American Studies Program Guide

Introduction

Established in 1967, the American Studies Program at Michigan State University offers students the opportunity to examine American culture in all its diversity from an interdisciplinary perspective. While the disciplines of history, literature, material culture, and museum studies have traditional appeal, we encourage our students to combine disciplines in nontraditional ways by drawing upon the resources of the entire university.  Distinguished faculty offer courses in a wide variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary themes that probe the cultural and social dynamics of American civilization. Because of the program's flexibility, you may pursue your intellectual interests in areas as diverse as popular culture, ethnic studies, women's studies, Native American studies, science and technology studies, and African-American studies. 

Michigan State University's American Studies Program attracts American and international students from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. Besides access to its faculty, MSU provides other enticements to individuals interested in studying American culture. The MSU libraries contain more than four million volumes as well as the Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection and the National Voice Library. The university's proximity to the state capital provides access to public and private organizations that offer opportunities for additional academic work. 
 

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Application for Admission to Graduate Work in the Program in American Studies

Click here to go to the How to Apply Section
 
 

AFTER ADMISSION

All graduate students are required to register for their own courses; however, course selection should always take place in close consultation with the advisor. The AMS Director will aid all new students in the first semester registration. The AMS Director is the academic advisor for all M.A. students; a Ph.D. advisor and doctoral guidance committee should be established within the first year of doctoral study. 
Students should inform the American Studies office of any change of address.   
 
 

Requirements for the Master's Degree:

The American Studies Program offers two plans leading to the M.A. degree. Plan A requires a Master's Thesis whereas Plan B requires more course work. Though both require 30 credit hours, six (6) credits under Plan A is allotted to Master's Thesis Research (AMS 899). Commitment to either plan is not required until after a student has begun his/her program. 
 
 

Plan A:

1. At least one course each in American History and American Literature for a total of three courses. 

2. At least two courses in American Studies. 

3. At least three courses in another discipline. 

4. A maximum of six credits of Master's Thesis Research (AMS 899). 

5.  A successful oral examination in defense of the thesis.  The oral exam, administered by at least three regular faculty members, must be scheduled within the semester in which graduation in anticipated. 
 
 

Plan B:

1. At least one course each in American History and American Literature for a total of three courses. 

2. At least two courses in American Studies. 

3.  At least six elective credits. 

4.  At least three courses in another discipline or thematic cognate, or vocational area, such as the following:  

Disciplines: anthropology, history of art, journalism, political science, philosophy, sociology, women's studies 

Themes traced across disciplines: multicultural and ethnic studies (such as African-American, Chicano, Native-American, Asian-American, and Jewish-American studies) popular culture, science and technology studies. 

Vocational designs involving management skills: material culture, historic preservation, museum studies.

5.   A successful oral examination certifying the completion of the project.  The oral exam, administered by at least three regular faculty members, must be scheduled within the semester in which graduation in anticipated.  

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General Rules for MA Students 

I. All M.A. students are required to enroll for their own courses; however, course selections should always take place in close consultation with the American Studies Director, who serves as the advisor for all M.A. students. 

II. A student who fails to meet the standards set by the program may, on the recommendation of the program, be required by the College of Arts and Letters to withdraw at the end of any semester. The grades required for course credit toward the master's degree are set by the Program, subject to the approval of the College of Arts and Letters. The minimum standard is a 3.00 grade-point average.  The accumulation of more than 6 credits below a 3.00 in course work removes the student from candidacy for the degree. 

III. The minimum residence required by the University is 6 credits on campus. Because of limited library facilities off campus, students should expect that most of the work toward their degree will be conducted in East Lansing. Before taking off-campus courses intended to apply to a degree program, students should (1) be admitted to graduate work in American Studies, and (2) consult the Program's Director to make sure the projected courses are acceptable in their program. 

IV. A maximum of 9 semester credits, if completed within the time limit for the degree, may be transferred from other accredited graduate schools on approval of the Program and the College. 

V. The time limit for completion of the Master's degree is six years from the beginning of the first term in which credit was earned toward the degree. 

VI. Graduate students may in most cases carry up to 16 credits each term; the normal load is 6 to 9 credits. 

VII. All students using University services for graduate work must be registered during that semester. Minimum registration consists of one course or 1 credit of master's thesis research. 

VIII. Rules and regulations concerning the Master's Thesis: 

A. The thesis must be organized, typed, duplicated, and bound according to regulations prescribed in the Graduate School Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations, available from the Office of the Graduate School. An abstract of the thesis not exceeding 150 words must also be prepared. 
B. The student must submit to The Office of the Graduate School a final unbound copy of the thesis and abstract by the deadline specified in the current Schedule of Courses.  The student must also supply an additional copy of the abstract, the microfilming and binding contract, the microfilming and binding receipt, and forms required by The Graduate School.  

