phd american studies online

• American Studies

Ph.D. Program

• Graduate Study

The primary goal of the Ph.D. program in American Studies is to train students to become knowledgeable, engaged, and productive scholars and public humanists.

The Ph.D. program in American Studies is aimed at students interested in careers in college and university teaching, though it also provides excellent training for jobs in cultural or non-profit institutions that require a doctorate.

The Ph.D. program includes:

• Coursework including two required courses
• Preliminary Examinations in three fields
• Teaching as a Teaching Assistant and Teaching Fellow
• Dissertation Proposal
• Dissertation

Most of our Ph.D. students include faculty from outside the department on their preliminary exam committees and on their dissertation committees.

The Graduate Student Handbook lays out in detail the requirements, timelines, and components of the doctoral graduate program in American Studies. It also contains information on departmental and university resources for graduate students.

Download the Handbook

Career Options

We train students for faculty positions, for academic administration, and for jobs in various research, curatorial, and digital humanities positions in universities and in cultural organizations, museums, and other public-facing institutions.

We are committed to comprehensive training with broader career paths in mind, and we have expanded our efforts to train and place students in both “traditional” and “non-traditional” positions. Doing so, we work to help students negotiate the pressures that commitments to family and location can place on their professional lives.

We encourage our doctoral students to consider the bigger picture – personal circumstances, individual professional desires – when preparing for the job market. Our Ph.D. students have done well by being flexible and broadly prepared.

Meet our Ph.D. alumni

Ph.D. Program

Ph.D. students students join a community of scholars engaged with teaching and research and resources designed to complement their specific interests and goals and to develop their academic skills.

Quick Links

• Dissertation Prospectus
• Comprehensive Exam and ISP
• Graduate Admissions
• Graduate Funding
• Graduate Resources

Graduate Placement

Applicants to the Ph.D. program must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree appropriate to advanced interdisciplinary graduate study, show evidence of wide knowledge of American life and thought and have an interest in interdisciplinary approaches to the study of American culture and society. Many students accepted into the doctoral program have received B.A. or M.A. degrees in American studies. The admissions committee will also consider individuals with degrees in such fields as anthropology, art history, English, government and politics, history, journalism, psychology and sociology if they have had a strong emphasis in American materials. Applicants must submit an application for admission, three letters of recommendation from professors familiar with their previous work, official transcripts of all graduate and undergraduate education, results of the Graduate Record Examination, a statement of purpose and a writing sample. Applicants may wish to visit the department for an interview and to meet members of the faculty and graduate students.

Program of Study

Doctoral students entering the program with a master’s degree take a minimum of 30 hours (beyond the master’s degree), consisting of courses in American studies and related disciplines and a minimum of 12 hours of AMST899: “Doctoral Dissertation Research.” In certain cases, students may petition to receive up to six hours of credit for recently completed M.A. work that contributes directly to the doctoral program. In addition, in exceptional cases, the faculty may waive certain credit hour requirements for students with prior relevant M.A. work.

Doctoral students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree take a minimum of 42 hours, consisting of courses in American studies and related disciplines, plus a minimum of 12 hours of AMST899: “Doctoral Dissertation Research.”

In consultation with a faculty advisor, students develop individual programs of study consisting of courses in American studies and related fields such as anthropology, architecture, art history, journalism, English, government and politics, history, sociology or women’s studies. Students should design their programs focused on American studies coursework and two areas of concentration, at least one of which must be in either (a) one of the two intellectual themes of cultures of everyday life and cultural constructions of difference and identity, or (b) one of the methodologically-based areas of ethnography, literature and society, material culture, popular culture and media studies, and social policy history. Students are responsible for determining prerequisites for advanced courses in the above departments, for inquiring about independent studies in areas not specifically covered in available courses and for meeting with a faculty advisor to determine the applicability of particular courses. Individual courses of study are developed within the below guidelines.  

Course Requirements

Theory and methodology.

