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Greg Herchenroether ’06 is researching films that deal with the character of "the writer” in a senior honors thesis under the direction of Andy Smith, assistant professor of English and chair of American studies.
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Choose A PathAmerican Studies is a program that allows students to study American society and culture from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students choose courses from different departments within a theme of concentration. The major encourages independence and individuality within a structured academic environment. It offers students a special opportunity to take advantage of resources in a wide range of departments at the college.With guidance from program faculty, courses are select-ed that focus on a particular theme. Students may choose one of the following themes of concentration or, in consultation with the faculty, develop their own. Concentrations include: |
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Course of StudyAmerican Studies at Lafayette College is a flexible degree program that allows students to study American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective. American Studies is unique in its efforts to combine distinct fields of inquiry; it investigates, for example, where History merges with Literature or where Art intersects with Anthropology. The major encourages independence and individuality as it offers students a unique opportunity to structure their own education and to take advantage of the resources of multiple departments at Lafayette.AAn American Studies major consists of nine courses, at least three of which are core American Studies courses. Majors are required to take the introductory course, AMS 150, and a topical seminar, AMS 362, such as "Photography in American Culture," "American Indians in American Culture" or "Nature in American Culture." As seniors, majors take an intensive research seminar, AMS 363, in which they write a lengthy paper on a subject of their choice. Beyond the three required core courses, all majors take six 200- and 300-level courses that focus on an interdisciplinary theme or concentration of the student's choice. After GraduationAn American Studies major provides a broad-based liberal arts education that can be customized according to particular interests. Because the program is interdisciplinary, students can prepare themselves to enter a wide range of occupations and graduate and professional schools.American Studies graduates have gone on to careers in government, business, public relations, law, teaching, journalism, publishing, urban and regional planning, historical preservation and restoration, museum work, and foreign service. Some positions held by recent American Studies graduates are: New York book editor, desk assistant at NBC News, education supervisor for New York City’s South Street Seaport, art consultant at Christie’s, editor for Computer Design, senior consultant with KPMG Peat Marwick, sales manager with Xerox, and city planner for Springfield, Mass. Others are attorneys, architects, public school teachers, a photographer, and a minister. Among majors in the Class of 2001, 64 percent accepted fulltime employment, 18 percent enrolled in law school or other graduate programs, and 9 percent were volunteering, traveling, or working part-time by choice. Special OpportunitiesThe senior research seminar in American Studies is a valuable experience for students to investigate a topic of their own choice. They conduct extensive original research for a paper that integrates the different disciplines studied in their theme of concentration.Recent topics have included youth fashion in 1960s America as depicted in Life magazine, the relationship between comedy of hate and the “angry white male” syndrome, political and social dynamics of the social security system, and attitudes and experiences of African Americans as compared to African-born immigrants in America. A one-semester independent study is another feature of the program. Qualified students work with a faculty member to develop a particular theme or topic in American Studies. Those who wish to seek honors pursue independent study that concludes with a thesis which may encompass more than one discipline, combining, for example, art and sociology, music and politics, or history and literature. In addition, the program sponsors a special speaker series each year to highlight the methods and interests of the broader American Studies discipline. Recent speakers include David Stowe, on the ideological undercurrents moving through the New York jazz scene during and after World War II, and Philip Deloria, on the long tradition—from the Boston Tea Party to Dances with Wolves—of non-Indians imitating Indians. FacultySusan Averett, Professor of Economics and Business and Department Head, Economics and Business. Teaching and research interests: Economic Demography, Labor Economics, Health Economics, Birth Order. Steven Belletto, Assistant Professor of English. Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison. Teaching and research interests: 20th-century American literature and culture, Vladimir Nabokov, Cold War literature and Culture. Andrew M. Smith, Assistant Professor of English and Chair of American Studies. M.A., University of New Mexico. Special interests: American Studies, American literature, visual culture, and nature/enviromental writing. Publications include articles on 19th-century American literature and photography. Howard N. Bodenhorn, Professor of Economics and Business. Ph.D., Rutgers University. Special interests: American economic history, money and banking, law and economics. Bianca Falbo, Associate Professor of English and Co-Director of the College Writing Program. Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh. Teaching and research interests: Composition, pedagogy, late-18th through 19th-century Anglo-American literary culture, history of the book, textual criticism. Donald C. Jackson, Professor of History, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. Special interests: history of technology, the American West, and modern American history. Author, Great American Bridges and Dams and Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West. Recipient of Jones Faculty Lecture Award. David R. Johnson, Associate Provost and Professor of English. Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University. Special interests: American literature and history, and regional literature. Publications include articles on 19th- and 20th-century literature and popular culture. Author of Conrad Richter: A Writer’s Life. Recipient of Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. Rebecca Kissane, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology. Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. Teaching and research interests: poverty, urban sociology, the family, and the welfare state. Caroline Lee, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology. Ph.D., University of California, San Diego. Teaching and research interests: law and society, contemporary history, and American Politics. Robert S. Mattison, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Art. Ph.D., Princeton University. Special interests: 19th- and 20th-century art and architecture. Publications include books on Robert Motherwell, Grace Hartigan, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg. Recipient of Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarship, and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. Donald L. Miller, MacCracken Professor of History. Ph.D., University of Maryland. Special interests: American social, intellectual, regional, industrial, urban, and black history. Books include The Story of World War II, The New American Radicalism, Lewis Mumford: A Life, and City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America. Recipient of Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Van Arsdalen Prize for research, Jones Award for superior teaching and scholarship, and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. Joshua Miller, Professor of Government and Law. Ph.D., Princeton University. Teaching and research interests: political theory particularly within its American context, relationship of fashion and beauty to democracy. Deborah A. Rosen, Professor of History. Ph.D., Columbia University. Special interests: early American history, women’s history, and constitutional and legal history. Author, Courts and Commerce: Gender, Law, and the Market Economy in Colonial New York; coeditor, two-volume collection of early American Indian documents. Recipient of Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. David H.P. Shulman, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology. Ph.D., Northwestern University. Special interests: the American workplace, consumer marketing and social theory, and deceptive social behaviour. Publications include several articles addressing those areas and he is the coauthor of the book Talking Sociology, 5th edition. Karina Skvirsky, Assistant Professor of Art. M.F.A. (Photography), Indiana University; B.A. (Spanish literature), Oberlin College. Teaching and research interests: History of Photography, Landscape and Memory. She has taught at the International Center for Photography and the Parsons School of Design, both in New York City. George Torres, Associate Professor of Music. Ph.D., Cornell University. Teaching and research interests: 17th-century French lute performance, Latin American bolero romántico, and Latin American big band music, Film Music. Bryan R. Washington, Associate Professor of English. Ph.D., Harvard University. Special interests: contemporary narrative theory and African American literature. Author, The Politics of Exile: Ideology in Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Baldwin. Recipient of Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award. Walter "Skip" Wilkins, Assistant Professor of Music. M.A. University of Nothern Colorado. Special interests: jazz history and performance. Widely recorded jazz pianist.
Andrew M. Smith For general information: |
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