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Requirements for the Ph.D. Program 

1. Course Work: A minimum of 18 credits distributed between at least two disciplines or areas. All graduate students are required to register for their own courses; however, course selection should always take place in close consultation with the advisor. 

2. The Guidance Committee:  Each doctoral candidate must form a Guidance Committee that consists of four regular MSU faculty members: one from each area covered on the comprehensive examinations, and a fourth of the student's choosing.  It is the responsibility of this committee to work with the student in developing the exact course requirements of his/her program.  For more information, see "Rules and Responsibilities for American Studies Ph.D. Students and Faculty on Ph.D. Guidance Committees.". 

3.  Written and Oral Comprehensive Examinations: Written exams are taken in three fields.  Students must be enrolled during the semester exams are taken.  If failed, examinations may be retaken once. 

4.   Foreign Language: :  Doctoral candidates will be required to pass a reading proficiency examination in one foreign language.   Students who do not wish to take the examination may meet the requirement by satisfactory completion of several foreign language course options.  The Program asks that American Studies students taking language courses register for them C-NC (Credit/No-Credit.)  If the focus of the student's study is cross-cultural research (involving countries or groups of people in which a language other than English is essential for research), this requirement cannot be waived.  If not, the language requirement can be substituted with an additional area of study that is relevant to the student's focus.  For more information on the Foreign Language Requirement, see "Guidelines for Certification of Foreign Language Proficiency for Graduate Students in the College of Arts and Letters."   For more information, please see:  http://www.cal.msu.edu/grad/FLGuidelines2.html.
 

5. Committee Approval of Dissertation Proposal:  The  approval of the dissertation proposal administered by the Guidance Committee covers the subject of the dissertation and is based on a finished essay.  The essay may be a draft of a relevant chapter of the dissertation or a substantial prospectus of the dissertation as a whole. 

6. Research Credits:  The student must successfully complete at least 24 dissertation research credits. 

7. Oral Defense of the Dissertation:  The examination is administered by the Guidance Committee and a representative of the College of Arts and Letters. 
 
 

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  General Rules for Ph.D. Candidates 

I. Deferred Grades: Except in multi-term courses, the department discourages graduate students from incurring deferred grades in their courses. The presence of deferred grades on a student's transcript can have adverse effects on his or her career in the following ways: 

A. With respect to continuation in the program, deferred grades that are not removed within a year of their being incurred can cause a student to forfeit the right to continue enrollment until those courses have been completed. 
B. Deferred grades may work against favorable consideration in graduate assistantship competition. 

C. Students holding graduate assistantships may not incur more than 8 credits of deferred grades without losing the assistantship. 

D. No student may take his or her comprehensive examination for the Ph.D. degree until all deferred grades in the field to be examined have been removed.  

II.  A guidance committee report including a statement of the student's proposed program with a timetable and tentative dissertation topic is filed in the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, hopefully no later than the end of the third semester of doctoral study. The guidance committee is responsible for insuring the adequacy of the overall program, in keeping with the general policy that four or more academic years of study and research beyond the bachelor's degree are required.  III.  Comprehensive examinations must be taken within five years and all requirements must be completed within eight years from the time of a student's first enrollment for doctoral degree credits.  Extensions can be granted only by the College Graduate Dean on recommendation of the committee and the department Chair.  Comprehensive exams must be passed again if total time for completion of the doctoral program exceeds eight years. 

IV.  Each student working toward a Ph.D. degree must conduct original research to be used in a dissertation which makes a significant contribution to knowledge.  The research is to be under the guidance of and acceptable to the major professor and the guidance committee.  All doctoral students must register for and successfully complete a minimum of 24 credits of doctoral dissertation research (AMS 999). 

 V.  The dissertation must be organized, typed, duplicated and bound according to regulations prescribed in "The Graduate School Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations," available from the Office of the Graduate School.  An abstract of the dissertation not exceeding 350 words must also be prepared. 

VI.  A final oral examination is conducted and evaluated by the guidance committee, supplemented by a faculty member invited by the College Graduate Dean.  A copy of the dissertation must be made available to the College Dean for this purpose at least four weeks prior to the oral examination.  Interested faculty and students may attend.  The dissertation and the performance on the oral examination must be approved by the members of the examining committee, with not more than one dissenting vote.  A committee report is signed by the members, the program Director, and the College Graduate Dean. 