Theory and Methodology: AMST601: “Introductory Seminar in American Studies”* (3 hours); AMST603: “Current Approaches in American Studies,” plus one of the following:

• AMST639A or B: “Decorative Arts in American Civilization” (Students in material culture or historical archaeology may substitute HISP678: “Fieldwork in Historic Preservation,” HISP679: “Measured Drawings for Historic Preservation,” ANTH611: “Management and Cultural Process,” ANTH689R: “Method and Theory in Archaeology” or URSP605: “Planning and Theory”)
• ANTH606: “Methods of Cultural Analysis I”
• CMLT600: “Introduction to Critical Theory”
• COMM711: “Historical Critical Methods in Communication Research”
• ENGL601: “Bibliography and Methods”
• ENGL602: “Critical Theory and Literary Criticism”
• GVPT700: “Scope and Methods of Political Science”
• HIST600: “Historiography”
• HIST602: “General Seminar: American History”
• JOUR600: “Research Methods in Mass Communication”
• SOCY621: “Contemporary Sociological Theory”
• WMST601: “Advanced Feminist Theory”
• WMST602: “Advanced Feminist Theory II”

*Note: Students are expected to register for AMST601 in their first semester of residence.

American Studies Seminars

American Studies Seminars: 9 semester hours chosen from special topic seminars, AMST628 and AMST629, or other AMST proseminars or research seminars taught on campus by regular AMST faculty. This includes AMST602, 603, 6xx (Popular Culture) and 650 (formerly AMST628Q), AMST801 and 851 (formerly AMST629L). Students may on rare occasions and with their advisor’s consent petition the director of graduate studies to use one course taught by an affiliate faculty member that is cross-listed under AMST628 or 629 in partial fulfillment of this requirement.

Remaining Coursework

The remaining hours of coursework develop two areas of concentration.

Normally these will be the fields in which the student is preparing for the comprehensive examinations and dissertation research.

Additional Requirements

The dissertation committee.

After the first year of residency or its equivalent, the student should meet with his or her advisor to discuss selection of a dissertation topic and the makeup of the dissertation committee, consisting of five faculty members from American studies and related departments. The dissertation director will be a member of the department, core affiliate or affiliate faculty. In addition, one committee member must serve as the Graduate School representative and cannot be a regular American studies faculty member.

Methodological Skills and Tools of Scholarship

Members of the dissertation committee will also be called upon to approve a student’s choice of methodological skills. A doctoral candidate must provide evidence, either by passing a special examination or designated courses in a relevant department, that he or she can successfully employ research methodologies or analytical tools appropriate to the area of concentration and dissertation project. These scholarly skills may be drawn from, but are not limited to, areas such as the following: a foreign language, statistics, content analysis, field work techniques or other such skills as the faculty shall agree to accept.

Comprehensive Examinations

Students are required to take three comprehensive examinations. One exam will be in American studies history, theory and method. The others will be taken in two areas of concentration supporting the student’s interdisciplinary research. Exams administered by American studies faculty are 72-hour take-home written exams, but exams administered by faculty outside the department will follow the format that the department typically uses (i.e., an oral slide exam in architectural history). Students are strongly encouraged to schedule and take their exams as soon after completing 18 credit hours as they are prepared for them. The exams need not be taken in any particular order but all three should be completed within a 12-month period.

Examination fields:

• The history, theory and method of American studies: An examination that includes but extends beyond material presented in AMST601 and AMST603.
• A. A topic drawn from one of the thematic areas of the cultures of everyday life or cultural constructions of difference and identity
• B. One of the methodologically-based areas of ethnography, literature & society, material culture, popular culture/media studies or social policy history
• Second Area of Concentration: This area may be selected from any of the areas listed above or may focus on another area drawn from a student’s work in affiliated departments.

Progress Toward the Degree

Students are expected to make steady progress in their degree programs. The time needed, of course, will depend on whether the student is full-time or part-time. To ensure that students proceed at a pace appropriate to their circumstances, the faculty meets at the end of each spring semester to conduct a review of all students in the program. Prior to that review, students must submit a brief statement describing their progress during that academic year, a plan for the next year’s work and a CV. These statements play a role in faculty decisions regarding the granting and renewing of graduate assistantships and requests for extensions of time limits for the degree. Doctoral students have up to five years to achieve candidacy and up to four years after admission to candidacy to complete all dissertation requirements. On average, however, full-time doctoral students in American studies complete all requirements, including the dissertation, in seven years.

