Department of American Studies

Graduate Requirements

Master of Arts

New Requirements for Master of Arts in American Studies
Department of American Studies
Effective for all students entering Fall 2011

36 semester hours of coursework

Required Courses:
•     45:200 Theory and Practice of American Studies 1 (3 s.h.)
•     45:201 Theory and Practice of American Studies 2 (3 s.h.)
•     2 graduate seminars in American Studies (6 s.h.)
•     5 courses in MA interdisciplinary field of concentration (15 s.h.)*
•     electives (9 s.h.)
•     Approval of the Master’s Portfolio (see below)

*The MA field of concentration is designed in consultation with the American Studies advisor.  

The Master’s Portfolio must include:

• Research Paper. A graduate seminar paper that demonstrates your skills as a research scholar and writer, and represents your strongest work to date (25-30 pp. in length, including bibliography).

• Faculty Evaluations for all courses taken in the first full year of graduate study.

• Self-evaluation. This essay summarizes the methods and materials of American Studies that have shaped your interdisciplinary work in the field and states how your MA work has contributed to, challenged, or complicated your goals and ambitions beyond the MA.  5pp in length.

The Master’s Portfolio will be assembled under the guidance of the MA candidate’s advisor. It will be submitted no later than the 1st of December of the student’s 3rd semester in residency.  The Master’s Portfolio will be evaluated on an S-U basis by a 3-person American Studies faculty committee.  Students whose Master’s Portfolio receives a U may resubmit the Portfolio in the 4th semester in residency.  The Master’s Portfolio will serve as the application for admission to the PhD program in American Studies for those MA students who wish to apply.  Candidates applying for the PhD Program will be informed by the end of the Fall semester in which their MA Portfolio is submitted whether or not they have been accepted into the PhD program -- with admission being contingent on successful completion of the MA degree in the 4th semester of residency.

PLEASE NOTE: The Department of American Studies typically awards MAs under the “Master’s PORTFOLIO” option. The “Master’s Thesis” option is available only under exceptional circumstances, and the student must petition the Director of Graduate Studies for permission to pursue this option.

 

Doctor of Philosophy

The Ph.D. program in American studies requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of course work, which includes a core of American studies courses in interdisciplinary methods and substantial course work in two major fields of concentration.  The Department offers a specialized sub-track in Sport Studies.

Course requirements are as follows.

A. Course Requirements

• 72 semester hours of course work

  Required Foundation Courses (6 s.h.) [for all students]

  • 45:200 Theory and Practice of American Studies 1 (3 s.h.)
  • 45:201 Theory and Practice of American Studies 2 (3 s.h.)

  
  Area Foundation Courses (6 s.h.)
  For American Studies PhD students:

  • 2 elective 3-semester hour graduate seminars in American Studies (45-prefix) (6 s.h.)

  
  For Sport Studies sub-track PhD students:

  • 28:374* Seminar in Sport History (3 s.h.)
  • 28:276* Sport in U.S. Culture (3 s.h.)

  
  1st Interdisciplinary Field of Concentration (minimum 18 s.h.)
  For American Studies PhD students:
  1st interdisciplinary field of concentration with historical concentration (18 s.h.) – individually designed by student and advisor and approved by departmental Plan of Study Committee
  
  For Sport Studies sub-track PhD students:
  28:278* History of Women in Sport (3 s.h.)
  28:378* Seminar in Cultural Studies of Sport (3 s.h.)
  12 s.h. interdisciplinary sport studies, as approved by departmental Plan of Study Committee

  2nd Interdisciplinary Field of Concentration (minimum 18 s.h.) [for all students]
  2nd interdisciplinary field of concentration (18 s.h.) – individually designed by student and advisor and approved by departmental Plan of Study Committee

  Research Skills requirement [NEW]
  For American Studies PhD students [whose dissertation prospectuses are approved after December 2010]:
  45:550 Dissertation Writing Workshop (3 s.h.)

  For all Sport Studies sub-track PhD students:
  28:295* Research Workshop (3 s.h.)

  Additional [for all students]
  Electives and 45:600 PhD Thesis (21 s.h.)
  18 s.h. completed coursework annually for all students prior to comprehensive examinations

  *28:XXX courses will be renumbered with the American Studies prefix 45
  

B. Admission to PhD candidacy: Satisfactory progress toward degree, satisfactory evaluations by instructors, and an approved individually-tailored plan of study. Admission to candidacy requires faculty approval at a meeting held with the student. Must be completed before the end of a student’s second year in residency.

C. Comprehensive examinations—written and oral examinations demonstrating mastery of American Studies and fields of concentration and the ability to work on representative problems and issues both in breadth and in depth. Taken when the student has completed 50-55 semester hours of coursework. The written examinations covers three fields*, each field tested in an examination of no shorter than 4 hours and no longer than a week, over a designated period of two-three weeks. [*See Position Paper rules below, for students admitted prior to Fall 2007.] Following the completion of the written examination, the student sits for a 2-hour oral examination covering the written material. 

Fields covered in the written examinations:

• American Studies (mandatory), with a member of the American Studies faculty serving as the supervisor and committee chair; effective for students admitted in Fall 2008 and later; students admitted prior to Fall 2007 must fulfill the American Studies field with a Position Paper, according to the Department’s old rules; students admitted in Fall 2007 may elect to follow the Department’s old rules or new ones
• 1st interdisciplinary field of concentration
• 2nd interdisciplinary field of concentration

The examination committee consists of five faculty, who are members of the Graduate College (on occasion, an external faculty member may be approved by the Graduate College). At least two members of the committee must be faculty who hold appointments in American Studies. Four affirmative votes are required for a pass.

D. PhD Thesis: a substantive book-length manuscript that involves interdisciplinary research, analysis, and represents an original contribution to knowledge. All PhD theses must first be approved by a committee of five faculty; at least two of these faculty must hold appointments in American Studies. Thesis committee members must be members of the Graduate College or, on occasion, may be an external faculty member approved by the Graduate College. A written prospectus that identifies the main argument, the rationale, preliminary sources and methods, a chapter outline, and timetable for completion is required for approval of the thesis, which is normally only granted after an oral meeting with the candidate about the prospectus. [For students admitted prior to Fall 2005, a bibliographic essay must accompany the prospectus.] Students are expected to complete the thesis within two years after a successful prospectus meeting but no later than five years after the completion of comprehensive examinations. A final examination that is a public dissertation defense with the entire committee is required.

 

Internships

Internships offer valuable public engagement, develop professional competence and a record of achievement, teach from/with a diverse group of people, provide contacts who might be helpful after graduation, and sometimes provide a salary. Internships include experiences at: museums, libraries, archives, historical societies and sites, community action programs, performance troupes, historic preservation/restoration organizations, filmmaking, archaeological sites, government agencies, and/or public social service agencies.

Internships may be taken during the summer or academic year, instead of or in addition to regular course work. Internships for graduate credit hours must be negotiated with a supervising faculty member and the agency, within one’s approved Plan of Study. Internships may only be awarded credit hours on a pass-fail (S-U) basis.

General requirements of the Graduate College require a prerequisite of 15 s.h. and a 3.0 grade point average.

The Department of American Studies has no specific continuing internship arrangement with any agency. But, the Department has on an individual basis worked with numerous agencies (e.g., University of Iowa Museums, Brucemore National Historic Site) and individuals to arrange for and negotiate internships. See an academic advisor or the Director of Graduate Studies for further information.

 

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