2007-08 - Pitzer College

40 AMERICAN STUDIES
AMERICAN STUDIES
Sponsored by the five undergraduate Claremont Colleges, American Studies is a
multidisciplinary major that encourages students to think critically and creatively about
culture in the United States. The American Studies Program is coordinated by an
intercollegiate faculty whose aim is to introduce students to the complexity of the
American experience. Majors take courses in a variety of disciplines such as literature,
history, sociology, anthropology, political science, music, and the visual arts. In addition,
majors take multidisciplinary courses that use materials from different disciplines to
explore a particular issue in American life. The interdisciplinary approach to this major
affords the student many career choices. Some follow graduate study; other paths include
the professions of law, library science, journalism, business and museum curatorship.
Pitzer Advisers: B. Anthes, S. McConnell, D. Segal, C. Strauss.
Requirements for the Major
An essential component of the American Studies curriculum is American Studies 103, a
prerequisite course that is team-taught by members of the intercollegiate faculty in the
spring semester. This course is an excellent introduction to the themes, concerns, and
methodologies of American Studies.
Before the junior year, majors consult with a member of the intercollegiate faculty to plan
a program of courses. Beyond the course mentioned above, majors are required to write a
senior thesis (discussed below) and to compete nine additional courses approved by an
American Studies faculty member. These include:
• A two-semester survey of U.S. History (History 55 and History 56 at Pitzer, or
equivalent courses at the other Claremont Colleges).
• One other survey-level course focusing on the U.S. in another discipline, such as
Art History, Literature, Music, Sociology.
• One course in Asian American, Black, or Chicano Studies.
• The American Studies Seminar (180), which is normally taken in the fall of the
junior year.
In order to give the program depth as well as breadth, three courses a student takes must
be seminar or upper-division level courses in a single discipline (for instance
anthropology or English).
Senior Thesis: All students are required to write a senior thesis by enrolling in the senior
thesis seminar (American Studies 190), offered every fall. In addition to the thesis
seminar, each student will sign up with two individual thesis readers/advisers, at least
one of whom much be from the student’s home campus.
Honors: Students whose GPA equals or exceeds 3.5 both overall, and in the four core
courses required for the major (AS 103, AS 180, History 55 and History 56), and who have
completed the senior thesis with a grade of A, are eligible for honors in American
AMERICAN STUDIES
Studies. Candidates for honors also must pass an oral examination on the thesis,
administered by a committee consisting of the two thesis readers plus one outside reader.
The awarding of honors in American Studies is at the discretion of this oral examination
committee.
The following courses are a sample of the range of courses offered in American Studies at
Pitzer and the other Claremont Colleges. This is not an exhaustive list; students should
consult their advisers or an American Studies adviser at their home campus for current
course offerings.
103. Introduction to American Culture. This course, taught by an intercollegiate faculty
team, introduces principal themes in American culture. Its interdisciplinary approach
brings together such areas as art, music, politics, social history, literature, sociology, and
anthropology. Topics frequently covered include the origins of the American self, ethnic
diversity, immigration, women, the West, modernism, consensus and dissent. Spring, R.
Roberts and Staff.
180. Seminar in American Studies. Interdisciplinary examination of problems in the
history, politics, and culture of the United States. Fall, S. McConnell.
190. Senior Thesis Seminar. This faculty-led, intercollegiate seminar is intended to help
students work through the process of conceptualizing, researching, and writing a senior
thesis in American Studies, with the goal of producing one complete chapter by the end
of the semester. Fall, C. Strauss.
191. Senior Thesis. Spring, Staff.
Other courses appear under appropriate fields. At Pitzer these include:
Anthropology
76. American Political Discourses
81. Media Discourse
89. The American Sixties
95. Folk Arts in Cultural Context
Art History
137. Tradition and Transformation in Native North American Art and Culture
139. Seminar: Topics in Native American Art History
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