Sophomore Year
Foundation Courses
Sophomores interested in pursuing the American studies major should aim to complete at least three of their four foundation courses for the major by the end of the sophomore year. Students must take two foundation courses in cultural history (AMST 188a, 189a, 190a, or 191b) and one foundation course in American literature. Students should also keep in mind that one of these four foundation courses must deal with material produced before the Civil War.
Official Yale College program and course information is found in the Yale College Programs of Study, available online at www.yale.edu/yalecollege/publications/ycps/
AMST 188a
The Colonial Period of American History
John Demos
Significant themes in American life, 1607-1750: politics and imperial governance; social structure; religion; ecology; race relations; gender; popular culture; the rhythms of everyday life.
AMST 189a
The Formation of Modern American Culture, 1750-1876
Kariann Yokota
An introduction to the cultural, social, and political history of the United States from the era of the revolution through the Civil War and Reconstruction, with special attention to the emergence of a national culture and its relationship to the subcultures of different regions, races, genders, and classes.
AMST 190a
The Formation of Modern American Culture, 1876-1919
Jean-Christophe Agnew
An introduction to the cultural history of the United States from Reconstruction
through the First World War, with special attention to the persistence of popular
culture, the transformation of bourgeois culture, and the birth of mass culture
during a period of rapid industrialization. View the web site at:
http://classes.yale.edu/05-06/amst190a/
AMST 191b
The Formation of Modern American Culture, 1920 to the Present
Michael Denning or Matthew Jacobson
An introduction to the cultural history of the United States in the modern and
postmodern eras, with special attention to the development of the culture industries,
the popular cultures of working peoples, and the political and social meanings
of cultural conflict. View the web site at:
https://webspace.yale.edu/amst191/
Areas of Concentration
Prospective majors should also acquaint themselves with the five areas of concentration that define the major:
Becoming an American Studies Major
Students should schedule a meeting with the director of undergraduate studies in the spring of their sophomore year. At this meeting, the DUS will acquaint prospective majors with the majors worksheet and go over course transcripts to begin charting progress in the major.
Next: Junior Year
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