American Studies Program | Georgetown University

Individualized Degree Plans

In American Studies, students consider how cultural artifacts and practices, ranging from art and pop culture to protests and political campaigns, reflect and influence social trends. In our courses, students might trace how eighteenth-century paintings comment on political divisions, how nineteenth-century dime novels challenge assumptions about gender and class, or how contemporary music responds to race relations, among other things. In addition to core courses in American Studies, students select courses from related fields – history, art, English, music, sociology, and more – to create individualized degree plans based on their own their interests. The major culminates with a year-long senior project. With guidance from faculty mentors, students develop the deep knowledge to construct insightful critical arguments that can take many forms, from a traditional academic thesis to a multimedia or artistic project.

Requirements of the Major