Admission to Candidacy

Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy when they have satisfactorily completed all coursework, passed three comprehensive examinations and successfully defended their dissertation proposal in a meeting with their committee members. The dissertation proposal is developed in consultation with the student’s dissertation chair; it details the subject of the dissertation, reviews the relevant scholarly background and describes the resources to be used in conducting the research. Students must submit a completed application for admission to candidacy, including the naming of committee members, once the above requirements are met. See also Guidelines for Developing a Dissertation Prospectus.

The Dissertation

Following admission to candidacy, the student undertakes a substantial project of independent, original and interdisciplinary scholarly research. Students must be continuously registered for at least one credit of AMST899: “Dissertation Research” while completing the dissertation.

Before a completed dissertation can be formally approved, the candidate must successfully defend it in an oral examination before the dissertation committee. Reading copies of the dissertation must be distributed to members of the committee at least 10 working days prior to the oral examination and must conform to the university requirements set forth in the Thesis Manual. (Students should purchase a copy of this manual from the Media Express/Campus Reprographics, Reckord Armory.) Two copies of the completed dissertation are submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies and one to the Department of American Studies for its records.

Procedures for Graduation

No later than the first week of their final semester, students should consult with Interim Director of Graduate Studies Nancy Mirabal about the forms to be filed with the Office of Graduate Studies and Research in order to receive their degrees. These forms are available online at http://www.gradschool.umd.edu .

Degree Worksheets

Statement of mutual expectations.

Statement of Mutual Expectations between AMST & Ph.D. Students

Graduate students in the American studies doctoral program are expected to develop an interdisciplinary plan of study pertaining to one or both of the department’s broad areas of expertise: cultural constructions of identity and difference, and the cultures of everyday life. In addition to developing their interdisciplinary research expertise, students should gain mastery of the history, formative and current theories and interdisciplinary content of American studies literature and demonstrate an understanding of multiple dimensions of diversity. It is expected that students will work on these goals from arrival to graduation.

Satisfactory Progress toward the Ph.D. Degree 

Satisfactory Progress toward the Ph.D. Degree 

The Department of American Studies expects students to make steady progress toward the completion of their degrees; this document summarizes those expectations. In addition to using the guidelines in this document, the department strongly recommends that students meet with their program advisors a minimum of once a semester to discuss their progress and plan for the next steps. Students who have not yet selected a program advisor should meet with the director of graduate studies each semester. Note that this document has been updated as of 3/12/2009.

Our graduates are placed within some of the best colleges, universities and cultural institutions worldwide. 

Related Information

• UMD Graduate School

• Skip to Content
• Skip to Main Navigation
• Skip to Search

Indiana University Indianapolis

American studies.

Ph.D. Program in American Studies

The program requires students take courses from faculty in various disciplines that offer a variety of ways to analyze and critique a US-based “American experience,” broadly defined. Students will accumulate significant experience collaborating with organizations and institutions throughout the city and region. By mandating a related internship of at least one full year, the program promotes the application of academic research outside of the academy. Universities like IU Indianapolis offer an innovative and interdisciplinary mix of methods and theory courses to develop the knowledge and skills required necessary to thrive in all sorts of environments.

Degree Requirements

90 total hours; 60 hours beyond a M.A. or M.S.

Core courses (6 hours)

• AMST-A 601: American Studies in Theory
• AMST-A 602: American Studies in Practice
• AMST Doctoral Seminar (Research blog and in-person seminar for students)

Methods courses (18 credits)

Most departments consistently teach methods courses as part of their graduate programs. Such courses will comprise the foundation for the doctoral program in American Studies. The courses are distributed across three categories: analytical, digital, and quantitative/qualitative. Consultation between a student, the chair of the student’s committee, and, if possible, input from the internship director will help determine which courses are necessary.

Minor Concentration (12 credits)

Every student will have at least one minor concentration. The list below covers those areas in which minors either already exist or can be easily created. Students also have the option of creating, in consultation with their committee, a minor that brings together courses from a few disciplines.

Electives (24 credit hours)

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this Ph.D., the student will choose elective courses that complement this applied doctoral program. The student will work with her/his faculty committee to identify those courses that best complement the research questions of the Ph.D. concentration and that supplement the theories and areas of cultural study within American Studies. Electives also can be satisfied by coursework already completed prior to acceptance in the doctoral program such as a master’s degree or other applicable graduate-level work.

