Requirements for the B.A. or B.G.S. Major

American Studies Major Requirements:

Majors must complete each of the following courses:

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
AMS 100	Introduction to American Studies	3
or AMS 101	Introduction to American Studies, Honors
AMS 110	American Identities	3
or AMS 112	American Identities, Honors
AMS 332	The United States in Global Context	3
or SOC 332	The United States in Global Context
AMS 360	Theory and Method	3
AMS 496	Social Justice Perspectives and Experiences	3
American Studies Required Electives
Satisfied by any 4 courses from the list below, at least 3 of which must be at the 300 level or above. Students may use any AMS 344 Topics course, but may not use more than two. AMS 494 may be used as an elective with departmental permission:		12
AMS 260	Introduction to Chicanx/Latinx Studies
AMS 290	Religion in American Society
AMS 306	The Black Experience in the U.S. Since Emancipation
AMS 320	Grounding U.S. Latinx Histories: Human Mobility and Migration
AMS 321	American Gun Culture
AMS 324	Being Deviant in America
AMS 325	Spanish for Heritage Learners
AMS 344	Case Study in American Studies: _____
AMS 518	Capitalism and the Black Experience
AMS 650	Jazz and American Culture
Capstone experience		3
Satisfied by one of the following:
AMS 550	Research Seminar in: _____
AMS 551	Research Project in American Studies 1
AMS 552	Public Service in American Studies 1
AMS 553	Honors in American Studies 1
Total Hours		30

¹

By application, advanced students may pursue a focused project of research or service under the supervision of a faculty member.  Satisfied by AMS 551, AMS 552, or AMS 553

Students considering graduate study should take at least 2 courses beyond major requirements. These should be selected in consultation with a faculty advisor.

American Studies Major Hours & Major GPA

While completing all required courses, majors must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:

Major Hours
Satisfied by 30 hours of major courses.

Major Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours of KU resident credit in the major.

Major Junior/Senior (300+) Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 21 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.

Major Junior/Senior (300+) Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in junior/senior courses (300+) in the major. GPA calculations include all junior/senior courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.

Major Junior/Senior Major Attempts
Summary includes American Studies junior/senior (300+) hours attempted, including F's and incompletes.

Graduation Plan

With careful planning and commitment to a full-time course load, you can graduate in 4 years. Download a sample 4-year plan for American studies.

Double Majors

American studies majors are encouraged to take a second major in a related field, such as history, English, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Religious Studies, African and African-American studies, Economics, or Art History. Because the major is interdisciplinary, a second major is relatively easy to achieve during the usual 4 years of undergraduate study.

A sample 4-year plan for the BA degree in American Studies can be found at American Studies, or by using the left-side navigation.

A sample 4-year plan for the BGS degree in American Studies can be found at American Studies, or by using the left-side navigation.

At the completion of this program, students will be able to: 

• demonstrate proficiency in working with primary and secondary sources and are able to craft an argument using evidence drawn fro both kinds of sources.
• apply critical thinking to recognize and analyze relationships between power, history, and identity. They can identify, describe, and critique historical processes and consider how social dynamic and conflicts have shaped and continue to shape the United States.
• grasp the transnational nature of the United States and understand borers and boundaries as process-oriented and dynamic rather than natural or static.
• use concepts and theory to "read" text and non-text sources.
• identify and practice interdisciplinary methods and content and situate cultural forms in time, space, place, and relations of power.
• grasp and engage with intersectional concepts and apply them through writing, discussion, and engagement with a social justice project or movement and are able to navigate the distinct but related dynamics of individual and structural power when considering practices of inclusivity, exclusion, diversity, hierarchy, and social change.