Customize Your Major or Minor
In consultation with faculty, American Studies students have the freedom and responsibility of selecting courses that reflect their intellectual interests. Here, are some examples of concentration tracks for majors and minors. This is not an exhaustive list, and we encourage you to talk to our DUS about any ideas you may have.
You don’t need to have a specific idea for a concentration. We do not expect our students to know their concentration track before they declare a major or minor. As you take our core courses and other courses for your AXEL requirements, you will be exposed to a variety of topics and ideas. You can then make a more informed decision.
American Studies addresses a lot of topical interests, such as questions of power and conflict, experience and identity, tradition and social change within and beyond the territorial borders of the United States and the Americas. Matters of class, race, region, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, law, migration, environment, technology, politics, and the arts are also central to the curriculum. The program allows study at the local, subnational, national, and global levels, from in-depth investigation of Nashville communities to research on transnational nongovernmental organizations.
Examples of Concentration Tracks
Major Concentration Track: Nature, Environment, and Social Justice
Core Requirements
AMER 1002 Introduction to American Studies
AMER 4000 Research Methods Workshop
AMER 4960 Senior Project
International Requirement
AMER 3200 Global Perspectives on the U.S.
Interdisciplinary Electives
EES 4750 Sustainable Systems Science
MHS 2610: Global Health Crises
Electives
PHIL 3611 Environmental Philosophy
RLST 3921 Ethics and Ecology
WGS 2268 Gender, Race, Justice, and the Environment
ENGL 3730 Literature and the Environment
Major Honors Concentration Track: Popular Music, Gender, and Sexuality
Core Requirements
AMER 1002W Introduction to American Studies
AMER 4000 Research Methods Workshop
AMER 4998/4999 Senior Thesis
International Requirement
AMER 3200 Global Perspectives on the U.S.
Interdisciplinary Electives
CMST 3720 Communicating Gender
AADS 3214 Black Masculinity: Social Imagery and Public Policy
Electives
HIST 1425W Body, Mind, and Soul: Elvis, Dylan, Springsteen and Postwar America
SOC 3201 Cultural Consumption and Audiences
AMER 3852 Independent Research: Performing Sexuality in Nashville’s Dance Clubs
ANTH 2110 Gender and Cultural Politics
Minor Concentration Track: Sports, Culture, and Society
Core Requirements
AMER 1002W Introduction to American Studies
AMER 4000 Research Methods Workshop
International Requirement
AADS 4198 Global Anti-Blackness and Black Power
Electives
AMER 2100 Sports, Culture, and Society
AADS 3016 GOAT: Life, Times, and Politics of Muhammad Ali