Comparative American Studies Major

The major consists of a minimum of 9 full courses (or the equivalent).

Note: Students must earn minimum grades of C- or P for all courses that apply toward the major.

View the catalog page for the comparative American studies department.

Summary of Requirements

One Full Introductory Course
CAST 200 - Theories and Methods in American Studies
One Full 300-Level CAST Seminar Course
CAST 500 - Capstone Research Seminar
Three Full Methodological Breadth Courses
Four Full Concentration Area Courses

Note(s) on Requirements

At least five of the required nine full courses must carry the CAST subject code or be cross-listed with a CAST course.
The required introductory course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement if it carries the CAST subject code or is cross-listed with a CAST course.
The required seminar course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement.
Majors are strongly encouraged to complete at least one 300-level CAST course prior to enrolling in CAST 500 .

Declaring the Major

Students wishing to declare a comparative American studies major should meet with a potential advisor on the CAS faculty (may include courtesy faculty) or the department chair. In consultation with the advisor and using the Planning Document for CAS Majors , students will propose a program of study for review by the chair.

Cross-Referenced Courses and Petition Process

As Comparative American Studies is an inter- and multi-disciplinary field, we encourage students to take courses in other departments that can enhance and deepen their studies in the major/minor. Many courses in History, English, Sociology, and Politics, for example can be counted, and a comprehensive list can be found here. This resource indicates which concentration and methodological areas courses count for, and should be consulted carefully as students plan their course schedules.

If a student is enrolled in or completed a course with substantial American Studies content that is not listed in the resource, they can petition to apply the class toward their major or minor. The process involves filling out the form found here as well as providing a syllabus to the department chair. Students should bear in mind that these requests are not always granted, so if they have any questions about particular courses, they should seek to resolve them before enrolling in the class or well before they complete it. Petitions should be filed no later than the end of the term after which they student has completed the class they wish to count.

Honors in Comparative American Studies

Senior comparative American studies majors may conduct independent, original research or a creative project through the Honors Program in Comparative American Studies. Consideration for admission to the honors program takes place during the second semester of the junior year, by invitation of the department faculty or by self-nomination. Honors students must enroll in CAST 501 /502 CAST Senior Honors II (both semesters) and are exempt from the Research Seminar (CAST 500 ) requirement.

Students accepted for honors must normally have a 3.00 GPA in the college and a 3.25 major average at the beginning of the second semester of the junior year. They must have completed the following by the start of their senior year:

Introductory course requirement; and
CAST 200 - Theories and Methods in American Studies .

See the handbook for more detailed information about the honors program.

Detailed Major Requirements

Comparative American Studies Major Course Lists

Introductory Courses

Return to the summary of requirements.

Note: The required intoductory course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement if it carries the CAST subject code or is cross-listed with a CAST course.

CAST 100 - Introduction to Comparative American Studies
CAST 106 - The History of Rock: Race, Class, Gender, Place
CAST 201 - Latinas/os in Comparative Perspective ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 201
CAST 204 - Pop Music and Media
CAST 207 - Introduction to Queer Studies ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 207
CAST 208 - Which American Life?
CAST 210 - Sanctuary, Solidarity, and Latina/o/x Practices of Accompaniment
CAST 221 - Immigration and the American Dream
CAST 223 - Surviving America: Introduction to Native Studies ⇒ cross-listed with EVSS 223
CAST 226 - Music of the Americas
CAST 229 - How We Look: Visualizing U.S. Identities
CAST 231 - The Coalition of the Future: How We Combat White Nationalism and Weave the Fabric of Democracy
CAST 232 - History of Race in American Cities and Suburbs ⇒ cross-listed with HIST 232
CAST 237 - Alaska Natives and the Environment ⇒ cross-listed with EVSS 237
CAST 242 - Asian American Literature at the Crossroads ⇒ cross-listed with ENGL 242
CAST 245 - Asian American Experiments in Life Writing
CAST 248 - (Re)Mapping Asian American Studies: An Introduction to Asian American Studies
CAST 256 - Immigration in U.S. History ⇒ cross-listed with HIST 256
CAST 260 - Asian American History ⇒ cross-listed with HIST 260
CAST 261 - Contemporary Arab American Literature
CAST 265 - Arab and Muslim American Studies
CAST 268 - The Feminist Sex Wars: 50 Years Later
CAST 270 - Latina/o History ⇒ cross-listed with HIST 270
CAST 277 - Rap the Disco, Punk the Queen: Music of the 1970s
CAST 279 - Imagining Borders ⇒ cross-listed with ENGL 279
ENGL 217 - Transgender Literature: Transition, Narrative, and Desire ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 217, GSFS 217
ENGL 242 - Asian American Literature at the Crossroads ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 242
ENGL 243 - Promise and Peril: Race and Multicultural America
ENGL 279 - Imagining Borders ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 279
EVSS 223 - Surviving America: Introduction to Native Studies ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 223
EVSS 237 - Alaska Natives and the Environment ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 237
GSFS 201 - Latinas/os in Comparative Perspective ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 201
GSFS 207 - Introduction to Queer Studies ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 207
GSFS 217 - Transgender Literature: Transition, Narrative, and Desire ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 217, ENGL 217
HIST 232 - History of Race in American Cities and Suburbs ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 232
HIST 256 - Immigration in U.S. History ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 256
HIST 260 - Asian American History ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 260
HIST 270 - Latina/o History ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 270

