Grad School / Program:
- Contact:
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235 Bessey Hall
American Studies Program
Michigan State University (MSU)
East Lansing, MI 48824
United States
Phone: 517-432-3791
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- Degrees Granted:
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Masters, Doctorate
- Programs offered:
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On-campus
- Description:
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Michigan State University offers both a Master of Arts and a PhD in the interdisciplinary program of American Studies. The PhD program does require an MA to apply and acceptance to pursue a MA does not indicate acceptance into the PhD program afterwards.
Michigan State University's American Studies Program attracts U. S. and international students from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. Emphasizing interdisciplinarity and intellectual diversity, the program is particularly strong in critical media studies, popular culture, cultural globalization, American radicalism, museum studies, jazz studies, music and ethnography, history of medicine, technology and society, Great Lakes cultures, border studies, Japanese-American relations, and American Indian studies. Graduate students will also find ample opportunity to explore the intersections among traditional disciplines, such as literature and history.
American Studies is a challenging field in which graduate students must be highly self- motivated, negotiating among disciplines to find their own intellectual paths. Graduate students in the American Studies doctoral program are expected to master at least two disciplines (ie. Sociology, Anthropology, Music, English, History, Philosophy), with a firm grounding in American Studies theory and methods. While American Studies cannot be said to possess a single method, it has emerged from an intellectual history that first sought to find commonalities between history and literature, and then turned to conceptualizations of nation, nationhood, and nationalism, including important inflections of race, class, and gender. As the field has evolved, a consciousness of the place of the U. S. in a global arena has become increasingly important, as has an emphasis on scholars developing a public voice, reaching communities outside the university. The intellectual breadth and international scope of the field can be both exciting and daunting, providing a rich range of possibilities for thesis and dissertation topics. Because of this breadth, degrees in American Studies can prepare students not only for teaching at a university level, but also for jobs in museums, public relations firms, government agencies, and media industries.
- Grad Program Website:
- http://www.americanstudies.msu.edu/
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