Qualifying Exam—Written

All students shall take a written, qualifying examination that aims to assess the student’s knowledge and readiness to carry out successful research. This exam must be completed by the semester prior to the start of the student’s dissertation.

Internship and Applied Dissertation (30 credit hours)

Among the chief aims of the program is to provide doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences with opportunities to train for careers outside of academia. The doctoral internship required of this program places interns in non-profit, for-profit, and government agencies where interns participate full time in the substantive work of an organization. The AMST Program works with the external organization to cover costs associated with graduate training, including health insurance and monthly stipends. The doctoral internship serves as part of the research for student dissertations and therefore must be guided by the student’s research committee.

Dissertation

The American Studies Program encourages a student to investigate problems connected with the internship; therefore, the final product will be an applied dissertation. The applied dissertation will contribute to the literature in a student’s concentration area. The dissertation must be an original contribution to knowledge and of high scholarly merit. The candidate’s research must reveal critical ability and powers of imagination and synthesis. The dissertation is written under the supervision of a research director and a research committee and cannot be a collection of unrelated published papers. There must be a logical connection between all components of the dissertation, and these must be integrated in a rational and coherent fashion. It is the responsibility of the student’s research committee to determine the kind and amount of published material that may be included in a dissertation.

The student must maintain a B+ average (3.3) or higher in order to graduate. In addition, the student must pass the comprehensive examination and complete either a thesis or an applied learning project in order to complete the degree requirements.

Admission Requirements:

Recruitment of candidates for this program will present opportunities that are somewhat atypical for doctoral programs in the liberal arts. Traditionally, doctoral programs attract students who wish to work with specific faculty members within specific disciplines in order to build expertise and future careers in that discipline. The program seeks to attract students who believe contemporary problems require understanding and analysis that a research degree anchored in the liberal arts can provide. Rather than recruit students to become future academics, this program uses academic training to develop expertise that can be applied primarily outside of classrooms. To that end, the recruitment of students will depend on establishing clear connections between external partners for internships, research centers at IU Indianapolis, and faculty who will mentor students by helping them build programs that prepare them for fields in which they will intern.

Candidates are not required to hold advanced degrees in any particular discipline, but this program will likely attract students holding either a B.A. or M.A. in liberal arts disciplines or related degrees. Candidates should have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test (Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing). While the program does not expect to institute a fixed minimum requirement, students shall be advised that successful candidates typically have scores above the 70th percentile in the verbal, quantitative, and analytic writing sections.

Beyond these measures for admission, the applicants shall submit a written statement of purpose for entering the Ph.D. program, three letters of recommendation from individuals in professional positions able to judge success (at least one letter from a tenured or tenure-track faculty), original transcripts, and a curriculum vitae.

Applicants should submit the following:

• Completed application form for Indiana University Gradu­ate School.
• Personal Statement.
• Official transcripts of all college level coursework.
• Three letters of recommendation (from university instructors and/or professional associates) sent directly to the Director of Graduate Studies.
• *GRE scores are not required for admission to the program if the applicant has a graduate degree; however, GRE scores are required for those applicants who have not completed a graduate degree or who feel their scores will enhance their application.
• Interna­tional students must submit TOEFL scores. Information about TOEFL can be obtained from the International Affairs Office, 902 W. New York Street, ES 2126, Indianapolis, IN 46202 or 317- 274-7000.

Language Requirements:

For applicants whose native language is not English, IU Indianapolis requires a 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL or 550 on the paper-based TOEFL or a 6.5 on the IELTS or a G011 or higher on the IU Indianapolis EAP Placement Exam taken from within the last two years. However, because of the importance of writing skills on a program with a dissertation requirement, applicants should typically score above the 70th percentile (i.e., 94 on the Internet-based TOEFL). Final decisions on admission shall be made by the American Studies Advisory Committee.

Contact Dr. Raymond Haberski , Director of American Studies.

Related Links

• American Studies Minor
• Meet our Ph.D. Students
• Scholarships

Featured Story

• Spotlighting Youth Voices: The Talking Guns Project
• Career Readiness Starts Now!
• A Student Takeover for the 2022 Celebration of Scholarship!
• 2022-23 Student Ambassador Applications Due by April 3
• Why Graduate School at IUPUI?

