactive learning such as service learning, field research, experiential learning, and applied research, the course encourages critical self-awareness, civic engagement, public service, and social stewardship.
Prerequisite: AMS 205 - AMS 302 - Transnational America
(3 hrs) - This course is designed to explore issues of American culture, politics and history in the context of growing global interconnectedness. The focus is on the membership of the United States in a broader international community and how the United States both shapes and is shaped by patterns and processes of globalization. By locating study of the United States in a global context, students learn to more critically reflect on their own cultural identities, attitudes, and assumptions, and to better understand the challenges and responsibilities of American citizenship and world citizenship in an era of intensifying globalization.
Prerequisite: AMS 205 - AMS 401 - Capstone in American Studies
(4 hrs) - This course serves as a research or practicum course in American Studies. It can be set up as a topical course in which all students focus on a particular topic, or an individual research workshop in which students pursue independent projects, or a combination of both.
Prerequisite: AMS 205, AMS 206, and 9 additional hours of American Studies-related course work, or permission of the instructor
Additional American Studies Courses
These courses may be used to fulfill requirements for related areas of concentration with approval of advisor.
- AMS 105 - American Studies Film Series
(1 hr) - This one credit hour sprint course examines selected films addressing a particular theme or issue in American culture. Themes and films vary from semester to semester.
- AMS 310 - Topics in American Studies
(3 hrs) - This course provides topical offerings in American Studies on themes such as popular culture, material culture, ethnicity, or periods in American life such as the 1950s. May be taken for credit more than once with different content and permission of instructor.
Prerequisite: AMS 205, AMS 206, or permission of the instructor - AMS 405 - American Studies Workshop
(4 hrs) - This course focuses on the study and practice of advanced cultural analysis and research in American Studies.
Prerequisites: AMS 205, AMS 301
Courses Cross Listed with American Studies
[View course descriptions (The Miami Bulletin, 2012-2013).]
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART 183 | Images of America |
| ENG 246 | Native American Literature |
| ENG 247 | Appalachian Literature |
| ENG 248 | Asian American Literature |
| ENG 271 | Cultures and Literatures of the American South |
| ENG 348 | Ethnic American Literatures |
| ENG 390 | Studies in Regionalism |
| HST 213 | Appalachia: Cultures and Music |
| HST 214 | History of Miami University |
| HST 216 | Introduction to Public History |
| HST 304 | History, Memory, Tradition |
| HST 362 | The Era of the American Revolution |
| HST 363 | The Early American Republic 1783-1815 |
| HST 367 | The United States in the 1960s |
| HST 371 | Native American History to 1840 |
| HST 372 | Native American History since 1840 |
| HST 379 | US Consumerism, 1890-Present |
| HST 382 | Women in American History |
| HST 392 | Sex and Gender in American Culture |
| HST 396 | The American South Since 1877 |
| HST 397 | American Environmental History |
| HST 433 | Oral Tradition: History and Practice |
| HST 435 | Public History Practicum |
| ITL 222 | Italian American Culture |
| MUS 135 | Understanding Jazz, Its History and Contexts |
| MUS 285 | Survey of African Music in the Diaspora |
| MUS 385 | The Roots of Black Music: Blues, Gospel, Soul |
| MUS 386 | The History & Development of Hip Hop Culture in America |
| MUS 461 | American Music |
| REL 111 | Religion and Popular Culture |
| REL 241 | Religions of the American Peoples |
| REL 242 | Religious Pluralism in Modern America |
| REL 341 | Protestantism and the Development of American Culture |
| REL 442 | Religion, Society, and Culture in New England |
| REL 445 | Issues in the Study of Native American Religions |
Related Courses
Because American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that draws on a wide range of disciplines, students are encouraged to take courses from the following MPF courses to prepare for the major. Note students may only count 6 hours at the 100 level for their selected area of concentration in the American Studies major.
It is expected that students who declare a major in American Studies have a general background in United States history, American literature, and American political systems.
ENG 141, 142, and 143, HST 111 and 112, and POL 241 are strongly recommended.
[View course descriptions (The Miami Bulletin, 2012-2013).]
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART 183 | Images of America |
| ATH 185 | Cultural Diversity in the US |
| BWS 151 | Introduction to Black World Studies |
| COM 206 | Diversity and Culture in American Film |
| COM 247 | Rhetoric of Disability Rights |
| COM 281 | Mediated Sexualities: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered Persons and the Electronic Media |
| ECO 131 | Economic Perspectives in Inequality in the United States |
| EDP 209 | Development, Learning, and Diversity |
| EDP 272 | Disability Studies |
| ENG 162 | Literature and Identity |
| ENG 169 | Disability and the American Imagination |
| ENG 202 | Varieties of American English |
| ENG 246 | Native American Literature |
| ENG 247 | Appalachian Literature |
| ENG 248 | Asian American Literature |
| ENG 254 | Latino/Latina Literature and the Americas |
| ENG 271 | Cultures and Literature of the American South |
| GEO 201 | Geography of Urban Diversity |
| GER 151 | The German-American Experience |
| HST 111, 112 | Survey of American History |
| HST/LAS 260 | Latin America in the US |
| ITL/AMS 222 | Italian American Culture |
| MUS 135 | Jazz: Its History and Evolution |
| POL 142 | American Politics and Diversity |
| POL 159 | US Identity Politics |
| PSY 210 | Psychology Across Cultures |
| SOC 141 | The Changing Dynamics of US Culture: Multiculturalism |
| SOC 152 | Social Relations and US Cultures |
| SPA 211 | Deaf Culture and Community |
| WMS 201 | Introduction to Women's Studies |