American Studies Certificate

The American Studies program is designed for students who are spending a year in the United States and who wish to improve their knowledge of American language, culture, history and literature.

The certificate program provides a focus for this year-long endeavor, yet it is flexible enough to allow students to take courses in the areas of their interest. The capstone class, Topics in American Cultural History (see HUM 105, 305; HIST 105, 305), is required of all students. With the help of faculty advisers, students select other courses from the list of courses below.

International students in the certificate program attend regular classes with American students. Only the capstone class is designed primarily for international students. International students in the program will be expected to have English language proficiency equivalent to a score of 500 or above on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and to have adequate writing ability in English. Undergraduate test takers after September 24, 2005, who take the revised TOEFL will be admitted into the American Studies certificate program with a speaking sub-score of 23 or higher and a combined score of 61 or higher. Students not obtaining these scores are encouraged to contact ELS (www.els.com) in order to contract with them for English proficiency classes.

The certificate in American Studies requires 15 credit hours. Students must complete 12 credits of electives from the courses listed below. Students are encouraged to continue to improve their speaking and composition skills by taking additional elective courses in English and speech.