American Studies

Career and Major Information
Related Career Titles
Web Sites
Salary Information

Career and Major Information: 

A major in American Studies offers students the opportunity to study American society both generally and specifically.  American society refers to the cultural, economic, and political history of the United States from pre-colonial times to the present.  An interdisciplinary approach uses literature, philosophy, the fine arts, and social sciences to examine patterns and trends of special groups (women, ethnic groups, the poor, the elderly, the family) and of regions of time and place.  American studies looks at American values, religions and recreations.  The variety of approaches used in these studies fosters the development of career skills that can be valuable in many employment fields.  According to Professor Catherine Lavender, Director of American Studies Program at The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York, students learn the following skills:

Effective writing skills – the ability to precisely communicate one’s ideas

Critical analysis skills – the ability to analyze a situation and create practical solutions

Research skills – the ability to understand past policies, find new relevant information, and synthesize the two into an analysis of the problem

Interdisciplinary thinking and training – the ability to examine a problem from many aspects and to devise solutions using different methods of thinking

Curiosity and inquisitiveness – the desire to continue learning, to delve into underlying situations beneath surface issues, and to pursue life-long learning

The Associate of Arts degree in American Studies at Walters State Community College is designed to fulfill the freshman and sophomore level course requirements of a bachelor’s degree; however, the curriculum is not specific to a particular college or university.  A student will need to consult a WSCC faculty advisor or an advisor at the intended transfer institution to determine individual course requirements for that four-year school.  The link to the Humanities Division at WSCC is: http://www.ws.edu/humanities/default.asp

 

Related Career Titles:

Public Information Coordinator	Market Research Analyst
Departmental Historian	Underwriter
Researcher	Management Trainee
Librarian	Campaign Planner
Museum Specialist	Attorney
Restorer	Consultant
Technical Writer	Tour Guide
Columnist/Journalist	Foundation Administrator
Editor	College Professor
Community Planning Specialist	Curator
Social Worker

Web Sites:

What Can I Do With An American Studies Major?

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/americanstudies/

American Studies at Berkeley

Http://ls.berkeley.edu/dept/as/

 

Salary Information:

Occupational Outlook Handbook

http://www.bls.gov/oco/