Overview

What is American Studies about?

The Department of American Studies at The University of Texas-Austin is an interdisciplinary field concerned primarily with the historical study of the cultures of the United States and with analysis of their contemporary status. Emerging nationally toward the end of the Great Depression and immediately following the Second World War, American Studies initially focused on defining such concepts as national identity and national character, and exploring such dominant archetypes or myths as the frontier, the American dream, and rugged individualism -- concepts that proved culturally useful as Americans strived for self-understanding. Over the years, the field has expanded beyond this initial focus, and beyond a dependence on the disciplines of history and English, to include such disciplines as philosophy, art, cultural geography, oral history, sociology, architecture, and material artifacts. As a field of inquiry, American Studies now focuses increasingly on multicultural issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. The University's fulltime American Studies faculty of ten members (there are also several dozen faculty affiliates) exhibit considerable breadth, including social and cultural historians, a cultural geographer, two art historians, a historian of social science, another of religion, a scholar of youth culture, a historian of music; experts on African American, Asian American, and Mexican American cultures; and on law, documentary film, literature, photography, popular culture, design, and technology.

American Studies is devoted to the critical integration of knowledges that cut across the different disciplines, while maintaining its central core of the study of American society and culture, past and present. As part of our desire to cultivate a thoughtful and engaged citizenry, we train our students to become solid writers, persuasive speakers, and expansive critical thinkers. We seek to instill in our students a broad understanding of our multicultural society's political, economic, cultural, and social complexity. We are committed to studying the influence of other nations and cultures on our society, and the impact of the United States--economically, politically, and especially culturally--on other nations and people. Making use of the skills developed with an American Studies major, our students enter a wide range of fields such as journalism, business, radio, TV and film work, marketing, museum curating, law, public relations, advertising, government service, creative writing and teaching at either the secondary or college level; many pursue graduate study or attend law school; and everyone develops a critical awareness of why an informed citizenry is essential for a well-functioning democratic society.