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Concentration Portfolio Guidelines for American Studies Majors

click here for a printable version

The portfolio is a graduation requirement for the American Studies major and a prerequisite to AMS 301, the Senior Seminar. It encourages organizing and relecting on the major experience as well as forming a preliminary plan for the senior project.

Purpose:

	Encouraging deliberation in choosing concentration courses;
	Providing an occasion to collect the materials of concentration courses and to develop a sense of continuity in reading, learning, researching, and writing
	Reflecting on individual courses and collective understanding for self assessment and program assessment.

Format:
[Using a large three ring binder, with index dividers and a Table of Contents, is usually the most practical means of organizing a portfolio.]

Each portfolio should have 3 parts: first, a section for each course in the concentration; second, an overview reflection on the concentration as a whole; third, a proposal for the AMS 301, Senior Seminar, project.

For each concentration course, the portfolio should have two main sections:

1)	a collection of materials from the course and your own work form the course, e.g., syllabus, assignments/handouts, your class notes (or selections), book lists or journal articles that will be useful for the 301 project
	completed written course work, including drafts and revisions; creative projects; visual artifacts; photographs; records of museum or site visits; theatre programs, etc.
2)	a reflection journal entry on each course (about 2 pages, typed, double spaced) written at or near the end of each course. Among the questions/issues to consider in these reflections are:
	Your expectations going into the course. Why did you select this course? How did you expect that this course would extend/contest your understanding of American culture from previous courses?
	Your experiences in this course. Reflect on the most provocative or useful text, artifact, image, experience in the course. How did the course contribute to the development of skills in research, analysis, writing, communication, visual literacy? How did this course develop your understanding of cultural theory, material culture studies, or cultural development/change? How did this course — taken together with other courses — influence your understanding of the area of American Studies in your concentration?

For the concentration overall, expand, integrate, and develop previous journal entries into a reflection statement of 6-8 pages, typed, double-spaced.

Be sure to address the following questions:

	How have the courses in your concentration shaped your thinking about and knowledge of your area of American Studies?
	What particular book, writer, artifact, visual image has most shaped your understanding of your area of concentration?

The next questions will also help develop your statement:

	When you observe artifacts (material culture, visual culture, popular culture), how do you see them differently as a result of your study?
	What ar two or three overarching questions about the U.S. that your feel have been particularly well addressed in your concentration courses? What questions remain?

Advice:

Be well-organized.

The Table of Contents should indicate clearly what materials are included in the portfolio; the dividers should indicate where each can be found.

Journal entries/reflection statements when submitted should be college quality writing. Clarity of thought and writing, developed specific examples, documentation where needed, and revision and proofreading. (The initial writing on courses can be "for yourself"; what you finally submit for your portfolio should be ready for others to read and understand.)

What the assessment is looking for:

A thorough understanding of the effect of each concentration course on understanding the area of concentration and building knowledge and skills.

Critical reflection of a source important to understanding the area of concentration.

Illustration of shifts in perception about artifacts, visual, or popular culture.

A statement of what you are interested in pursuing for your Senior Seminar project. If you have developed preliminary bibliographies and questions, if you know whose work yours fits with, you will be better prepared to complete the seminar in 10 weeks.