The Great Hall at Ellis Island, New York City
You may be interested in American literature, folklore or popular culture; in black history and culture; in women’s studies; in American history, politics or law; in the history of science and technology; in American art, architecture or music—whatever the special focus of your interests, American Studies may be the right major or concentration for you.
American Studies gives you a chance to study American society and culture through its history, literature, art, politics, science, music, etc. by constructing interdisciplinary programs, made up of subjects drawn from different disciplines, centered on your particular interests.
One aim of American Studies is to help you understand the underlying system of beliefs that informs every aspect of American culture—its myths, institutions, politics and literature, its characteristic dreams and rituals. Another is to understand the uses and limits of different methods and intellectual disciplines as tools for exploring the complexities of a culture. A third goal, no less important, is to understand the American present in relation to the American past. To these you will add your own objectives.
You can concentrate in American Studies by taking four subjects, at least one of which must be in History and one in Literature (variances are possible). Concentrations may be organized around periods, problems, themes. As with all HASS Concentration, a student may only use one HASS-D that will also count as a HASS-D in the degree audit. Consult the Concentration Advisor.
Subjects
Below is a partial listing of American Studies subjects. Other courses may be included in your program at the American Studies advisor’s discretion
Arts
21M.215 American Music
21M.226 Jazz HASS-D
21M.283 Musicals of Stage and Screen
21M.284 Film Music
21M.295 American Popular Music
21M.621 Theater and Cultural Diversity in the US HASS-D [SP.595J]
21M.670J Traditions in American Concert Dance: Gender and Autobiography HASS-D, CI-H [SP.591J]
21M.712 African-American Performance
21W.742J Writing about Race HASS-D, CI-H [SP.575J]
21W.766 Contemporary US Women of Color: Writing and Reading Short Stories [SP.574J]
History
21H.101J American History to 1865
21H.102 American History Since 1865 HASS-D, CI-H
21H.104J Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History HASS-D, CI-H [11.015J]
21H.105 American Classics HASS-D, CI-H
21H.112 The American Revolution
21H.115 Christianity in America
21H.116J The Civil War and Reconstruction [STS.029J]
21H.117 The Black Radical Tradition
21H.126 America in Depression and War
21H.131 The United States in the Nuclear Age: Politics, Culture, and Society Since 1941
21H.150J Introduction to Asian American Studies: Literature, Culture, and Historical Experience [21F.043J]
21H.153J Race and Gender in Asian America [21F.069J] [SP.603J]
21H.206 American Consumer Culture
21H.221 Migration and Immigration in U.S. History [11.019J]
21H.223 War and American Society
21H.224 Constitutional Law in U.S. History
21H.225J Gender and the Law in U.S. History [SP.607J]
21H.235 Metropolis
Literature
21L.006 American Literature HASS-D, CI-H
21L.008 Black Matters: Introduction to Black Studies
21L.011 The Film Experience HASS-D, CI-H
21L.430 Popular Narrative (when appropriate)
21L.432 Understanding Television
21L.487 Modern Poetry
21L.501 The American Novel
21L.504 Race and Identity in American Literature [SP.518J]
21L.512 American Authors
21L.702 Studies in Fiction (when appropriate)
21L.705 Major Authors (when appropriate)
Science, Technology, and Society
STS.001 Technology in American History HASS-D, CI-H
STS.005 Disease and Society in America HASS-D, CI-H
STS.011 American Science: Ethical Conflicts and Political Choices HASS-D
STS.046J The Science of Race, Sex, and Gender [SP.640J]
STS.048 African Americans in Science Technology, and Medicine
STS.050 The History of MIT
Social Sciences
11.013J American Urban History I [21H.231J]
11.014J American Urban History II [21H.232J]
11.026J Downtown [21H.234J]
11.128 Information Technology and the US Labor Market [Meets with 11.248, 14.49]
14.63 The American Labor Force in a Changing Economy HASS-D
17.20 Introduction to the American Political Process HASS-D, CI-H
17.251 Congress and the American Political System I
17.261 Congress and the American Political System II
17.263 Electoral Politics
17.265 Public Opinion and American Democracy
17.317 U.S. Social Policy
17.40 American Foreign Policy
17.483 U.S. Military Power
21A.235 American Dream: Exploring Class in the US
Note: Students who have taken the following subjects—which are no longer offered—can count these subjects toward their concentration:
4.652 Advanced Study in the History, Theory, and Criticism of American Art
17.037 American Political Thought
17.245 The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights
17.253 American Political Economy
17.267 The President
17.271 American Political Development
17.471 American National Security Policy CI-H
21A.441 The Conquest of America HASS-D
21H.103 American Indian History from Columbus to Present
21H.151J American Women’s History [SP.420J]
STS.036 Technology and Nature in American History CI-H
STS.049J Technology and Gender in American History [SP.485J]
Additional information can be obtained from the Concentration Advisor or from the History Office, E51-285, x3-4965.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology