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Major American Studies

What You’ll Study in the Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies

Explore the complexity of American studies, including transnational, hemispheric, oceanic, and global approaches, as well as the approach centered on the U.S. nation-state. Choose a primary home department, and learn from expert faculty with a range of disciplinary lenses. Prepare for a career in law, journalism, government, or business, or for more advanced study at the masters or doctoral level.

Roadmap to the BA in American Studies at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ

Think critically about how American cultures, identities, and politics have been produced and consumed—and the contested definitions of Americanness—using the framework of your chosen home department as well as an interdisciplinary approach. In your fourth year, draw on a range of disciplines to demonstrate your knowledge with a senior thesis project.

Year One

Set the Foundation

Begin your journey with introductory courses in history, sociology, and English, which set the stage for deeper exploration in the American studies major. Attend our American Studies Colloquium, an informal discussion group that meets about once a month to encounter and learn from influential scholars, writers, and artists.

Join your fellow first-year students in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s signature Humanities 110 course. This yearlong class is your first taste of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s ethos of overlapping academic boundaries. Study human history, religion, art, and culture and how it all weaves together and impacts the present.

Dive into Humanities 110

Year Two

Find Your Home Department

Choose a primary discipline, such as English or history, and complete additional requirements in American subject matter from two other departments. Affiliated faculty members’ areas of expertise range from art, theatre, history, and music to anthropology, environmental studies, English, and religion.

Submit your application to the major, detailing your reasons for pursuing American studies and outlining the courses for your particular path of study. Explore the added value of taking an interdisciplinary rather than disciplinary path.

Explore research opportunities. You can work with faculty during the summer break or find an external organization. If you find other outside opportunities, you can apply for ºìÌÒÊÓƵ funding to help cover the cost.

Discover fellowship and grant opportunities

Year Three

Articulate Your Understanding of Interdisciplinarity

Continue to take American studies courses in your home department and across other disciplines. Study for and complete your junior qualifying examination, which will be designed by the American Studies Committee in consultation with the department corresponding to your field of concentration. This exam ensures you are ready to begin your senior thesis.

Year Four

Present and Defend Your Senior Thesis

For your senior thesis, you’ll execute a genuinely interdisciplinary study of an American phenomenon of your choosing. This is the culmination of your time at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ and will allow you to showcase your intellectual curiosity and your ability to synthesize diverse disciplinary lenses. Once you’ve completed the writing process, you’ll defend your project to faculty and present it at a colloquium during your final semester.

Explore American studies major learning outcomes

Why pursue American studies at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ?

Practice Genuine Interdisciplinarity

As an American studies major, you’ll critically reflect on what interdisciplinarity means. Course topics vary widely—from gender and sexuality to race and ethnicity—and you’ll learn how to consider transnational, hemispheric, oceanic, and global approaches, as well as the more traditional approach centered on the U.S. nation-state. This level of complexity provides the opportunity to learn together with other students and faculty, finding connections through intellectual curiosity and creative collaboration.

Learn from Faculty with Wide-Ranging Expertise

Affiliated faculty members’ areas of expertise include art, theatre, history, music, anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, English, and religion, with research interests ranging from African American music to urban anthropology to Islam in America. Expect a wide-ranging course of study from a dynamic set of professors.

Our American Studies Courses

Careers for American Studies Majors

ºìÌÒÊÓƵ’s American studies graduates are ready for careers in law, journalism, government, or business, or for more advanced study at the masters or doctoral level. Here is a sampling: 

  • Technical recruiter, Reddit, Inc.
  • Research assistant in public health, Oregon Health & Science University
  • Early childhood educator, Deutsch Early Childhood Center
  • Associate producer, WarnerMedia
  • EdM candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • Physician, Kaiser Permanente

Learn more about career paths and possibilities

Recent Senior Theses

Each American studies major formulates and executes a genuinely interdisciplinary study of an American phenomenon for their senior thesis. Here are a few recent examples:

  • “On the Road Again: Roadtrips, Personhood, and National Identity for Young White Americans” (Ethan Brisley ’21)
  • “Standing Up and Standing Out: An Analysis of American Female Standup Comedians Confronting Social and Political Issues through Humor” (Sonia Varah ’21)
  • “How We Made a Black President on TV” (Sarah Nixon ’19)
  • “From Criminality to Insanity: Contesting Deviance in Mental Health Courts in Portland, Oregon” (Michelle Owens ’19)
  • “Cowboy Confederate: Silent Westerns, the American Family, and the Mythology of the Lost Cause in the 1920s” (Connor Cantrell ’18)
  • “The Hands of Harlem: Coalition, Conflict, and Legacy in Harlem’s Aid to Ethiopia Movement, 1934–1938” (Joshua Lash ’18)
A portrait photo of Jacqueline K. Dirks, professor of history at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. She stands in the middle of a library

Our American Studies Faculty

The five members of the American Studies Committee represent the music, sociology, history, and English departments, with affiliated faculty drawn from linguistics, art, religion, political science, and other departments.

Meet our faculty

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