American StudiesPhD

American Studies is home to an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students committed to rigorous, socially engaged scholarship. We take a global and hemispheric approach to the study of the Americas, examining local cultures, nations, and regions within their larger geopolitical contexts. Building on our traditional strengths in American Indian studies, critical race theory, feminism, class analysis, and community engagement, we encourage scholarly work on history, politics, visual cultures, literary and oral cultures, environmental and agricultural practices, religions, gender, sexuality, kinship systems, geography, and economics.