Celebrating 47 Years of
Excellence in Interdisciplinary
Research, Teaching and Community Service
1962-2009
American Studies is the interdisciplinary analysis of the United States in a global context. American Studies plays a unique role in the College of Liberal Arts and in the University by bringing together faculty and students from a variety of disciplines to compare knowledge and gain perspectives on the United States.
The program offers a rich, rigorous approach combining the best intellectual insights from literature, historical studies, women's studies, ethnic studies, the fine arts, environmental studies, and the social sciences.
Rather than restricting students to a single department's offerings, the graduate program allows students the freedom to build their understanding of US culture by combining knowledge from courses in more than a dozen departments across the campus, in addition to our own.
The Program in American Studies at Washington State University was founded in 1962 and is the recognized leader in this field in the Northwest. While our program was the only one in the Northwest authorized to offer all undergraduate and graduate degrees, budget constraints have hindered that effort and we have been forced to release the undergraduate BA program. We will continue with the graduate program for MA and PhD degrees.
The Program in American Studies main office has been relocated to Wilson-Short Hall, Room 111. You may reach us by phone at (509) 335-1560, or by email at amst@wsu.edu.
UNDERGRADUATES are no longer being accepted to our program as the BA has been eliminated. If you are a current undergraduate student, please call (509) 335-1560 to discuss your options and complete your degree.
For information on the GRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.
News & Events
NEW Interim Director named
News & Events
Dr. Victor Villanueva has stepped down as Director of the Program in American Studies effective Fall 2009. Named as the interim replacement for the 2009-10 academic year is Dr. Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo, former Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and current Associate Professor in Comparative Ethnic Studies. The administrative transition will begin on July 1, 2009.
Congratulations to our Recent Graduates
- Hala Abu Taleb, PhD
- Winona Beck, PhD
- Sarah Bergfeld, PhD
American Studies Alum Wins National Book Award
American Studies program alumnus Sherman Alexie ('94), has been awarded the coveted National Book Award for his most recent novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. A poet, novelist, and flimmaker, Alexie employs mock autobiography in Absolutely True to tell a brilliant coming of age story about a young Spoakane Indian moving from a reservation school to a school in an almost exclusively white world.
American Studies Program Ranked 8th in Nation
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published the results of its "faculty productivity" survey for PhD programs in each field across the US. The WSU Program in American Studies graduate program ranked 8th in the nation among our peers in this measure of faculty productivity and impact. Congratulations are due to our hardworking, intellectually creative faculty.