Scientific English
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025): Regular Issue

The relevance of Tremaine McDowell's "Time and the Colleges" and "The Minnesota Program": Indonesian academics’ commentary on American studies education model

Rifka Pratama (Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia)
Fajrul Falah (Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia)
Eko Heriyanto (Department of English Education, Faculty of Foreign Language and Culture, Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, Indonesia)
Pramod Kumar Singh (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Students Welfare, Sharda University, India)



Article Info

Publish Date
20 Dec 2025

Abstract

American Studies has historically emphasized interdisciplinary inquiry as a means of integrating cultural, social, and historical perspectives within higher education. One of the foundational contributions to this tradition is Tremaine McDowell’s American Studies (1948), particularly the chapters “Time and the Colleges” and “The Minnesota Program,” which propose the integration of past, present, and future as a core educational principle. This article presents a qualitative conceptual analysis of McDowell’s pedagogical framework, examining its relevance and adaptability within the context of Indonesian American Studies education. Drawing on close textual analysis of McDowell’s writings and selected foundational literature in American Studies, the study identifies key themes including temporal integration, interdisciplinarity, experiential learning, and curriculum flexibility. The findings indicate that McDowell’s framework remains conceptually valuable for promoting holistic learning and interdisciplinary collaboration, while also revealing limitations related to contextual differences between mid-twentieth-century American higher education and contemporary Indonesian academic settings. This study suggests that future research may extend this conceptual analysis through empirical investigation of curriculum implementation, classroom practices, and student learning outcomes, as well as comparative studies across non-Western American Studies programs. Such research would further clarify the applicability of classical American Studies frameworks in diverse educational contexts.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

se

Publisher

Subject

Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Scientific English aims to provide a dedicated platform for researchers, academics, and practitioners to disseminate high-quality, original research and scholarly contributions on English education, linguistics, and literature. The journal seeks to promote innovative research methodologies, and ...