Why Study in the Program in American Culture?
The culture of the Cold War. Ethnic Studies. The literature of the Pacific world. Sexuality. The history of popular music. Latino/a literature and history. Native American studies. Politics and Society. Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies. Art, folklore, literature. International migration. Arab American Studies. Jazz. The practice of public culture. Gender. United States history. African American Studies. Multiracial crossings and relations. And the list just keeps going!
The Program in American Culture offers undergraduate students at the University of Michigan a wide range of courses engaging the many rich facets of the United States, both as the U.S. lives in the global world, and as the global world lives within it. One of the top American Studies departments in the world, Michigan's American Culture program finds its uniqueness and strength in a dialogue among its three ethnic studies programs, and with the interdisciplinary concerns of the field of American Studies.
Our courses integrate a rich array of materials, themes, and approaches from many fields: not only historical and literary study, but also visual studies, musicology, film and media, gender and sexuality studies, among others. The curriculum of the Program emphasizes the diversity of American society, paying particular attention to ethnic, gender, economic and other forms of social difference and inequality. At the same time, it stresses the importance of studying U.S. citizenship and national belonging, including Americans' (sometimes conflicting) ideals, as well as the range of different experiences of what it has meant-and continues to mean-to be American. American Culture courses explore these issues in both historical and contemporary settings.
Based around a five-course core, a flexible "breadth requirement" and a set of open electives, the concentration in American Culture lets students chart their own course through the Program's intellectual diversity, while insuring a critical set of skills and competencies in cultural analysis and context. A popular second concentration for those electing to double major, the Program aims to be a friendly community of interest, in which concentrators share the opportunity for intensive study, conversation, and research about American society and culture. With small courses, excellent and committed faculty, and prizewinning advising, the Program in American Culture offers students a challenging and rewarding interdisciplinary "village" within the larger College and University experience.
