Academics

Welcome to 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. Our approach to American Studies emphasizes the "local" and the "global."

In American Studies, the city of Richmond, the nation, and the world all serve as laboratories of investigation and learning. Our students develop projects at the local level and also travel as classes to field sites from New Orleans to New York, from London to San Juan. American Studies increasingly emphasizes explorations of U.S. culture and society in relation to international politics, the global economy, and population migrations. For this reason, American Studies majors are also encouraged to study abroad.