University of Dallas

American Studies Degree Requirements

Master of American Studies

• Thirty hours of coursework from a select group of classes
  (At least seven courses must be taken from Group I and three from Group II).
  Other courses may be taken on topics of importance to American thought with approval of program director and instructor.
• A Comprehensive examination over questions derived from course work.
• Special Requirements: As a final requirement in lieu of a thesis, the University will sponsor each semester an institute meeting for one day on a topic central to American Studies. Candidates for degree are expected to attend and participate. A portion of the comprehensive exam will be devoted to the issues addressed in the two institutes held during the year of matriculation. Typical topics for these semester institutes: The Puritan Origins of American Constitutionalism; Religion in America; The Bill of Rights; Literature and the American Founding; Natural Rights and the Constitution; Is the American Regime Necessarily Capitalist?; Hawthorne's America; Melville's Quarrel With His Country; Tocqueville's Democracy, Jefferson versus Hamilton; Slavery, the Progressivists; the Wilsonian Revolution; Contemporary Thought on the Founding; Equality: Then and Now; American Dramatists; Liberty: Then and Now; William Faulkner; the Anti-Federalists; the Southern Dissent; Willmoore Kendall on the American Political Tradition; John Dewey and American Education.

Applications and Financial Assistance
Application for admission includes a completed application form, two letters of reference, a statement of purpose, an intellectual autobiography, a sample of academic writing, and official transcripts of
previous college work. Completion of a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite to entrance.

Tuition scholarships are available for the American Studies Program. Students may receive merit-based scholarships for up to one-half of their tuition.

Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, located on Routh Street near downtown Dallas, is affiliated with the University of Dallas and offers courses that may be used for credit towards the University's graduate degrees in the Humanities. For information about the program offered at the Dallas Institute, please write or call them (2719 Routh St., Dallas, TX 75201; 214-871-2440) or visit their website at www.dallasinstitute.org.