Like the college's other Conversations programs, American Conversations is open to students of all interests who like to read, discuss, write about ideas and look at issues through the lenses of several disciplines at once. Each course combines the study of history, literature, art history, multicultural studies, and a variety of human and behavioral sciences to provide students with a starting point for gaining greater life-long inquiry into American thought and values. One faculty member who teaches American Conversations remains with students through four courses in the sequence and teams with a second professor from a different area of study each semester. Students live in the same residence hall during their first year, enjoy some meals and special events together and do other things to create a support system and learning community prior to the time when most students select a major. Each year a selection committee chooses at least 50 first-year students.
Selection is based on an essay describing the reasons for the student's interest in the program.
American Conversations brochures and application forms are sent to all students admitted to St. Olaf. American Conversations students must take these courses in sequence. They also must obtain the program director's approval for their sophomore Interim course, explaining how they see it relating to the program. Topics and texts include the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson's architecture, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and the coming of the Civil War. In this century of institutional development, national expansion, and sectional conflict, Americans continued to define a national identity.