Student Learning Goals

Below are the departmental learning goals mapped to College-wide goals for student learning.

Students who graduate with an American studies degree should be able to:

• Locate, credit, and effectively evaluate primary and secondary sources. (IIb)
• Approach any inquiry with multiple methods and approaches. (Ia, IIb, IVa)
• Produce scholarship that cuts across and bridges traditional disciplinary lines. (Ic, IIIb, IVa)
• Be reflexive and ask questions of sources, texts, and ourselves. (IIa, IIIa, IIIb, IVb)
• Demonstrate written communication skills — i.e., write well in clear, concise English prose. (IIIc, IVc)
• Exhibit oral communication skills — i.e., speak well in class, extemporaneously and formally. (IIc, IVc)
• Demonstrate facility with presentation skills, tools, and technologies. (IIIc, IVc)
• Design and execute small and large-scale research projects. (IIIc, IIId)
• Consider the epistemological implications of how we know what we know. (Ia, IIIb, Iva, IVc)
• Understand that American identity and culture are shaped by social and political forces and historically and geographically contextual/contingent. (Ib, IIIb)
• Examine questions of social justice and equity across intersectional identities. (Ib, IId,  IVc)
• Make connections between course work and the larger world. (Ib, IId, IVc)
• Embrace an enduring passion for learning. (IVd)