American Studies require students to complete 30 credit hours. These include:

Core Courses

Complete both of the following requirements:

• AMST-A 100 What is America? (3 cr.)
• Any three (3) core courses

Advanced Courses

• Complete at least 18 credit hours

The College of Arts and Sciences require students to complete 120 credit hours to graduate.

Yes, in addition to the other major requirements, honors students must also complete:

• AMST-A 451 Honors Seminar (3 cr.)
• AMST-A 452 Honors Thesis (3 cr.)

Honors students also must demonstrate advanced language competency in a single foreign language equivalent to a third year of study. This may require students to take an additional two semesters (6 cr.) of a foreign language beyond the standard College requirements, including at least one course at the 300 level or above that studies a foreign language literature. The language chosen for study must pertain directly to American studies and requires the approval of the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of American Studies.

Based on earned Indiana University credits, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 must be maintained for continuation towards an American Studies degree.

Requirements for the honors degree:

• Minimum GPA of 3.500 in the major
• Minimum GPA of 3.300 overall in the College

If you are a prospective student, visit https://admissions.indiana.edu/apply/freshman/index.html for an on-line application. Specify on the application that American studies is your area of interest. There is an application fee of $50 ($60 for international students) to apply to Indiana University.

If you are a current student at IUB and want to add the B.A. to your current program, contact the American Studies undergraduate academic advisor or schedule an appointment at https://ud.indiana.edu/about/make-appointment.html.

Your degree helps you develop these abilities:

• present information clearly and logically
• evaluate situations critically
• develop cultural awareness and cross-cultural empathy
• verbal literacy and expression
• negotiation
• organization
• planning
• research
• the ability to work to meet deadlines

Additional skills:

• Graduates will be able to set the history, politics, and culture of the United States in a global and comparative context
• Understand a broad range of basic historical facts about the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central and South America
• Be able to think logically and analytically, make detailed observations, and formulate interdisciplinary interpretations of the literature, art, music, and mass culture of the United States, Canada, and the Americas

Our graduates find jobs in many fields and capacities, including public administration, education, finance, government, business, research, policy, manufacturing, the arts, transportation, hotels and restaurants, the retail and non-profit sectors, and in community, social and personal service.

• administration in local or central government
• advertising copywriter
• archivist
• charities administrator or development officer
• computer analyst or programmer
• policy research or government positions
• information management or information science
• insurance underwriter
• journalist, writer, or artist
• librarian
• marketing manager
• personnel manager
• solicitor
• teacher in schools, colleges, professional schools
• careers in the health sciences

You can expect to gain the following skills, critical for graduate school:

• learn how to collect, document, maintain, manage evidence, and how to organize and compose interpretive and research essays
• develop your oral and written communications skills, understanding various forms of writing
• become familiar with fundamental principles of American Studies as an interdisciplinary field

For official details and requirements, you must consult with the College’s Academic Bulletin.

• 15 credit hours of required courses. At least 9 credit hours in American Studies courses must be at the 300-400 level
• AMST-A 100 What is America? (3 cr.)
• One of the following: AMST-A 200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.); AMST-A 201 Movements & Institutions (3 cr.); OR AMST-A 202 U.S. Arts & Media (3 cr.)
• Three American Studies courses at the 300-400 level for a total of 9 credit hours
• Refer to the cross-listed courses page for approved cross-listed courses that may fulfill American Studies distribution credit.

For official details and requirements, you must consult with the College’s Academic Bulletin.

You must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours. At least 9 credit hours must be at or above the 300 level. Complete both of the following requirements:

• AMST-A 150 Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies (3 cr.)
• AMST-A 275 Indigenous Worldviews in the Americas (3 cr.)

Additional course work should be selected in consultation with the NAIS advisor and the Chair of the Committee on NAIS, who will help you develop a Plan of Study appropriate to your academic and career goals. The Plan of Study is subject to the following three restrictions:

• A maximum of 6 credit hours in a student's major may be credited toward the minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies.
• Must include at least 9 credit hours at the 300-400 level.
• A maximum of 8 credit hours in Native or Indigenous language course work (e.g., Lakota, Yucatec Maya, Quechua) may be credited toward the minor. In order to complete the NAIS minor, students applying two semesters (8 credit hours) of language study must also complete at least one non-language course from the Approved Course List for a total of 17 NAIS credit hours.

Other courses with significant (at least 60 percent) Native or Indigenous content may count toward the minor. Courses not listed in the Approved Course List must be authorized by the NAIS Advisor in concert with the Chair of the Committee on Native American and Indigenous Studies.

For official details and requirements, you must consult with the College’s Academic Bulletin.

You must complete at least 15 credit hours including all other College Requirements for Minors and the following:

Introductory Courses - Complete one of the following:

• AMST-E 100 The American Experience through the Lens (3 cr.)
• SLST-T 135 Introduction to the American Experience for International Students (3 cr.)

Intermediate Courses - Complete one of the following:

• AMST-A 200 Comparative American Identities (3 cr.)
• AMST-A 201 U.S. Movements & Institutions (3 cr.)
• AMST-A 202 U.S. Arts & Media (3 cr.)

Advanced Courses - Complete each of the following:

• AMST-E 300 Experiencing American Communities (3 cr.)
• AMST-E 301 U.S. Society and Institutions (3 cr.)
• AMST-E 302 U.S. Arts and Culture (3 cr.)

Contact your undergraduate academic advisor in your major area of study.