The American Studies Program is a nationally recognized leader in the interdisciplinary field of American Studies. Our students and faculty study the disparate yet interconnected cultures of colonial North America and the United States as seen in the ideas and actions of its people, and as expressed in a range of forms, especially culture, the arts, media, literature, and institutions – often seen through a global or transnational lens.
Formerly known as the American & New England Studies Program, we maintain active collaborations with many cultural institutions in the region, especially in the Boston Area. Our large, prestigious PhD program has produced professors, public historians, museum curators, and directors at major universities, museums, and other cultural and historical institutions. Our individualized BA program benefits majors and non-majors seeking a rigorous interdisciplinary experience. The skills and knowledge gained by an American Studies undergraduate concentration can help students interested in careers in journalism, education, law, communications, business, and other fields.
Perri Meldon serves as national coordinator of the ACE Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship program. In this role, Perri supports 16 recent PhDs on nationwide projects about public lands and public humanities.
Jesse Dritz has been appointed as a Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow for the 2025/26 academic year. Jesse and the rest of the cohort of fellows, utilizing the Smithsonian’s vast collections, will research the impact of music on the visual arts, works of craft produced by Black artists and artisans, artist-built environments in landscapes slated for […]
Congratulations to our three successful summer defenses are in order. Anne Boyd defended “Nationalizing the Confederacy: Physical Representations of the Lost Cause Mythology Across the United States from World War II to Present Day” on June 12, 2025. Her advisor was Nina Silber. Gaëlle Bouaziz defended "“‘You Are Watching NASA Television’ Space, Science, and NASA’s […]
Astrid Tvetenstrand's (AMNESP 2023) exhibition, Exhibiting China, will run from August 11 to November 1, 2025 at the Boston Athenaeum. In 1850, the Boston Athenaeum held its first exhibition in its new building at 10½ Beacon Street. Among the 268 paintings featured were five Chinese portraits. Owned by prominent China Trade merchant and Athenaeum proprietor Augustine Heard (1785–1868), […]
Adriana Craciun, Emma MacLachlan Metcalf Chair of Humanities, has been named the Frances B. Cashin Fellow for the 2025/26 academic year. At Radcliffe, she will explore how the increase in plant life, working in tandem with people, is transforming two very different Arctic places: Greenland and Svalbard. She will publish her findings in her upcoming […]
Congratulations to Dr. Reut Odinak and Dr. Betsy Walters! Reut successfully defended “Womb for Rent: The Politics of Surrogacy, Reproduction, and Motherhood on Television” on March 25, 2025. Betsy successfully defended her dissertation, “Oscar’s New Rules: Industrial Shifts, Cultural Controversies, and the Changing Status of the Academy Awards in the 21st Century” on March 31st. […]
The BU Center for Humanities named Genevieve Kane and Meghan Townes recipients of the Graduate Student Award in recognition of their excellence in the humanistic tradition. Congratulations Genna and Meghan!
Sam Shupe (AMNESP Ph.D. 2019) recently started a new position as a teacher in the Education Department at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham Maine which has implemented a new approach to corrections with greater emphasis upon educational and therapeutic programming. While developing curriculum for residents, Sam also teaches arts, music, and college transitions courses. […]