American Studies
Director:
Associate
Professor Deborah Pacini Hernandez,
American
Studies/Anthropology
Faculty:
Professor
Frances Chew,
Biology
Professor
Carol Flynn,
English
Professor
Jonathan Kenny,
Chemistry
Emeritus
Professor Jesper Rosenmeier,
English/American
Studies
Associate Professor Gerald Gill,
History
Associate
Professor Alice Trexler,
Drama and
Dance
Assistant
Professor Adriana Zavala,
Art and Art
History
Senior
Lecturer Edith Balbach,
Community
Health
Senior
Lecturer Jeanne Dillon,
American
Studies
Senior
Lecturer Jean Wu,
American
Studies
Lecturer
Sophia Cantave,
English
Lecturer Steven D. Cohen,
Education
Lecturer
Lisa Coleman,
American
Studies
Lecturer
John F. Hodgman,
American
Studies/Entrepreneurial Leadership
Lecturer
Ronna Johnson,
American
Studies/English
Lecturer
Joan Lester,
American
Studies
Lecturer
Carmen Lowe,
American Studies
Lecturer Nancy Wilson,
Jonathan M.
Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service
The American Studies program offers a bachelor of arts in American Studies. The program has gained recognition for features unique among American Studies programs, especially the interdisciplinary breadth of its faculty, who are drawn from the humanities, arts, social sciences, and natural sciences.
The mission of the Tufts program is to create interdisciplinary models of analysis of life in the United States and/or the Americas. Students enter into a dialogue with a variety of disciplines represented by members of the American Studies faculty and the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Students are encouraged to combine intellectual theory and historical analysis with work for social change.
American Studies, nationally and at Tufts, has had a central focus on the role of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in shaping people's experiences in the Americas. American Studies has been increasingly concerned with the ways people of other countries see the United States, and conversely, how people in the United States perceive and represent their neighbors in the Western hemisphere.
American Studies majors are eligible to apply for Ted Shapiro Memorial Awards, which support summer projects designed to achieve personal and academic goals.
Undergraduate Concentration
Requirements
To graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in American Studies, a student must
complete ten credits: American Studies 12-20 Introduction to American
Studies (one credit); American Studies 81-90 Integrative Seminar (one
credit); History (one credit) at least two-thirds of course content
focused on some aspect of the U.S. or the Americas; four credits that
form a coherent interdisciplinary cluster (see clusters below). The last
three credits are fulfilled by American Studies 109 Senior Special
Project, taken in either the fall or spring semester of the senior year for one
credit, plus two elective credits (course content to integrate course work of
interdisciplinary cluster); or American Studies 199 Senior Honors Thesis, taken
in both semesters of the senior year for two credits, plus one elective credit
(course content to integrate course work of interdisciplinary cluster).
Interdisciplinary Clusters
African American Studies
Area Studies (consult advisor)
Asian American Studies
Comparative Race and Ethnicity
Constructions of Power in Economic and Political Systems
Gender
Individually Designed Cluster (consult advisor)
Latino/a Studies
Local Community Issues
Native American Studies
Nature and Culture
Performance and Representation in the Arts and Humanities
Politics and the Environment
Politics and the Law
Science and Technology
(American Studies 99, 140-149, and 194 may be proposed as part of the interdisciplinary cluster. Courses dealing explicitly with the U.S. experience, and courses such as Economics 5, Psychology 1, Sociology 1, Child Development 1, in which most of the exemplary materials are drawn from American society, may be used to meet this requirement.)
The director and other faculty advisors work closely with students in tailoring individual programs reflecting particular interests and providing a framework for the continued integration of knowledge at more advanced levels. The American Studies program office is located at 110 Eaton Hall. For more information, call 617-627-2311, visit http://ase.tufts.edu/amstud, or e-mail the program coordinator, Sheila.Driscoll@tufts.edu.
To view Course Descriptions, please go to:
http://webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu/courses/main.asp.