Welcome to American Studies!

• B.A. in American Studies
• Minor in American Studies

Joint Programs with School of Education

• B.S. in Early Childhood Education with Concentration in American Studies
• B.S. in Childhood Education with Concentration in American Studies

Established over sixty years ago, American Studies is one of the most stimulating interdisciplinary fields in the arts and social sciences, leading to true dialogue among ordinarily separate areas of study. It asks crucial questions about the diverse peoples and complex histories that make up the United States—questions that can enhance our understanding of the political and social forces that have shaped the nation and its relationship with the world. Based on their interests, practitioners of American Studies approach their work from a variety of critical perspectives, and this interdisciplinary method is at the heart of what the American Studies major and minor can offer you at C.W. Post.

American Studies invites you to take an active role in shaping your education. By working closely with a faculty advisor, you will devise your own curriculum around a specific topic/concentration. This flexibility not only gives you an opportunity to take a broad range of classes from departments across campus—including history, English, sociology, political science, philosophy, art history, psychology, anthropology, theater, music, education, and earth and environmental sciences—but it also helps develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills that are essential in today’s professional world.

An American Studies major or minor can lead to successful careers in business, education, law, the foreign service, politics, social work, communications, public relations, museum curating, journalism, publishing, advertising, and graduate school in the humanities. Whatever your ultimate goal, American Studies can offer you an enriching liberal arts education that challenges you to engage with a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, to synthesize complex ideas and methods, and to become a more engaged citizen of the world.