American Studies is the study of the literature, history, culture, media, and politics of North America. Many of the courses and modules focus on the United States, but there is also a focus on Canada and Latin America, which may also have language options available.
Themes of identity, values, justice and a history of immigration (forced and voluntary) will be found across the modules available to study in American Studies.
You will also have the opportunity to cover topics from American Studies in degrees such as Literature, Media and Film, Politics and History. Our BAAS conferences are attended by academics and students from a wide range of different disciplines – it is one of the great things about the American Studies community.
Core Modules in American Studies
This list provides some example modules that could be compulsory when studying for an American Studies degree. University courses often have more core modules in their first year, which offers students the opportunity to get a taste of the range of disciplines that make up American Studies.
Examples of Core First Year Modules:
- Introduction to American Studies
- Introduction to American Literature
- American Cinema in Society
- Early Developments in American History
- US History from 1776 to Today
- The Civil Rights Movement (and its legacy)
Optional Modules in American Studies
This list is just a taste of the optional modules that could be available when studying for an American Studies degree. Many courses also allow you to take a module from outside of the discipline, and the opportunity to study abroad opens up a world of possibilities for module selection.
- Literature modules:
- The American West in Literature
- 21st Century US Literature
- Novel Democracy
- History modules:
- Manifest Destiny in the 19th Century
- Land and Environment in US History
- American Radicalism
- Culture/Media modules:
- US Cultural Representations on Screen
- American Horror Stories
- Photographing America
- American Pop Representations
- Politics modules
- Foreign Policy Analysis
- ‘Americanist’ National Identity
- America in Decline? US Politics since 9/11
- Dissertation Module (usually in 3rd or 4th year)
Which universities in the UK offer American Studies?
This is a non-exhaustive list of the UK universities that are currently offering American Studies, or similar courses, as an undergraduate degree. Please visit the university websites for more details on course offerings, opportunities for studying abroad, and course entry requirements.
If you are an educator at a UK university which teaches American Studies and the university is not listed above, please get in touch with development@baas.ac.uk and we will add the course to the list.