Master's Degree
in American Studies
The program for the Master of Arts (MA) in American Studies at Washington State University is designed to provide a broad background in American Culture Studies. In consultation with their advisor, candidates are expected to assemble a range of courses and independent study in American ethnic studies, literature, history, women's studies, and related fields that will provide them with a broad knowledge of US culture and of current approaches to cultural interpretation.
The MA program to be filed with the graduate school must include a minimum of thirty (30) post-BA credit hours, at least twenty-six (26) of which must be in graded courses.
In addition to AMST 500 Colloquium, the one credit course taken every semester while enrolled, MA students take twelve (12) graded core credits:
AMST 513 Theory & Method in American Studies.
AMST 501 Readings I, to 1865, OR 502 Readings II, since 1865.
AMST 503 Racial/Ethnic studies OR AMST 504 Feminist Studies.
And at least one interdisciplinary American Studies seminar (524, 525, 590, 596 or equivalent).
Click for a brief description of these core courses.
B. EMPHASIS or AREA OF SPECIALIZATION:
Additional courses totaling fifteen (15) graded credit hours for portfolio option students, or twelve (12) graded credit hours for thesis-option students, must support either an EMPHASIS AREA focus or an interdisciplinary AREA OF SPECIALIZATION focus. The four (4) or five (5) courses should form a coherent set of choices.
The MA EMPHASIS AREA is normally one of the main disciplines associated with the program (Women's studies, Comparative Ethnic Studies, History, or English), but may under special conditions be chosen from other departments with American Studies graduate faculty, with approval from the Advisory Committee.
or
The MA AREA OF SPECIALIZATION, like that at the PhD level, is defined as an interdisciplinary field of expertise, drawing from and synthesizing two or more fields. A special area can be defined in a number of ways depending on the student's perceived need to gain relatively broad or relatively narrow focus. (For more on this topic, consult the section on areas of specialization section in PhD requirements.)
C. MA THESIS or PORTFOLIO:
MA students choose either to write a Master's thesis (in one of three formats described below, C1), or they put together a portfolio of papers (below C2).
1) TRADITIONAL THESIS:
Students taking the thesis option write a thesis (typically 75-125 pages) synthesizing material on an American Studies topic they choose in consultation with their degree committee. (Examples of previous theses are available in the Coordinator's office.) Approval of the thesis occurs after a final oral exam conducted by the student's degree committee, and constitutes completion of the degree, presuming all course, exam and language requirements have been met.
As alternatives to the traditional written, analytic thesis, two optional thesis formats are approved.
2) ELECTRONIC/MULTIMEDIA THESIS:
Increasingly the World Wide Web and other elements of electronic communication are reshaping the possibilities for scholarly work and publishing. Recognizing this, we offer a unique "electronic/multimedia " option within the MA that allows students to take advantage of the capabilities of electronic communication to enhance their thesis. We expect this option to be used by students with a strong interest in computer-mediated pedagogy, and by students who plan on careers in the field of electronic publishing or other areas of techno-cultural production like film, animation or the World Wide Web.
We especially encourage women students and students of color, two groups seriously underrepresented in electronic culture fields (given various "digital divides"), to consider this option. For students wishing to enter computer-mediated cultural production fields, the multimedia thesis is designed to serve as an employment portfolio.
Parameters of the thesis or portfolio project will be set by the student in consultation with their MA committee, and with approval of the Advisory Committee. But it is assumed that the most appropriate use of this option will be for those projects that will be significantly enhanced by presentation in the multimedia electronic formats, such as work on visual or aural culture.
Students and faculty interested in the possibilities for "electronic scholarship" might wish to examine the web-based "articles" for the special hypertext issue of American Quarterly.
3) CREATIVE THESIS:
Students who can demonstrate that their intellectual work can be presented best in a "creative" format, using poetry, fiction, film or another medium, may do so with consent of their degree committee and the Advisory Committee. Normally, the creative material will be surrounded by additional material in traditional analytical format.
or
Students who choose the portfolio instead of any of the thesis options, complete the following:
- One publishable paper based upon graduate level research, preferably a paper which has been presented at a conference. A short cover letter for the paper should identify possible venues for publication as well as locate the paper's relationship to the student's overall academic preparation for presenting such a paper. The paper may be a revised seminar paper from work in core classes, a paper concerning the student's area of emphasis, or a general seminar paper or academic writing project prepared for publication. It is expected that selection and preparation of the paper will be accomplished over time in consultation with members of the student's degree committee, and
- A position paper of 8-10 pages written after completing the core courses required of master's students. In the position paper, the student will focus either on an area of emphasis or an area of specialization, not both, and clarify how course work in the core compliments or expands upon the work completed in an area of specialization or emphasis.
D. THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:
MA candidates in the American Studies Program are expected to demonstrate substantial competence in at least one language other than English. Normally, French, German, or Spanish may be offered in fulfillment of the language proficiency requirement. Other languages may be substituted only with the approval of the advisor and through petition to the Director. The criterion for judging the acceptability of a language will be its suitability for the student's course of study and plan of research. Students fulfill the requirement by:
- completing, in the Department of Foreign Languages, the 306 reading proficiency class or else the 320 or 322 literature course taught in the appropriate language with a grade of B or above; or
- successfully completing the Graduate Foreign Language Translation Examination offered by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures; or
- offering, if they are not native speakers of English, their native languages provided their advisor certifies to the Director that a) these students have achieved an appropriate level of competence, and b) they have established the suitability of the languages for their course of study, research plans, or career goals.
E. Thesis or Portfolio ORAL EXAM:
The final official portion of the MA degree is an Oral Examination on the thesis or the portfolio, administered by the student's degree committee, and a representative of the Graduate Studies Committee of the University. The student is responsible for questions pertaining to their thesis or portfolio, and the surrounding historical, and intellectual context relevant to their writing.