Columbia University American Studies Program: An Overview

The American Studies program at Columbia University offers a multifaceted exploration of American culture, history, and society. It provides a comprehensive examination of the United States, encouraging critical thinking and analysis of American identity and experiences through interdisciplinary approaches.

Introduction to American Studies

American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the American experience through the study of history, literature, and the arts. It delves into themes such as the American Dream, the land of opportunity, and the tensions between the values of a free society and a history marked by slavery and racial tensions. The program encourages students to view culture and the larger world in holistic ways and explore questions of social justice, rights, and equality.

Program Structure and Curriculum

The American Studies program at Columbia University is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the complexities of American life. The program combines coursework, research, and practical experiences to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the United States.

Key Components

Historical Foundations: The program encourages all American Studies majors to think historically about the deeper social and political currents that have shaped the American experience and its imperial effects across the globe. Students are required to take at least two courses focused on the pre-Cold War history of the Americas (effectively, pre-1950).
Methods Seminar: Scholarship in American Studies draws on a range of interdisciplinary methods from historical research in archives, to close readings of texts, to oral history and ethnographic fieldwork, to political economy analyses, to analyses of visual and material culture, and more. Student exposure to at least a portion of this methodological range will serve as a vital foundation for more advanced work in their American Studies research seminars and their capstone seminar.

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American Studies Research Seminars: Themed seminars culminating in a formal research paper are a key means by which American Studies majors develop analytical skills. A selection of research seminars are offered by American Studies faculty and affiliated faculty, but majors can also fulfill the research seminar requirement with 3000- or 4000-level seminars on an American Studies-related theme from another department, providing the seminar culminates in a term paper or equivalent capstone project and is approved in advance by a student’s major advisor. Both research seminars should be taken prior to a student’s senior spring semester.
Interdisciplinary Electives: Each year, a wide range of courses are offered across many departments that provide students with opportunities to expand their critical understanding of the United States as a cultural, ideological, geographical and historical formation and to hone their analyses of race, gender, class, sexuality, Indigeneity, political economy, imperialism and social movements in contemporary, historical, hemispheric and transnational contexts. Such courses provide breadth and enrich students’ experience in the major.
Capstone Seminar: Students will revise an original research paper written for a course counting toward the major. The resulting senior thesis will be a 10,000-word essay that uses interdisciplinary methods and includes original research and analysis.

Courses Offered

The American Studies program offers a variety of courses that cover a wide range of topics. Here are some examples:

AMST BC1001 WHAT IS AMERICAN STUDIES?: This course explores fundamental questions about American identity and life. What is America? Who is American? How do we live in America?

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AMST BC1030 Everything for Everyone: Social Movements in North America: This course explores the history of movements for economic and social justice across North America. Questions include how different groups have demanded economic justice, the lineages and breaks in these efforts, divisions within movements, and debates over "socialism."
AMST BC1040 Incarcerating the Crisis: Students will develop analyses of how this growth coincided with a shift in the racial composition of prisons from majority white to almost seventy percent people of color.
AMST BC1041 Critical Approaches to the Study of Ethnicity and Race: This seminar introduces students to critical theories of race and ethnicity.
AMST BC1510 The Profits of Race: This course examines how race manifests as an economic relationship through film, literary criticism, history, ethnography, and philosophy. It focuses on the legacies of chattel slavery, the interconnections of race and property, and ongoing struggles for racial justice.
AMST BC2001 Third World Studies: This course takes student activists’ proposals for Third World Studies seriously.