The oral examination will be scheduled for a date not earlier than two weeks after the dissertation and abstract have been submitted to the major professor and guidance committee.  This should allow time for the members of the committee to review and evaluate the dissertation before the examination, and also allow sufficient time after the examination for the student to submit the unbound dissertation to the Office of The Graduate School before the specified deadline date.  The student must be registered during the term in which the final oral examination is taken. 

VII. Any student who has not enrolled in any of the three preceding semesters must apply for re-admission.  The Application for Re-admission form is available in the Office of the Registrar and must be filed at least one month prior to the first day of classes for the semester in which the student expects to resume graduate studies. 
 
 

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  PLAN 'A' M.A. OUTLINE 
Copies of this form may be obtained from the AMS office.      The student is responsible for providing his/her advisor with updated copies of this form whenever changes are made. 

        

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PLAN 'B' M.A. PROGRAM 
Copies of this form may be obtained from the AMS office. The student is responsible for providing his/her advisor with updated copies whenever changes are made.   
 

              

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  Teaching & Graduate Assistantships  

Both quarter-time and half-time teaching and research assistantships are available on a competitive basis. Assistantships are awarded by the American Studies Program but assigned to departments and programs at the university in which our students are typically involved. 

Current students must apply for Fall appointments in the American Studies office by January 1. (Applications are available upon request and two letters of recommendation are required.) 

For students not yet admitted to the program, assistantships and awards packages are awarded upon admission. No additional applications are due until admission is granted. 

In addition, American Studies graduate students are considered and typically awarded assistantships from other sources, such as the Center for Integrative Studies, American Thought and Language and the MSU Museum. Application deadlines for these assistantships are posted by the college of Arts and Letters early in the Spring semester. 

The Program is also eligible to participate in the University-wide program of Affirmative Action Graduate Assistantships. These assistantships are for the funding of graduate study in areas where racial minorities and/or women are underrepresented. 

The University and College have certain procedures and regulations relating to graduate assistantships which are binding on this Program: 

1. Graduate assistantships are available only to graduate students who are actively pursuing graduate degree programs and who are making satisfactory progress toward their degrees and meeting the University and College academic standards. 
2. Graduate assistants must be registered each semester in which they hold assistantships. The minimum and maximum credits loads are as follows: For a quarter-time graduate assistant, minimum enrollment is six (6) credits; maximum enrollement is sixteen (16) credits. For a half-time assistant, minimum enrollment is six (6) credits; maximum enrollment is twelve (12) credits. Summer term assistantships, both quarter- and half-time, have a three (3) credit minimum.  
A six-credit tuition waiver is included with both quarter- and half-time assistantships. 
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  Dissertation and Retention Fellowships
 

In addition to college and university wide fellowship competitions, American Studies graduate students may be eligible for AMS Dissertation and Retention Fellowships. These fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis. 

I. AMS Dissertation Fellowship 

Though the amount and number of these fellowships depend on the amount of funding available to the Program each year, it is the AMS Advisory Committee's hope that this award can annually assist a doctoral student to make significant progress in the research and/or writing of her/his dissertation. 

This competition takes place during the Fall semester and the fellowship awarded for use during the Spring or Summer semesters. The guidelines for the AMS Dissertation Fellowship Competition are as follows: 
 

1.  Open only to Ph.D. students who have passed all of their comprehensive examinations as well as completed their dissertation proposal committee meeting. 
2.  Normally there will be one award in the amount of $5,000.00. Both the number and amount of awards will vary from year to year depending upon the Program's fellowship funding. Announcement of the number and amount of awards will be made each Fall semester. 

3.  Preference will be given to students who have not previously won internal or external dissertation fellowships. 

4.  If a student has previously been awarded a college completion or research fellowship she/he is not eligible for this award. If a student should be awarded both an American Studies dissertation completion or research fellowship in the same year, they must choose one or the other. 

5.  Because this fellowship is meant to free the student for dissertation research, recipients of this award cannot have a graduate assistantship during the semester of funding. 

A call for proposals and the Application Form are distributed early in the Fall semester. 

II.  Retention Fellowship 
 Each semester the American Studies Program offers retention fellowships for worthy candidates.  These fellowships are traditionally reserved for those graduate students delivering a paper at an academic conference.  They are meant to encourage AMS graduate students' scholarship by defraying the cost of participating in these conferences.  The number of fellowships available each semester depends on funds available within the Program.  The AMS Advisory Committee determines which applicants qualify for funding. 
 Applications are available in the AMS office. 
 

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