American Studies Minor

For information, contact the program advisor in the Department of Global and Intercultural Studies, 120 MacMillan Hall, 513-529-5333.

This interdisciplinary minor is open to all students and provides valuable context for majors from across the university including business, communication, education, fine arts and science; it also complements well-established liberal arts fields such as political science, English, history, sociology, and psychology. Focusing broadly on American culture and society in global context, the minor fosters critical and creative thinking, intercultural awareness, interdisciplinary research skills, synthetic analytical skills, strong writing and oratory skills, an understanding of multiple kinds of media and texts, and a broad understanding of social, cultural, and historical contexts—skills necessary to succeed in professional work in any field. Students take three core courses in American Studies and then work with the program director to develop an area of concentration that reflects their specific intellectual interests. This allows students to individually tailor the minor to support work they are doing in their major field.

Program Requirements

(18 semester hours) 

Core Courses:
AMS 205Introduction to American Cultures3
or AMS 207 America: Global and Intercultural Perspectives
AMS 206Approaches to American Culture3
Select any two courses from the five below: 16
AMS 301
American Identities
AMS 302
Immigrant America
AMS 303
Consumer Culture
AMS 305
American Icons
AMS 310
Special Topics in American Studies
American Culture Focus:
With the approval from the CDA, students take 6 additional semester hours from AMS courses cross-listed with other departments or courses examining U.S. society and culture offered by other departments. Culture focus hours must include 2 disciplines.6
Total Credit Hours18
1

 With the approval of the CDA, the second course can be one of the courses above OR it can be a 300-level cross-listed AMS class.