Major & Minor
Explore and Discover. Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership is an interdisciplinary program for students who want to change the world. Bridging classroom learning with community engagement—whether in Nashville, across the nation, or around the world—CAL marries a rich understanding of human culture with an ethical sense of advocacy and widely applicable leadership skills. As a result, the program prepares students for a broad range of advanced studies and career paths.
Major | Minor | Major/Minor Declaration
Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership Major
The CAL major is both structured and individualized. After completing a series of required courses in CORE Part I, students work with a faculty mentor to choose courses inside or outside of CAL related to their “Area Focus.” This allows students to adapt their coursework to countless modern problems, including law and justice, sports and culture, international relations and human rights, conflict and peace, global migrations and diaspora, entrepreneurial leadership and economic justice, popular culture and American values, environmental legacies and global solutions, and much more.
After completing their Area Focus, students enter CORE Part II of the major, undertaking an intentional, ethical, and purposeful civic-engagement experience, where partnerships based on service, mutual respect, and shared authority provide practice in leadership and advocacy.
Students complete the major with a senior capstone course that brings them together to reflect on their varied experiences.
Requirements
The major consists of 30 hours of course work:
- CORE Part I (4 courses): Provides the intellectual direction and practical skills students will utilize in whatever area focus they pursue.
- CAL 1002: Fundamentals of Culture, Advocacy & Leadership
- CAL 1800: Speaking, Leading, Engaging
- CAL 2300: Responsible Advocacy in a Complicated World
- CAL 2800: Global Perspectives on American Cultures
- Area Focus (4 courses): Consists of four courses inside or outside of CAL, tailored to a student’s interests, commitments, and career goals, and chosen in conjunction with a faculty mentor. See Area Focus examples.
- CORE Part II (2 courses): Integrates CORE Part I with the individualized Area Focus, allowing students to enrich what they have learned in the classroom through practical application and civic problem solving.
- CAL 4000: Practicum & Internship Experience—This course will require students to undertake an internship or experiential project in conjunction with a group or community around a particular issue, problem, or idea. This course counts for an immersive experience for Immersion Vanderbilt.
- CAL 4500: American Futures—This course will bring students together after their internship or experiential project to discuss their findings and lessons, to revise their project for a general audience, and to present their work in a public-facing symposium at the end of the semester. This course counts as a culminating project for Immersion Vanderbilt.
Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership Minor
Like the major, the minor offers deep study of the problems and possibilities of culture, advocacy, and leadership.
Requirements
The minor consists of 15 hours of course work.
- CORE Part I (4 courses)
- CAL 1002: Fundamentals of Culture, Advocacy, and Leadership
- CAL 1800: Speaking, Leading, Engaging
- CAL 2300: Responsible Advocacy in a Complicated World
- CAL 2800: Global Perspectives on American Cultures
- Area Focus (1 course)
One course inside or outside of CAL relevant to the student’s interests, passions, and career goals.
Declaring Your Major or Minor
Complete two copies of the Major/Minor Declaration Form and take them to the American Studies office in Buttrick 132. The program administrator will approve your form and assign you a faculty adviser.