MA American Studies

American Studies offers an interdisciplinary program of study leading to the Masters of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Research and teaching in the Department focus on two intellectual themes: the cultures of everyday life, and cultural constructions of identity and difference. These themes drive our examinations of multiple cultures within the U.S., across the Americas, and transnationally. They also embrace numerous cultural studies approaches, including material and visual culture, ethnography and life history, popular culture and media studies, queer studies, studies of the body and sexualities, gender studies, food studies, digital cultures, critical race studies, and cultural landscapes and geography. Students develop expertise in multiple methodologies and take courses in many departments across the University. The Department benefits from a large and diverse affiliate faculty, strong relationships with cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian museums, and ready access to many other museums in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, government agencies, archives and historical societies, and multiple local communities. Students may also take advantage of graduate certificate programs for which our courses apply, including Museum Scholarship and Material Culture, Critical Theory, Historic Preservation, and Women’s Studies. The program in U.S. Latina/o Studies is contained within the Department, and we have a leadership role in developing Native American Studies.