Our courses engage multifaceted understandings of indigenous communities; settlement; colonialism; migration; race/racism; and social, economic, cultural and political change. Majors develop the methodological, theoretical, and research skills to conduct independent interdisciplinary research. The American Studies department is also distinct in our commitment to community-based learning.
Students design an individualized course of study and conduct independent interdisciplinary research.
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The department fosters critical analysis by engaging with local community partners in teaching, researching and promoting active civic engagement.
The American Studies Department has become increasingly focused on issues of race, ethnicity and transnationalism.
Situated in the Kwinitekw Valley and Nonotuck homeland, the American Studies department honors the deep histories and enduring presence of Indigenous nations by offering courses in Native American and Indigenous Studies.
Native American Literature Collection
Our department takes pride in its multiple courses on the history, activism, and contemporary life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Asian American Studies Working Group
Our courses offer many opportunities to explore the diversity of Latinx lives, cultures, and experiences in the United States and transnationally.
Latinx and Latin American Studies
Our majors go on to graduate work in history, English, art history, museum studies and other fields and are working in law, academe, non-profit, business and government.
Founded in 1948, we are one of the oldest American Studies departments in the United States.
Drawing on a wide range of primary materials, this course offers an introduction to American Studies through an exploration of the Connecticut River Valley.
This course enables students to learn about Native American literature and art production through the “Boundless” exhibit, and through readings and research related to Native American artistic traditions and literary practices.
This course provides an alternative narrative to this representation by exploring the ways in which African American female characters, writers, and artists have challenged ideals of stoicism and submission.
Amherst College mourns the passing of Franklin Odo, the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and former John J. McCloy ’16 Visiting Professor of American Institutions and International Diplomacy in the Department of American Studies, on Sept. 28, 2022.
The American Studies Department recognizes the collective and psychic harms of systemic and institutional racism. Please read our policy statement in response to “Black Minds Matter.”