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After two semesters at Lafayette, Kaleigh Mountain ’06 (New Canaan, Conn.) faced a problem when trying to choose a major.
“I took a variety of different courses, hoping to find my niche,” she says. “Unfortunately, I found myself interested in nearly all of them.”
She discovered that American studies offered the flexibility to engage in different disciplinary studies without requiring her to direct all of her energies in a particular field.
“In short, I can take the courses I am interested in, and hence learn what I want to learn,” she says. “American Studies attempts to answer questions like ‘What is an American?’ based on many different standpoints. Students have the freedom to take these questions in whichever direction they choose.”
The American studies program recently launched a web site with information on faculty, courses, and programs, as well as a photo gallery.
Mountain found that the themes and ideas from the major’s introductory course carried over to the topical seminar this spring, Photography in American Culture, allowing her to “take arguments and theories deeper and deeper. The more American Studies courses I take, the more interested and involved I have become. ”
The course includes a field trip to the International Center of Photography in New York City, working with historic images in Lafayette’s archives, and attending several evening film screenings. Students complete both an analytical research paper and a creative photography project.
In the archives, campus pictures from different eras shed light on changes in photographic technology, the desired presentation of photographs, and the campus and student body.
The overarching question on the course’s midterm exam asked, “Can you argue that photography simultaneously possesses or reveals competing impulses or truths of regeneration and degeneration present in Americans or America? In short, what is an American, according to the phenomenon of photography?”
Mountain notes that as an American studies major, she has learned from many different experiences, from listening and working with “portraiture” photographer Bill Hayward ’65 to taking field trips to New York City. Her Introduction to American Studies class’ excursion to Ellis Island made a significant impression on her.
“Living outside New York City, I had been to Ellis Island numerous times in elementary and middle school,” she says. “However, the trip with Professor Smith and my American Studies class had a much greater impact on me. Not only was I more mature, but we had learned so much in the course about immigration in America that Ellis Island proved to be much more interesting and worthwhile.”
She considers Andrew Smith, program chair and assistant professor of English, a great professor and role model who has taught her “more than I can ever imagine.” Smith taught her introductory class and the photography seminar.
“His technique is not based on lecturing us, but instead on encouraging us to critically examine the studies,” she says. “Of the many aspects of America we have investigated, Professor Smith has worked with us to understand the many sides of national and international issues. As he gives us the freedom to explore issues in any direction we are interested in, classes are more like group discussions. While this can be difficult sometimes, having everyone involved has proved to be the most effective way for all of us to learn.”
“Professor Smith is approachable as well as extremely willing to do everything and anything to help students further their studies,” she adds. “I have never had a professor so generous with his time and resources.”
Assignments in American Studies are very open-ended, which many see as more difficult, and at times, the flexibility and broadness can be frustrating, Mountain admits. However, she says that she has come to enjoy the ability to take assignments in whatever direction she desires.
Next semester’s topical seminar focuses on censorship in America and will be taught by Smith.
A major theme that Mountain is investigating within her major is “We [Americans} are who we were,” using American Studies, history, and the psychology disciplines to prove it. The attempt to understand that idea has helped her realize the importance of her major.
“American studies has made my experience at Lafayette different from others in its way of preparation for the future: Instead of equipping me with specific knowledge for a specific job, it has helped me to truly understand the world around me,” she says. “I have come to believe that true success is in making a difference, however cliché that sounds.”
The theme also has shown Mountain that success requires understanding the world, and learning facts is only helpful when it is accompanied by an understanding of when, why, and how they should be applied.
“American Studies tackles issues like race, class, and gender that have been plaguing our nation for hundreds of years. While improvements have been made, these problems are far from being solved. If we could take the time to acknowledge the fact that ‘we are who we were,’ perhaps we could learn from our repeated mistakes of the past and right these wrongs. American Studies has provided me with factual knowledge as well as life lessons through the viewpoints of many different disciplines.”
Mountain has found the participation rate in American studies class discussions high among students and an equally high interest rate in the professors, who provide a wide variety of resources.
“The amount of materials that are used has encouraged many of us to relate otherwise unrelated topics through their underlying themes,” she adds. “Being able to discover themes on our own encourages students to create their own arguments, which is unlike many majors in which ideas are simply taught to students.”
Outside the classroom, Mountain plays on the women’s lacrosse team, scoring four goals this spring in a 14-4 victory over Patriot League foe Villanova. She also serves as registrar for her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. She will study abroad next semester in Seville, Spain.
This summer, she is working in New York City for MANE Enterprises, a necktie manufacturer. Last summer, Mountain helped the company start a line of women’s tie belts – an “up and coming” fashion item, she says — and she is hoping to improve its designs and sales this year.
For another American studies profile, see the article on Lindsay Rutt ’06.