American Studies
The goal of the American Studies Program is to foster a complex understanding of American cultures, providing students with the analytical tools necessary to examine the diversity of American identities and experiences within an interdisciplinary, transnational frame.
About the Major
American studies combines the methods and perspectives of several disciplines, in particular history and literature, to examine the nation and its cultural heritage. In this way, the program represents the most enduring liberal arts principles. Yet at Hamilton, American studies is highly innovative. Its interdisciplinary approach fosters creativity and originality, encouraging students to work closely with professors to develop and pursue individual plans of study.
Students Will Learn To:
- Apply different approaches to the academic studies of the Americas
- Appraise diverse sets of evidence including both primary and secondary sources
- Communicate clearly, coherently, and effectively
A Sampling of Courses
Roots Music to Country Music: The Making of an American Sound
Study of country music from its roots in cowboy songs, fiddle tunes, blues, bluegrass, and gospel hymns to current artists like The [Dixie] Chicks, Taylor Swift, and Brad Paisley. Artists include the Carter Family, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Lynyrd Skynyrd, & Garth Brooks. Study of the musical elements, social class, gender roles, and cultural contexts of styles such as Western Swing, Honky-Tonk, Rockabilly, the Nashville Sound, Southern Rock, and Alt-country. Includes films such as Coal Miner's Daughter, Nashville, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Explore these select courses:
The Bible has been used throughout American history to justify various oppressions including slavery, gender inequality, and homophobia. Through exploring the biblical material that has historically supported such injustices, and the religious thought that has contributed to liberation movements, this course will seek to discover the meanings of the defining American mantra of "freedom." We will examine such "theological" thinkers as Jefferson, Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and James Baldwin.
This course explores journeys to a variety of destinations in and beyond the Americas, and the transformation and reorientation that often happens along the way for pilgrims of diverse American communities. Topics include Native American spatial practices in the Southwest, among others.
This course explores and considers three themes in the history of religion in the American West: migrations (movement in and out of the region), locations (the designation of particular places as special), and adaptations (changes over time, in response to changing conditions). The course will use a variety of primary and secondary sources – some texts, but also films, photographs, and other kinds of sources.
Meet Our Faculty
Anthropology of religion; global Christianities; religion in America; Native American religious traditions; traditional ecological knowledge; pilgrimage; personhood and place
African-American history; diasporic and transnational history; race and empire in 20th-century U.S. and France
history, sociology, and Africana studies
Faces & Spaces
Departments and programs such as Art History, Economics, Literature and Creative Writing, Government, and History all offer courses on issues pertinent to American Studies.
Careers After Hamilton
Hamilton graduates who concentrated in American studies are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
- Sales Planning Manager, Time Inc.
- Business Analyst, Northern Trust Bank
- Staff Writer, South Philly Review
- Senior Associate Director of Content, University of Chicago
- Marketing Manager, Terra Resort Group
- Assistant Professor, New York University
- Architectural Historian, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Explore Hamilton Stories
Schermerhorn Publishes Special Issue in Material Religions
Associate Professor of Religious Studies and American Studies Program Director Seth Schermerhorn recently published a special issue on "Movement and Indigenous Religions" in Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief.
Contact
Department Name
American Studies Program
Contact Name
Seth Schermerhorn, Program Director
Clinton, NY 13323
