American Studies certificate undergoing curricular process; may be an option in 16-17 bulletin
A certificate in American Studies may be available for students in fall 2016.
American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that includes courses from political science, geography, history, english, religion, art, music, anthropology, sociology and inter-departmental courses to give students an in-depth look at America from an academic perspective, said College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences Associate Dean Tim Hall.
"There was a strong demand (for the program) among international students," Hall said. "It was designed to be completed within one semester for those students so they can take the certificate with them."
This certificate will use pre-existing courses in departments throughout CHSBS to give students an easily-attainable certificate and a better understanding of America from multiple perspectives.
According to the proposed bulletin copy, the 15-credit American Studies Certificate is designed for undergraduate students who desire to obtain specific interdisciplinary training in American culture, history and politics."
American Studies is a fairly common field of study in public universities. English faculty member Ted Troxell majored in American Studies at Michigan State University.
Within MSU's program, Troxell was able to choose those two fields as his focus from a wide array of options.
"I joke that I specialize in the things you're not supposed to talk about at dinner. It wasn't exactly American History, it wasn't exactly American Literature and not exactly religious studies but it did fit under the umbrella of American Studies."
Hall said American Studies has been offered at CMU before, but lacked interdisciplinary support.
Department of History Chairperson Mitchell Hall attempted to revive the program while serving as CHSBS Associate Dean in 2007, but program prioritization within the last five years prevented the resurgence of American Studies at CMU.
That may change in January when the bulletin for the 2016-17 academic year will begin to take shape.
"We decided that there was a great enough demand to proceed so we spent that past several months talking about what the curriculum should look like," Mitchell Hall said. "The whole point of this is to allow students to get a better understanding of American society and American culture without having to focus only on a single discipline."