American Studies

Share this page.

“America” is vast. The “United States” is non-unified. These words name a geographical place (with borders that shift over time), a nexus of power, a set conjunction of cultures, an idea, and an ever-changing, ever-moving group of people. Because “America” exceeds standard categories of evidence, American Studies approaches it in interdisciplinary ways. Scholars in American Studies integrate disciplinary methods to grapple with big issues: environment and climate, labor, democracy, colonialism and empire, religion, capitalism, carcerality, indigeneity and migration, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and much more. American Studies is problem-based: we train students to ask bold questions, to identify the right evidence to answer those questions, and to develop the methodological skills needed to analyze the evidence. American Studies cultivates a “both/and” perspective: we are capacious, nimble, politically engaged, sometimes contentious, often quirky, and always in process. We consider the US in global context, and global forces within the US in Harvard’s American Studies doctoral program—the second-oldest in the nation—we unite around the goal of understanding how historical events and cultural acts of meaning-making affect each other. 

The resources available to students in American Studies are as broad as Harvard University itself. Our program is guided by a core committee of 15 to 20 faculty members and about 40 additional affiliated faculty members drawn from across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools. Our students are free to take courses and pursue dissertation projects with virtually any combination of mentors on campus, creating new constellations of expertise and new approaches to scholarship as they do so. The students come together in the American Studies Colloquium (two core courses, one taken in each of the first two years), in a required seminar on professional development in the third year, and in twice-annual gatherings for the presentation of prospectuses and dissertation chapters. A common study space provides a welcoming home base for mutual support and collegiality. 

Given our large and diverse affiliated faculty, we are able to support an uncommonly broad array of projects. We have distinctive strengths in such areas as the study of early America, African American studies, Latinx studies, indigenous studies, gender studies, performance studies, carceral studies, visual and material culture, food studies, environmental history, literary history, music history, religious studies, and the history of capitalism. 

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the program in American Studies  and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies . 

Admissions Requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the program in American Studies .

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required as part of the application and can be a term paper, senior thesis, master’s essay, or a collection containing several examples of written work. There is no page limit.

Statement of Purpose

Applicants should indicate their research interests and potential advisors in the Statement of Purpose.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Optional GRE Subject: Optional

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for American Studies

See list of American Studies faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

• American Studies

Fields include American literature, history, the arts and material culture, philosophy, cultural theory, and the social sciences.

• Programs of Study
• PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
• Combined PhD
• MA - Master of Arts

Daniel HoSang

Director of Graduate Studies

• [email protected]

Susan Shand

Departmental Registrar

• [email protected]
• 203-432-1186

Admission Requirements

Standardized testing requirements.

GRE is not accepted.

Program-Specific Application Requirements

A writing sample is required by this program. 

English Language Requirement

TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

You may be exempt from this requirement if you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years.

Combined Degree Program Application Deadline

*The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Academic Information

Combined phd information.

American Studies offers a combined PhD in conjunction with several other departments and programs including: African American Studies , Film and Media Studies , and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies .

Program Advising Guidelines

GSAS Advising Guidelines

Academic Resources

Academic calendar.

The Graduate School's academic calendar lists important dates and deadlines related to coursework, registration, financial processes, and milestone events such as graduation.

Featured Resource

Registration Information and Dates

https://registration.yale.edu/

Students must register every term in which they are enrolled in the Graduate School. Registration for a given term takes place the semester prior, and so it's important to stay on top of your academic plan. The University Registrar's Office oversees the systems that students use to register. Instructions about how to use those systems and the dates during which registration occurs can be found on their registration website.

Financial Information

Phd stipend & funding.

PhD students at Yale are normally fully-funded. During their programs, our students receive a twelve-month stipend to cover living expenses and a fellowship that covers the full cost of tuition and student healthcare.

• PhD Student Funding Overview
• Graduate Financial Aid Office
• PhD Stipends
• Health Award
• Tuition and Fees

Master's Funding

While Master's programs are not generally funded, there are resources available to students to help navigate financial responsibilities during graduate school.

• Master's Student Funding Overview
• Yale Student Grants Database
• Student Employment
• Loans for US Citizens
• Loans for Non-US Citizens

Alumni Insights

Below you will find alumni placement data for our departments and programs.