The purpose of the American Studies program at Fairfield University is for students to engage the idea of America as it has been culturally imagined and contested throughout history, both within and beyond U.S. national borders. Students also consider their own place, engagement, and responsibilities as participants in the unfolding narratives of America within a global context. Interdisciplinary in its goal, the program draws from a wide range of courses in the arts, humanities, and social sciences in order to help students develop the ability to read America, in all its manifestations, as a rich and dynamic cultural artifact.
Learning Objectives
- Students will engage the idea of America by framing questions for research and inquiry
- Students will distinguish, summarize, and synthesize the idea of America through the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, legal status, environment, and class.
- Students will critically analyze and interpret cultural artifacts using interdisciplinary theories and methodologies, and discipline-specific knowledge.
- Students will construct oral arguments and generate debate as they evaluate the processes that shape and reshape America and its identities.
- Students will write informed, critical essays and larger research papers.
- Students will examine and interpret their own places, engagement, and responsibilities in the unfolding narratives of America, within a global context.
- Students will produce a final culminating project appropriate to the undergraduate and graduate curricula.