US Studies with tracks in American History, American Literature, Political Science, and Public Policy
The United States of America is a nation of paradoxes best understood through seeing its place in the world. Born in the era of transatlantic revolutions beginning in the late eighteenth century, the US was founded on ideals of individual liberty, yet has had to grapple with its other undemocratic foundation in African slavery and Indigenous dispossession. As a nation that, on principle, has eschewed and isolated itself from the empire-building practices of other great powers, the US sometimes implicated itself, in those very same practices, eventually becoming itself a global power. The world’s most powerful, and dynamic economy, indeed a driver of the global market system, the US has been subject to the turbulent ebbs and flows of that economy, and has experienced numerous financial crises, and many forms of economic inequality throughout its history. In the realm of culture and literature, America is sometimes stereotyped for its anti-intellectualism and cultural provincialism, yet has produced many of the world’s finest intellectuals, artists, and writers, not to mention a popular culture consumed worldwide. With its complex mix of democratic political institutions, diversity in culture and religion, its intense social conflicts, economic and military power, understanding American society is an intricate but rewarding endeavor that necessarily requires understanding the world as a whole.
US Studies Majors will investigate deeply the particularities of America, its many paradoxes, and its place in the world through History, Literature, Public Policy, and Political Science tracks. Particular emphasis will be places on comparative and transnational approaches in order to understand the ways the US shapes and is shaped by international or global currents.
Major Requirements
(Not every course listed is offered every term, and the course list will be updated periodically. Please refer to the online Course Catalog for Courses offered in 2023-2024.)
US Studies / American History
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
SOSC 101 |
Foundational Questions in Social Science |
4 |
|
ARHU 101 |
The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
LIT 106 |
American Otherness and Otherness in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 207 |
Democratic Institutions in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 310 |
America in the World |
4 |
|
USSTUD 490 |
Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics |
4 |
|
And choose one of the following two courses |
||
|
POLSCI 205[1] |
American Ideas and Global Receptions |
4 |
|
LIT 215 |
Self-Making and the American Imagination |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
HIST 104 |
American History to 1876 |
4 |
|
HIST 105 |
American History from Reconstruction to the Present |
4 |
|
HIST 201 |
History Methods and Research |
4 |
|
And choose 4 additional courses from the elective list below: at least two courses from “American History” and at least two courses from “Non-American or World History”. |
||
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
American History |
||
|
HIST 203 |
America in Asia, Asians in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 204 |
The U.S. Constitution and its Critics |
4 |
|
POLSCI 221 |
US/China Relations |
4 |
|
SOSC 301 |
Religion and Community in America |
4 |
|
SOCIOL 301 |
Race, Ethnicity, and Citizenship |
4 |
|
POLSCI 305 |
American Capitalism in the World |
4 |
|
HIST 306 |
The United States and China in War and Revolution |
4 |
|
HIST 307 |
Cold War America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 315 |
American Politics in Comparative Perspective |
4 |
|
POLSCI 315 |
American Politics in Comparative Perspective |
4 |
|
Non-American or World History |
||
|
HIST 112 |
History of the Indian Ocean World |
4 |
|
HIST 113 |
People’s and Cultures of Ancient South Asia |
4 |
|
HIST 114 |
Conflicts and Resolutions in Modern South Asia |
4 |
|
GCHINA 201 |
From Empire to Nation |
4 |
|
HIST 202 |
World History and Global Interactions |
4 |
|
HIST 204 |
Asia in World History |
4 |
|
CULANTH 209 |
Globalizations and Alternative Globalizations |
4 |
|
POLSCI 214/ CULANTH 214 |
Authoritarianism and the Struggle for Democracy in Latin America |
4 |
|
GCHINA 301/ POLECON 302 |
China’s Economic Transition |
4 |
|
GCULS 302 |
Gender in Global Perspective |
