According to the American Studies Association, “In its relatively brief history, American Studies has taken on many different incarnations and identities. Founded in the 1930s and 1940s as a locus of interdisciplinary inquiry into the national cultures of the United States, it has become a generative field of intellectual curiosity and creativity, a nexus of energy and engagement. American Studies scholars share a dynamic commitment to democratic inquiry rather than a universally agreed upon canon of required methods or venerated works. The field encompasses an eclectic array of practices and pedagogies that cohere around openness to studying diverse research objects, asking a broad range of research questions, and engaging with a wide range of scholarly approaches, methods and theories.”

Read more about the field of American Studies from the American Studies Association here.