American Studies

American Studies

American Studies is an interdisciplinary program that provides opportunities for students to study American culture, society, identity, and politics by combining coursework in a wide variety of disciplines into a single major.

Major & MinorCourses

Upcoming Courses

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Nora Rubel and Recipes for the Melting Pot

Dr. Nora Rubel Lecture

Save-the-Date! 

‘You can’t make a Yankee of me that way!’: The Settlement Cook Book and Culinary Pluralism in Progressive-Era America

Thursday, March 19, 4:30-6 pm Humanities Center Commons

Dr. Nora Rubel, a Jewish Studies scholar at University of Rochester,  will give insight about an early 1900s cookbook that has shaped generations of Jewish culture, women, and kitchens. Rubel will share women’s stories and excerpts from her new book, Recipes for the Melting Pot: Reading The Settlement Cook Book". This special gathering is co-sponsored by The Humanities Center and American Studies Program. 

Giving Day

Giving Days April 2026

Your support of the University of Richmond’s American Studies Program in the School of Arts & Sciences (A&S) fuels a dynamic, interdisciplinary learning environment where students connect ideas across fields, tackle real-world challenges, and prepare to lead lives with purpose. Your generosity creates a lasting impact, shaping the academic journeys and futures of our students. 

Contributions to American Studies will help drive initiatives such as faculty-mentored student research across all disciplines, funding for students to present their work at conferences, and opportunities for hands-on fieldwork. These donations directly support students and faculty engaged in high-impact practices, enriching their UR experience and ensuring they have the resources they need to thrive.

Our A&S departments and programs are competing for the most donors, with the top five earning bonus funds. A gift of any amount makes a lasting impact – and could help us climb the leaderboard. Click the “Support American Studies Now” to open the Giving Page for Interdisciplinary Programs where your dollars will be tagged for our specific student-focused enrichment.

Support American Studies Now!
2025 senior award recipients

American Studies Senior Awards 2025

Jessica Durrett, Rilwan Akinola, and Maggie Crowe received awards of excellence for their contributions and accomplishments in the American Studies program.  At an April celebration dinner, AMST board members celebrated these seniors with bright futures.
Mia Lazar

Student & Alumni Success

Mia Lazar (’24 graduate & alumni) with American Studies minor, traveled through the U.S. enhancing and expanding, Documerica, an environmental website. Supported by UR’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program and financial award by Virginia Humanities Rapid Grant, Lazar collaborated with Lauren Tilton, Associate Professor of Digital Humanities.  Learn more.

Alumni Accomplishments
Browder Class Museum 07 S24

Experiential Learning

In American Studies, students explore U. S. culture and society, developing an international lens. Small classroom discussion seminars and hands-on learning broaden understanding of America in a global context through museum art visits, field site work, and more.
Greetings from the Richmond Exhibit
  • On the first day of class, the American Studies Capstone Seminar, taught by Nicole Sackley, associate professor of history and American studies, gathered at UR Downtown and walked to The Valentine, just five blocks away.
  • Students explored the This is Richmond, Virginia exhibition at The Valentine with Meg Hughes, curator of archives.
  • At the Virginia Historical Society, the class met with Paige Newman, associate archivist for collections processing, to learn about their archives.
  • At the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Assistant Curator of American Art Christopher Oliver, ’04, led a tour of the exhibition The Likeness of Labor. The class viewed photographs that were not included — a great lesson in curatorial practice.
  • Each student played a critical role in the development and installation of the exhibition. Caroline Weber, ’16, puts up the labels in the Wilton Companies Gallery at UR Downtown.
  • Greetings from Richmond, Virginia: Visitors through the Centuries includes 26 visitors — from Black Hawk to Lizzie Armitstead — spanning three centuries. Each student told the story of two visitors.
  • The exhibition features vintage postcards that celebrate Richmond as a city of history, leisure, and commerce - themes in the exhibition - and show what visitors were writing home about. Guests can take a postcard and share using #GreetingsFromRichmond.
  • The students, Nicole Sackley, and Alexandra Byrum, UR Downtown educational programming coordinator, gather at UR Downtown for the RVA First Fridays exhibition opening. Nearly 100 students, faculty, staff, and community members were in attendance.
  • Karolina Castro, ’16, answers questions as a friend explores guidebooks from Boatwright Library’s Special Collections. The exhibition also features Richmond tourism videos from 1955, 1977, and 2012 and tourist iteneraries from 1850, 1910, 1963, and 2016.
  • “Richmond — capital of the Cavaliers — a city that is mellow and yet modern, where the rustle of the past may still be heard amid the bustle of the present,” stated the 1937 publication, A Tour of Historic Richmond, one of five quotations that were chosen
  • Guests explore 19th and early 20th century visitors to Richmond below the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “I am captivated with it all; I am tempted to stay here.” (1905).

Faculty Highlights

Díaz and Herrera’s latest film featured in ICA Richmond program

Alicia Díaz, associate professor of dance, and Patricia Herrera, professor of theatre, presented two new short films at New Spiritualities: Film as Ritual at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. The program recognized their collaborative project, ruinas/ruins, developed through long-term artistic research at the abandoned sugar mill in Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico. Díaz and Herrera collaborated previously on an award-winning dance film.

Alicia Díaz
Patricia Herrera
Fernández presented on Latina cliché in U.S. media

Laura Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies, presented "Las Raras: The New Gothic Latina Trope in US Popular Media," at Colby College's Center for the Arts & Humanities Play! Seminar.

Laura Fernández
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Resources

Digital America

Digital Scholarship Lab

Contact Us

Mailing address:
American Studies Program
Carole Weinstein International Center, Room 306
211 Richmond Way
University of Richmond, Virginia 23173

Phone: (804) 484-1471
Fax: (804) 484-1577

Program Coordinator: Stephen Brauer
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Lynn Hardwicke