4 |
|
HIST 313 |
Southeast Asia from the Age of Imperialism to the Global Cold War |
4 |
|
POLSCI 315 |
American Politics in Comparative Perspective |
4 |
|
HIST 317 |
The Global First World War |
4 |
|
POLSCI 317/ SOSC 317 |
Politics of Organization |
4 |
|
HIST 413 |
The Color Line: a Worldwide History of White Supremacy |
4 |
|
HIST 414 |
The Age of Revolutions: 1640-1865 |
4 |
|
HIST 415 |
The Origins of Capitalism: 1500-1900 |
4 |
US Studies / American Literature
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
SOSC 101 |
Foundational Questions in Social Science |
4 |
|
ARHU 101 |
The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
LIT 106 |
American Otherness and Otherness in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 207 |
Democratic Institutions in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 310 |
America in the World |
4 |
|
USSTUD 490 |
Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics |
4 |
|
And choose one of the following two courses |
||
|
POLSCI 205[2] |
American Ideas and Global Receptions |
4 |
|
LIT 215 |
Self-Making and the American Imagination |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
LIT 105 |
The Epic of America (the Novel) |
4 |
|
LIT 205 |
American Lyric Across Borders (Poetry) |
4 |
|
LIT 214 |
Introduction to Literary Research Writ Large |
4 |
|
And choose 4 additional courses from the elective list below: at least two courses from the 200-level or above from “American Literature;” one course at the 200-level or above from “Global/Non-American or Literature”; and one course from “Creative Writing and Translation.” |
||
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
American Literature |
||
|
LIT 201 |
Asian-American Arts and Letters |
4 |
|
LIT 202 |
African American Literature and Culture |
4 |
|
POLSCI 203 |
American Ideas and Global Receptions |
4 |
|
POLSCI 204 |
The U.S. Constitution and its Critics |
4 |
|
LIT 207 |
The American Renaissance and Its Rivals |
4 |
|
HIST 208 |
America Fractured |
4 |
|
USTUD 210 |
American Musicals |
4 |
|
LIT 215 |
Self-Making and the American Imagination |
4 |
|
USTUD 301 |
The Western Across Boundaries |
4 |
|
LIT 303 |
The Literary Arts of the Cold War |
4 |
|
LIT 308 |
American Icons (rhetoric and performance—pulpit /address /theater/ music) |
4 |
|
LIT 309 |
What’s the Fuss? The Art and Power of Banned Literature |
4 |
|
Global/Non-American Literature |
||
|
GCULS 201/CULANTH 202/MEDIA 202 |
Culture and Industry |
4 |
|
LIT 203 |
Reading Empire |
4 |
|
LIT 204 / MEDIA 204 |
Online Novels and the Chinese Public Sphere |
4 |
|
LIT 208 / ARTS 208 |
From Cool Japan to the Korean Wave: Popular Culture from East Asia |
4 |
|
LIT 209 |
Critical Inter-Asia: Rethinking Local and Global Connections |
4 |
|
LIT 210 |
Robots and Monsters: Unruly Human Creations in World Literature |
4 |
|
LIT 211 / POLSCI 211 |
Politics and Literature |
4 |
|
LIT 212 |
Extinctionism: Representing the Survival of the Fittest in Literature and Culture |
4 |
|
LIT 213 |
Literature and Global Citizenship |
4 |
|
GCULS 301 |
Religion and Sexuality |
4 |
|
GCULS 302 |
Gender in Global Perspective |
4 |
|
GCULS 303 |
Chinatowns: A Cultural History |
4 |
|
GCULS 304 |
Chinese Culture and Ideology in the 20th Century and Now |
4 |
|
LIT 306 |
Melodrama East and West |
4 |
|
LIT 307 |
Digital Storytelling |
4 |
|
HIST 314 |
Writing the History of War |
4 |
|
GCULS 401 |
Games and Culture: Politics, Pleasure and Pedagogy |
4 |
|
GCULS 402 |
Digital Tribes |
4 |
|
Creative Writing and Translation |
||
|
MEDIART 110[3] |
Audio Documentary and the Podcast |
4 |
|
LIT 216 |
Introduction to Creative Writing and Translation |
4 |
|
MEDIART 207[4] |
Elements of Story: Introduction to Narrative Structure |
4 |
|
LIT 307 |
Digital Storytelling |
4 |
|
MEDIART 310 |
Screenwriting |
4 |
US Studies / Political Science
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
SOSC 101 |
Foundational Questions in Social Science |
4 |
|
ARHU 101 |
The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts |
4 |
|
STATS 101 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
LIT 106 |
American Otherness and Otherness in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 207 |
Democratic Institutions in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 310 |
America in the World |
4 |
|
USSTUD 490 |
Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics |
4 |
|
Choose one of the following two courses |
