University Schedule of Classes

Registrar's Spring 2008 Calendar

Frequently Asked Questions
Career Options
Major
Minor
Core Courses
Approved Courses
Independent Studies

Internships
Joint Degree Programs
Co-Curricular Activities

Distinguished Student Work
Forms

The American Studies Department offers both a major and a minor in American Studies, as well as courses open to any undergraduate student at Rutgers. The Department sponsors courses during the winter and summer terms, including mini-courses and adventure courses.

We have devised a sequence of core courses to help students develop skills needed for interdisciplinary work. Core courses taken in the junior year (050:303 A Decade in American Culture and 050:389 Junior Seminar in American Studies) provide skills necessary for the research and writing expected of seniors majoring in American Studies. We expect every junior to give these two courses serious attention.

Core Courses

Introduction to American Studies 050:101 (3 cr.) Introduces students to interdisciplinary work, through the use of primary documents, including novels, autobiographies, paintings, photographs and films. (Fall and Spring)

A Decade in American Culture 050:303 (3 cr.) Provides an interdisciplinary approach to problems in American culture, by concentrating on a brief period of time and employing materials borrowed from arts, humanities and social sciences. The decade studied depends on the instructor. (Fall and Spring)

Junior Seminar in American Studies 050:389 (3 cr.) A required interdisciplinary seminar for majors. The course follows a common syllabus on themes chosen by a team of instructors who lead small sections. Prerequisites: 050:101 and 050:303. (Fall and Spring)

Seminars in American Studies 050:455 and above (3 cr.)
Interdisciplinary seminars for senior majors. Topics offered vary from year to year and depend on instructors. Students must either take a senior seminar in their senior year or complete a major independent research paper or project. (See 050:390 and 050:490 below). Prerequisites: 050:101, 303, and 389.

Independent Studies 050:390 or 490 (3 cr.), Special Problems in American Culture (390) and Advanced Problems in American Culture (490) allow American Studies majors, minors and other students to do independent work for credit. Senior majors will either do a major project (often for Honors) under the supervision of an American Studies faculty member or take any of the senior seminars (487, 488, or 489) offered in a particular year.

Please note that students registered for 050:390 or 050:490 who are working on the Folk Festival or engaged in internships can count these courses towards the major but cannot use them to fulfill the senior requirement. However, multiple registrations in 050:390 and 050:490 for different purposes are permitted. Work on the Folk Festival, however, may count for the major only twice.

Requirements for the Major

Worksheet for Majors in PDF Format

Students who wish to major in American Studies must complete the following courses:

• 050:101 Introduction To American Studies
• 050:303 A Decade in American Culture
• 050:389 Junior Seminar in American Studies
• 050:455 or above, Senior Seminars or 050: 490, Senior Thesis or 050:495 or 050:496, Honors in Am. Studies
• Two additional American Studies courses, at least one of which is 300 level or above.
   
  History 512:103,The Development of the U.S, I
  History 512: 104 The Development of the U.S., II
  English 350:227 Earlier American Literature to 1860
  English 350:228 American Literature from 1860 to the present
  
  
• 12 credits which deal with the American scene. Not more than 6 of these credits (or two courses) may be selected from courses numbered below 300. To fulfill this requirement, students may use any of the courses included in the American Studies Course List. These 12 credits may be accumulated by drawing from the American Studies Department courses or from the Approved Courses (also listed in the American Studies Handbook) or from any combination of the two.
  

For double majors, only 3 of these 12 elective credits may overlap with the major requirements of other departments.

Students may not take any courses in fulfillment of the major Pass/Fail. 

All courses used for the major must have a grade of C or better.

Requirements for the Minor

Students who wish to minor in American Studies must complete 18 credits consisting of the following:

• Three 300 - 400 level American Studies courses (3 or 4 credits each). (Students may count work on the Folk Festival twice, but no more.)
• Three more American Studies Department courses at any level (3 or 4 credits each). For the second category, two mini-courses may count as one 3-credit course.

Please be aware that these courses must be in the American Studies Department only.   All courses used for the minior must have a grade of C or better.

Independent Study Guidelines

(050:390 or 490)

Independent Study Application in PDF Format (Read the following Guidelines before completing this form.)

Independent Study Projects exist for students who desire to engage in specific research or fieldwork experiences that are not typically part of the curriculum. They are not intended for students who are simply fishing for credits.

