American Studies Minor

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Delivery Area: Augusta, Bangor

Coordinator: Ellen Taylor (207) 621-3114 ellen.taylor@maine.edu

Interested in how our history and culture tie together to influence the music we listen to, the TV we watch, the media we read, the websites we visit, and the candidates we vote for? Drawing from several of UMA’s academic programs, our minor in American Studies examines these fascinating issues, in order for us to better understand who we are as Americans.

American Studies is a critical, interdisciplinary, comparative, intersectional field that gives students a solid foundation of knowledge about American history and culture and provides students with an opportunity to shape their own curriculum for a deeper understanding of identity, culture, and power in the United States.

American Studies is critical: In AME we ask questions about why U.S. culture, society, and institutions are the way they are, how they came to be that way, and how they may need to change.

American Studies is interdisciplinary: AME is both between and among the disciplines. We use the disciplinary tools, and interdisciplinary tools, that best suit our object and purpose of study. To fully understand American popular culture, for example, we need to engage in textual analyses (English). We need to look at events (History), and institutions (Political Science and Economics) that help shape culture. And we need to understand the development of ideas (Philosophy) and creative expression (Art and Music).

American Studies is comparative: “America” is a couple of continents, not a country, and “America” is spread throughout the world. We seek to understand “America” in all of its dimensions.

American Studies is intersectional: AME considers identity, culture, and power; race, class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship; systems and structures; foundations and innovations; transformation and empowerment.

American Studies complements many fields and majors, providing a critical lens for interpretation and application of ideas in fields from Art or English to Justice Studies or Mental Health and Human Services. The minor provides a wide cultural lens and myriad tools for understanding social problems, institutional structures, and bodies of knowledge.

Prerequisite:

To assure success, students should fulfill the prerequisite course before the requirements.

ENG 101 - College Writing 3 CR

Minor Requirements (21 Credit Hours):

AME 201W - Introduction to American Studies 3 CR

Complete one of the following courses (3):

AME 494 - Independent Study in American Studies 3-6 CR
AME 496 - Internship in American Studies 3-6 CR

Complete one of the following courses (3):

Complete one of the following Arts & Technology electives (3):

AME 303 - Hip-Hop America: Culture, Consciousness and Movement 3 CR
ARH 345 - American Art and Architecture
CIS 460 - Computers & Culture 3 CR
DRA 265 - The American Movie 3 CR
DRA 333 - Gender, Race and the Frontier in the Western Film 3 CR
MUH 103 - Music of the United States 3 CR
MUH 117 - Rock History 3 CR

Complete one of the following Literature, History & Culture electives (3):

ENG 250W - Survey of American Literature I: The Colonial Era to the Civil War 3 CR
ENG 251W - Survey of American Literature II: Post-Civil War to Contemporary 3 CR
ENG 347W - The American Short Story: Sources, Forms, Development 3 CR
ENG 390W - 19th Century American Literature 3 CR
ENG 451W - 20th Century American Fiction
ENG 454W - American Novel
HTY 103 - United States History I 3 CR
HTY 104 - United States History II 3 CR
HTY 310 - History of Maine 3 CR
HTY 331 - History of the American Worker 3 CR
HTY 359 - U.S. History Since WW II 3 CR
HTY 457 - Civil War and Reconstruction 3 CR
PHI 350 - American Philosophy 3 CR

Complete one of the following Social Justice & American Diversity electives (3):

Complete one of the following Law, Politics & the State electives (3):

Advising Notes:

A minimum of 25% of the credits required for a minor needs to be earned at UMA for it to be awarded.
A student may be awarded any minor as long as no more than six credits of the minor can be used to fulfill the requirements of the student’s major or concentration.