300-Level CAST Seminar Courses

Return to the summary of requirements.

Note: The required seminar course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement.

CAST 302 - American Agricultures ⇒ cross-listed with EVSS 302
CAST 304 - Reality TV
CAST 309 - Performing America ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 309
CAST 311 - Militarization of American Daily Life
CAST 312 - Cultures of Surveillance
CAST 313 - Archives and Affects ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 313
CAST 315 - Brown TV
CAST 316 - Cold War Cultures: U.S. Militarisms in Asia and the Pacific
CAST 319 - Sexual “Absences” ⇒ cross-listed with GSFS 319
CAST 335 - Latinx Oral Histories
CAST 336 - Sanctuary and Solidarity
CAST 339 - Indigenous Activism, Environmental Justice, and the State ⇒ cross-listed with EVSS 339
CAST 350 - War Ecologies: Militarisms, Technoscience, and the Environment
CAST 382 - Afro-Asian America: Intraminority Connections in Historical Perspective ⇒ cross-listed with HIST 382
CAST 385 - Indigenous Nations, Treaty Rights, and the Great Lakes ⇒ cross-listed with EVSS 385
EVSS 302 - American Agricultures ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 302
EVSS 339 - Indigenous Activism, Environmental Justice, and the State ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 339
EVSS 385 - Indigenous Nations, Treaty Rights, and the Great Lakes ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 385
GSFS 309 - Performing America ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 309
GSFS 313 - Archives and Affects ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 313
GSFS 319 - Sexual “Absences” ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 319
HIST 382 - Afro-Asian America: Intraminority Connections in Historical Perspective ⇒ cross-listed with CAST 382

Methodological Breadth Requirement

Return to the summary of requirements.

Students must meet a methodological breadth requirement by completing at least one course in each of the following areas: Cultural Studies and Theory, History, and Social Science. This requirement must be satisfied through three separate courses that each carry the CAST subject code or are cross-listed with a CAST course.

Notes:

A course may count to only one methodological breadth area, even if that course could satisfy more than one area.
The required introductory course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement if it carries the CAST subject code or is cross-listed with a CAST course.
The required seminar course may count toward the methodological breadth requirement.

Students must also fulfill a concentration area requirement with a minimum of four courses.

Within the concentration, students create an individual focus area on a topic, theme, or question. Students select courses that address their interests within a framework of course offerings designed to build conceptual and practical skills.

Concentrations in the comparative American studies major represent distinct conceptual and scholarly directions within the field. They are:

Identity and Diversity

Examines categories of race, indigeneity, class, gender, sexuality, and/or ability
Examines diversity within a single category, through categories like race, class, gender, sexuality and ability
Uses theoretical concepts that emphasize a comparative understanding of social and cultural formation, like “racialized sexualities” or “racial formation”

Globalization, Transnationalism, and Nation

Uses the concepts of globalization and transnationalism to examine social and cultural diversity in the United States
Situates U.S. in a global context through analysis of concepts such as empire or diaspora
Explores the relationship of transnational social and cultural formations to state power and nationalism in relationship to the United States

Histories and Practices of Social Change

Evaluates pedagogy, research, and cultural production as catalysts for social change
Examines race, class, gender, sexuality, indigeneity, ability and nation in relationship to efforts to affect social change
Considers histories and strategies of particular social movements