北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校

The B.A. major in the American Studies area provides students with a broad foundation in ways of studying and researching American culture, exposure, and the opportunity to explore specific eras and genres in depth.

American Indian and Indigenous Studies Concentration

The American Indian and indigenous studies concentration provides a meaningful grounding in the histories, cultures, and contemporary experiences of peoples indigenous to North America, as well as their encounters with settler states. The curriculum increasingly provides opportunities for students to gain a hemispheric perspective that includes the histories, cultures, and contemporary experiences of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Folklore Concentration

The concentration in folklore emphasizes the study of creativity and aesthetic expression in everyday life, focusing on those expressive realms that communities infuse with cultural meaning and through which they give voice to the issues and concerns they see as central to their being. These realms are often deeply grounded in tradition; this doesn’t mean, however, that they’re always or necessarily old. Just as communities change their own sense of self in response to shifting social, political, and economic realities, so too does the artistry they create evolve. Folklore thus moves beyond the study of the old and time-honored to explore emergent meanings and cultural forms.

Global American Studies Concentration

The major concentration in global American studies maps the reach of American cultures across political and geographical boundaries and through myriad exchanges and intersections. It encourages an engagement with “the global” that extends from the local and regional to the national and transnational, and back again. This major concentration aims to situate the study of American culture in relation to both the recent effects of globalization and in recognition of the always-global character of “America.”

Southern Studies Concentration

The Southern studies concentration focuses critical attention on the history, society, culture, and expression of the American South with its regional, state, and local distinctiveness. It allows students to examine the American South from many disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, art, architecture, communication studies, cultural tourism, ecology, environment, folklife, food ways, geography, history, journalism, language, law, literature, material culture, myth and manners, music, oral history, politics, public health, religion, values, and more.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the American studies program, students should be able to:

• Apply critical skills of analysis to a variety of primary historical sources and/or cultural expressions
• Exercise advanced writing skills that demonstrate clear articulation of ideas and effective expression of understanding
• Assess the value of interdisciplinary learning by engaging with a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the study of America within their major elective courses
• Interpret national traditions and ideals from different local, regional, transnational, and/or global situations and from diverse ideological and/or ethnic perspectives
• Report satisfaction with the American studies major and its value for their postgraduate academic and professional careers.