Curriculum Overview

American Studies

American Studies at Franklin & Marshall seeks to foster in students an understanding and appreciation of American cultural and social development with attention to the multiple narratives of the American past. Faculty strive to accomplish this through course offerings, individual interactions with students and advising. The American Studies Program teaches students to read critically, to articulate ideas clearly, to conduct research and to write effectively. It expects students to develop these abilities within an interdisciplinary curricular framework that requires them to encounter diverse peoples, types of cultural expression and patterns of social interaction. Students are involved in research and internship opportunities in the local community as well as in more traditional scholarship. The American Studies Department is committed to the advancement of these goals through effective teaching and active scholarship by its faculty. American Studies prepares students for a wide range of careers, including education, museums, media and public relations.

A major in American Studies consists of 11 courses: AMS 100; three courses chosen from AMS 150, 203, 300 and 320; AMS 350; AMS 489; and five other elective courses selected from the list of approved courses. Of these five elective courses, at least one must be in American arts and literature and one in social science; at least three of these five must be housed in departments other than AMS, but no more than two of these five courses may be from a single department.

The writing requirement in the American Studies major is met by completion of the normal courses required to complete the major. Majors intending to enter graduate or professional studies should see the chairperson for particular courses necessary or desirable to prepare for advanced study. Other courses, such as foreign languages and/or quantitative skills, may be required for students wishing to pursue graduate work.

Majors in American Studies have studied in the following programs in recent years: Florence, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Advanced Studies in England, Bath; and Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. See the International Programs section of the Catalog for further information.