Purdue University College of Liberal Arts

Information for

Prospective Students

Welcome to the Purdue American Studies Prospective Student page!  Here you will find essential information about the American Studies degree, our program and our students.

In recent years, Purdue American Studies graduates have moved to tenure track positions at SUNY Buffalo, University of New Orleans, Sam Houston State University, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Borough of Manhattan Community College.  Books and articles by American Studies graduates have in recent years been published by University of Nebraska Press, University of Missouri Press, American Quarterly and Aztlan.  Finally, American Studies at Purdue stresses community and political engagement.  In recent years, students in the program have performed community service for class credit with the Tarajia Project, a high school program designed to assist women of color; the YWCA Domestic Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, and the Lafayette Journal & Courier newspaper.  The program boasts a high placement rate across a wide spectrum of professional vocations, from public television to academe.

Degree Requirements:

The American Studies M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue are flexible, largely self-directed plans of study.  Two years of coursework are required for the M.A. and Ph.D. each, with the majority of courses being elective.  M.A. students also take AMST 630, a capstone independent research seminar.  Ph.D. students take AMST 603, where they write a draft of their Special Field examination required for the degree.  Ph.D. students are also required to take a major and minor field examination prior to the dissertation prospectus.  All students in the program work closely with an advisor and plan of study committee who supervise their path toward the degree.


American Studies Courses:

Courses in American Studies are often team-taught and merge M.A. and Ph.D. students.  Courses are frequently cross-listed between American Studies and other departments.  In addition to scheduled courses, students may take a directed reading course of independent study.  Other recently added courses in the curriculum include AMST 620: "Archival Theory and Practice," and AMST 610, "Transnational American Studies Abroad."

Other recent American Studies course offerings include:

Critical Race Theory: Professor Ryan Schneider
The Chicago Renaissance: Professors Bill Mullen and Anne Knupfer
Chicano/a Literature: Professor Sonia Gonzalez
Postcolonialism & the New Postglobal Studies: Professor Al Lopez
Early Native American Literacies: Professor Kristina Bross
U.S. Black Latino Literature & Contemporary Theory: Professor Antonio Tillis
Masculinity & 19th Century American Literature: Professor Ryan Schneider
John Dewey's Educational Philosophy: Professor A.G. Rud
American Protest Music from the Wobblies to Woodstock: Professors Rich Hogan and Harry Targ
Colonial & Early American Literature: Professor Christopher Lukasik
Global Issues in Education: Professor Nadine Dolby
Early Twentieth Century American Fiction: Professor Robert Lamb
Recent American Philosophy: Subjectivity in Action: Professor Charlene Seigfried
Contemporary African American Fiction: Professor Venetria Patton


Areas of Study:

In recent years, students in the American Studies program have gravitated towards the following academic concentrations for their coursework and research:

Critical Race Theory
Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Popular Culture
Transnational Studies
U.S. Social Movements
Ecocriticism


American Studies Dissertations:

In recent years, American Studies students have written the following dissertations:

Lee Bebout, "The Presence of the Past: The Mythohistorical in the Chicano/a Movement and Post-Movement Era"
Steven Belluscio, published as To Be Suddenly White: Literary Realism and Racial Passing
Kenya Davis-Hayes, "Lessons of Place: The Creation of Physical and Curricular Segregation in Chicago between 1910 and 1925"
Sabine Klein (in progress)
Charles Park (in progress)
Stephany Spaulding, "The Crisis of White Imagination: Towards the Literary Abolition of Whiteness"



Support for Research:

Finally, students in American Studies are offered travel funds every year to support their research and presentations at academic conferences.  Students also serve in elected positions on the American Studies Steering Committee, American Studies Recruitment Committee, and American Studies Symposium Committee.  As well, students compete for annual awards: The Chester Eisinger Award for Outstanding Essay in American Studies; the American Studies Teaching Award; the Paul and Eslanda Robeson Award for Transnational Scholarship; the American Studies/Women's Studies Outstanding Achievement Award, and the American Studies Social Justice/Community Service Award.  Each award brings a $500 honorarium.

To learn more about graduate students and graduate student activity in American Studies at Purdue, click on the Directory, or contact Erik Wade, current president of the American Studies Graduate Student Association at ewade@purdue.edu.