{"id":49,"date":"2017-10-11T03:13:27","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T03:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-american-studies\/home\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:24:42","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/american-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"American Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Featured photo: “Flag is Bleeding,” Faith Ringgold.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Studies serves as the academic focal point for the study of race and ethnicity in a national and transnational frame.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whose story is being told, ignored, modified, marginalized, reimagined? American studies provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of racial categories and racialized experiences in the United States by encouraging close and systematic examination of a wide range of cultural and political narratives, and by creating structured opportunities to apply theory in real-life community settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Majoring in American studies will prepare you for a wide variety of career opportunities including the legal profession, government, the media, post-secondary education, and academia.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Why study American Studies at Macalester?<\/h2>\n

American Studies teaches you how to build a broad, comparative, and applied framework for understanding the racial dimensions of American national identity. Students will gain an appreciation for the significance of race in their own lives and in the general world around them.\r\n\r\nWhat is American Studies? It\u2019s not the same as U.S. civics or U.S. history. Our courses respond to lived social experience. They emphasize a critical approach to race and culture\u2014in film, theater, literature, education, history, and politics. We\u2019re interdisciplinary, and we put the knowledge and experiences of marginalized people at the center of our curriculum. Course titles include: Black Public Intellectuals; Bruce Lee, His Life and Legacy; Indigeneity, Politics, and Visual Culture; Critical Prison Studies; and Latinx in the Midwest, among others.\r\n\r\nOur civic engagement component\u2014a required seminar and community-based experience during your junior year\u2014is essential, and encourages you to deal with real-world complexities of racial difference and inequality.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\t\n\t

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Life after Macalester<\/h2>\n\t \t