||
|
POLSCI 205[5] |
American Ideas and Global Receptions |
4 |
|
LIT 215 |
Self-Making and the American Imagination |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
POLSCI 101 |
International Politics |
4 |
|
POLSCI 104[6] |
Comparative Politics and Institutions |
4 |
|
ETHLDR 203 |
Conceptions of Democracy and Meritocracy |
4 |
|
POLSCI 221 |
US/China Relations |
4 |
|
POLSCI 302 |
Public Opinion |
4 |
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
POLSCI 202 |
U.S. Citizenship: History, Meaning and Conflict |
4 |
|
POLSCI 203 |
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties |
4 |
|
POLSCI 204 |
The U.S. Constitution and its Critics |
4 |
|
HIST 208 |
America Fractured |
4 |
|
POLSCI 211/ LIT 211 |
Politics and Literature |
4 |
|
POLSCI 212 |
Pathologies of Modern Society: Foundational Ideas |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 212 |
Immigrant Dreams, U.S. Realities: Immigration Policy History |
4 |
|
POLSCI 219/ PUBPOL 219 |
The U.S. Legal System: Lawyers, Judges, Lawmakers, & Bureaucrats |
4 |
|
POLSCI 304 |
Revolutions and Foundings: A Comparative Perspective |
4 |
|
POLSCI 305 |
American Capitalism in the World |
4 |
|
POLSCI 310 |
America in the World |
4 |
|
POLSCI 313/ PSYCH 313 |
Political Psychology |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 316/ HIST 316 |
The Modern Regulatory State |
4 |
|
POLSCI 317/ SOSC 317 |
Politics of Organization |
4 |
|
SOSC 320 |
Data in the World: Applied Social Statistics |
4 |
US Studies / Public Policy
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
SOSC 101 |
Foundational Questions in Social Science |
4 |
|
ARHU 101 |
The Art of Interpretation: Written Texts |
4 |
|
SOSC 102 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
LIT 106 |
American Otherness and Otherness in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 207 |
Democratic Institutions in America |
4 |
|
POLSCI 310 |
America in the World |
4 |
|
USSTUD 490 |
Senior Seminar: Advanced Topics |
4 |
|
And choose one of the following two courses |
||
|
POLSCI 205[7] |
American Ideas and Global Receptions |
4 |
|
LIT 215 |
Self-Making and the American Imagination |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
STATS 101 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 101 |
Introduction to Policy Analysis |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 301 |
Political Analysis for Public Policy |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 303 |
Policy Choice as Value Conflict |
4 |
|
Choose one course from the following two courses |
||
|
ECON 201 |
Intermediate Microeconomics I |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 205[8] |
Microeconomic Policy Tools |
4 |
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
PUBPOL 102 |
Introduction to the United States Health Care System |
4 |
|
POLSCI 204 |
US Constitution and its Critics |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 212 |
Immigrant Dreams, U.S. Realities: Immigration Policy History |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 216 |
Civic Participation and Public Policy |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 219/ POLSCI 219 |
The US Legal System |
4 |
|
POLSCI 305 |
American Capitalism in the World |
4 |
|
PUBPOL 306 |
International Development and Poverty |
4 |
|
POLSCI 314 |
Refugees and the Biopolitics of Citizenship |
4 |
|
POLSCI 315 |
American Politics in Comparative Perspective |
4 |
|
POLSCI 317/ SOSC 317 |
Politics of Organization |
4 |
|
HIST 316/PUBPOL 316 |
The Modern Regulatory State |
4 |
|
SOSC 320 |
Data in the World: Applied Social Statistics |
4 |
[1] This course was numbered and named POLSCI 103 American Ideas and the Idea of America prior to fall term 2022.
[2] This course was numbered and named POLSCI 103 American Ideas and the Idea of America prior to fall term 2022.
[3] This course was named MEDIART 110 Audio Documentary and Storytelling prior to fall term 2023.
[4] This course was named MEDIART 207 Creative Writing and the Elements of Story prior to fall term 2023.
[5] This course was numbered and named POLSCI 103 American Ideas and the Idea of America prior to fall term 2022.
[6] This course was numbered and named POLSCI 201 Political Institutions and Processes prior to fall term 2022.
[7] This course was numbered and named POLSCI 103 American Ideas and the Idea of America prior to fall term 2022.
[8] This course was numbered PUBPOL 304 prior to fall term 2022.