Students who undertake independent study projects must realize that their responsibility is twofold:

• First of all, they are enrolled in an academic credit earning course. Thus, they must, upon completion of their semester’s work, provide documentation, for example, a research paper of 25 pages or more. It is expected that a minimum of 45 hours of work be expended per semester credit received.
  
• Second, the student should be aware that this is an individual project requiring individual initiative central to the notion of independent scholarship. Students are expected to approach a faculty member with a specific proposal of study. The role of the professor is that of guide and reference person and, of course, evaluator of the final product. It is the student’s responsibility to make wise and prudent use of the professor. By regularly communicating with the professor and receiving feedback on the project, the student can insure that the final product is acceptable.
  
• An unacceptable final project can result in either an incomplete or failing grade.
  
• A student must seek the tentative approval of a sponsor no later than December 1 for spring term projects and no later than May 1 for fall term projects. At this time the student must submit a completed application with 500-word prospectus and a 10-item briefly annotated preliminary bibliography of secondary sources.

 Internship Guidelines

(050:380 or 050:381)

   Internship Application in PDF Format (Read the following Guidelines before completing this form.)

Students who seek academic credit for an internship are expected to approach a faculty member with a specific internship proposal.  Before agreeing to direct the internship, the professor who serves as the student's internship adviser will consult the student's onsite internship supervisor.  If the internship appears suitable, the faculty adviser will determine the appropriate academic component to complete the internship.  The faculty adviser and student will then establish a schedule of meetings that should occur at least once every 3 weeks over the course of the internship.  No more than one internship can count for the major or minor.

Ordinarily, a student must have an internship adviser in place and an internship application approved by May 1 for Fall semester internships and December 1 for spring semester internships.

Internship Opportunities

• The Battle of Short Hills

Joint Degree Program Opportunities

• American Studies majors can qualify for certification in secondary school teaching in Social Studies and English, by completing the five-year joint BA/ME Teacher Education Program at the Graduate School of Education. GSE offices are at 10 Seminary Place, Room 132.
  
  
• American Studies majors currently enrolled in either Douglass College or University College are eligible to apply for admission to the five-year AB/MBA program at the Rutgers Graduate School of Management at Newark. Admission is determined by the admission committee of the GSM. For further information, consult the Academic Affairs Office at College Hall or Douglass College.
  
  
• The Eagleton Institute of Politics offers an Eagleton Undergraduate Associates Program for twenty juniors selected to study applications of political science. Undergraduate Associates attend a series of special seminars with politicians and government officials. For additional information, please contact the program director at the Institute.
  
  
• The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy offers a 3-1-1 Bachelors/ Masters of Public Policy Program. Students enrolled in the program earn a BA or BS degree and Masters of Public Policy in five years. Application to the program is in spring semester of the junior year.

Co-Curricular Activities

1. The American Studies Association is an organization composed of students and faculty interested in pursuing American Studies outside the classroom. The Association sponsors various extra curricular and co-curricular activities: field trips, hikes, career nights, lectures, conferences, movies, dinners, parties, and sporting events.
   
   The Association is chartered by the Student Governing Association. Its officers are all American Studies majors.
   
   
2. The Pie
   
   The American Studies department publishes a journal of faculty and student work. For the last 30 years the journal has appeared in print, each spring. We are converting the Salad Bowl to a new electronic format which we are now calling the Pie.  We encourage undergraduates to use the Pie to publish the best of their written work. And we invite our graduates to look for the Pie on line.
   
   
3. The New Jersey Folk Festival
   
   Each spring, on the last Saturday of April, the American Studies Department sponsors a folk festival, celebrating the music, crafts, and arts of and arts of New Jersey, often with a
   changing annual focus on a different ethnic group or region of the state.  The festival is designed to foster appreciation for traditional folk life and folklore. The festival is directed by Professor Angus Gillespie but run by undergraduates, who receive academic credit for their work on the festival. Students interested in working on the Folk Festival should contact Professor Gillespie. For more information, go the Folk Festival web site.
   
   
4. An Evening of Gospel Choirs
   
   

The Evening of Gospel Choirs, presented by Douglass College and managed by the American Studies Department, celebrates Black History Month.  It is an annual event held the last Saturday in February and is the longest continuous running and best-attended Black History Month program at Rutgers University.  Every year the program of music and spirituality features some of the best church choirs in the Central New Jersey area.  The event is under the direction of Professor Angus Kress Gillespie and a student committee.

 

  Distinguished Student Work