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AMST BC3200 Feminist Ethnography: This course offers an overview of classic and contemporary examples of feminist ethnography.
AMST BC3310 Planet America: This course examines the culture, history, and politics of the United States within a global context.
AMST BC3401 American Studies Methods: Archive Fever: Introduction to the theoretical approaches of American Studies, as well as the methods and materials used in the interdisciplinary study of American society.
AMST BC3470 Oral History Methods ＆ Praxis in American Studies: This course introduces students to the philosophy, ethics, and practice of oral history with specific emphasis on interview and transcription techniques and the use of oral history in interdisciplinary research and analysis.
AMST BC3702 American Studies Senior Tutorial: This one-credit tutorial has been designed to assist American Studies seniors as they (1) clarify their scholarly commitments, (2) develop the research questions to be explored in their capstone seminars, (3) identify relevant archives and the methods needs to analyze those archives, and (4) develop a basic familiarity with the scholars and texts driving conversations about their research topic.
AMST BC3707 Global Radicalism: This seminar offers an intensive overview of these various struggles and spaces. Through examination of primary and secondary sources, students will consider radical social movements from distinct yet overlapping cultural and political traditions.
AMST GU4110 THE WEALTH OF NATIVES: This course examines how Native peoples have survived colonialism, focusing on economic aspects of colonialism in North America, while looking to Australia and Hawai‘i.
AMST GU4210 Du Bois Seminar: This seminar engages the life and work of W.E.B. history. Students will read and discuss Du Bois’s autobiography, and major works across his long and prolific career.
AMST GU4300 Latina/o/x NY: In this course students are invited to critically analyze the social histories of and contemporary experiences of a diverse range of Latino/a/x populations from across the Americas.
AMST GU4400 Crime, Sex, Race and the Politics of Purity: This course takes as its central question: how do certain ideas around purity and innocence come to appear natural?
AMST GU4500 Eugenics: For almost two hundred years, people around the world have sought to perfect society through scientifically directed breeding.
CCIS BC1111 REAL TALK / REAL TIME: This course takes as its foundation the words of bell hooks: “When our lived experience of theorizing is fundamentally linked to processes of self-recovery, of collective liberation, no gap exists between theory and practice.”
AMST UN3920 SENIOR PROJECT COLLOQUIUM: This course is for American studies majors planning to complete senior projects in the spring.
AMST UN3935 The Native Northeast: This course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on Native peoples of present-day New York and New England and their interactions with colonial empires (French, Spanish, British, US).
AMST UN3941 Democracy and De-Democratization, Theory and Practice: The American Case: This course will focus on the case of the United States.

Faculty

The American Studies program boasts a distinguished faculty with expertise in various fields. Some of the professors include:

Gergely Baics (History)
Elizabeth Bernstein (Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies)
Mark C.

Unique Institutional Vantage

The MA program in American Studies is housed in the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. From this unique institutional vantage, and with the foundation of a year-long course on the history and methods of American studies, students design their own interdisciplinary curriculum from course offerings across Columbia.

Degree Programs

Columbia University offers various degree options in American Studies, catering to different academic and career goals.

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

The American studies program leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. A minimum of 9 courses is required to complete the major. The final requirement for the major in American Studies is completion of a senior thesis, for which students enroll in the Senior Thesis seminar in the fall and the spring of their senior year.

Master of Arts (M.A.)

The Master of Arts in American Studies provides a comprehensive examination of American culture, history, and society. The M.A. provides an introduction to graduate work in American Studies and its related fields. It also works as professional development for secondary educators, public historians, or culture workers from a variety of backgrounds. The program offers opportunities to think about New York City as frame for American Studies. The degree program culminates in a final research project undertaken with a faculty advisor.

Minor in American Studies

Also offered is a 15-credit minor in American studies. A minimum of five courses is required to complete the minor. In addition to the introductory course and one American Studies seminar, every Minor is required to take three additional courses on American history, culture, or politics. All courses must be approved by the student’s American Studies advisor.

Concentration in American Studies

A concentration in American studies is available for students majoring in early childhood education or childhood education in the School of Education. A minimum of 7 courses is required to complete the concentration.

Opportunities and Resources

The American Studies program at Columbia University provides students with a range of opportunities and resources to enhance their academic and professional development.

Magner Career Center

Through job fairs, the internship database, and internship panels, the Magner Career Center gives students in the American studies B.A. St.

Tow Summer Research Fellowship

Students interested in pursuing a capstone project that will involve travel (to archives, ethnographic field sites, etc.) during the summer prior to their Senior year can apply for financial assistance from a Tow Summer Research Fellowship. The Tow Fellowship is a competitive, college-wide opportunity providing between $1,000-$4,000 to support capstone research.

Academic Advising

Each American Studies major or concentrator chooses an academic adviser who monitors their progress through graduation. Students work with advisors to develop programs tailored to their particular interests. Advisors approve Plan of Study forms and provide general guidance regarding the major and concentration.

Career Outcomes

Graduates can pursue diverse career paths, including roles in education, public policy, museums, and cultural institutions. Potential positions may include cultural analysts, educators, or researchers focused on American culture. This degree prepares students for work in both the public and private sectors, enhancing their employability in various fields. The inventive, interdisciplinary nature of American studies open doors to a wide range of career opportunities. American studies graduates are creative, critical thinkers who go on to become writers, teachers, policy makers, lawyers, arts and museum administrators, editors, and activists.

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