American Studies

The Program

The major in American studies requires 11 credits, including three credits in "American Studies Core" and three in American history and literature. Students must earn five "American Experience" credits, choosing from courses in anthropology-sociology, art, Black studies, economics, educational studies, gender and women's studies, environmental studies, music, political science, or theatre. With permission of the chair of the department, up to two credits in related studies outside the department may be counted toward electives in the major.

Small classes and one-on-one relationships with professors allow American studies majors unique opportunities for sophisticated discourse and independent study. Because of Knox's geographical location -- and because of the strength of its library collections -- one focus of the American studies program is the historical and cultural development of the Midwest and the Mississippi River.

Resources

American Studies majors will find a wealth of resources that enrich their classroom experiences -- not to mention a learning environment that has its own place in American history. In addition to Knox's strong on-line library resources, other resources include:

The Lincoln Studies Center

Co-directed by leading Lincoln scholars Rodney O. Davis and Douglas L. Wilson. Research into Lincoln's youth by Wilson and Davis has been featured on The History Channel and garnered several national awards. Under a contract with the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Studies Center is editing a massive corpus of letters received by Lincoln during his presidency to make them accessible on the world-wide web. The center has employed Knox students as research assistants.

Within Seymour Library:

• Finley Collection-- every important primary source on the Midwest
• Preston Player Collection-- books and prints on the Mississippi River
• Strong Collection-- original maps and photographs covering the settlement of North America and the exploration of the Midwest and the West.
• Hughes Collection-- manuscripts and rare first editions of Hemingway and others in the "Lost Generation" of American expatriate writers
• Knox College Archives-- manuscript collections on important regional figures and events. The Knox Archives provided much of the original source material for "They Broke the Prairie" by Ernest Elmo Calkins. First published in 1938, the book about the founding of Knox and Galesburg remains "the finest history of an Illinois community." (John Hallwas in "A Reader's Guide to Illinois Literature."