The graduate program in American Culture Studies offers training in multidisciplinary approaches to the study of American experiences, past and present. American culture comprises the ways of life practiced in the United States and in all the lands incorporated into the nation -- in various communities and in society at large, during particular periods or over long stretches of time. Any artifact, idea, group, event, personality, image, or trend can help illuminate key characteristics of American culture when it is examined from the multiple perspectives of many disciplines and critical methods.

As part of the AmCS graduate curriculum, students pursuing the Ph.D. in affiliated departments (such as Anthropology, Art History, Economics, English, History, Political Science, and others) can obtain an additional Certificate in American Culture Studies upon graduation. Washington University's Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) does not offer any other degrees in American Culture Studies. The University's evening division, University College, offers a part-time master's degree in American Culture Studies.

The graduate American Culture Studies curriculum allows the doctoral student to develop expertise in at least one other discipline beyond his or her home department. It encourages the student to bring that added competence to bear in original, multidisciplinary dissertation research that satisfies the demands of the principal specialty while also charting creative new paths in broad-based scholarship.

In order to encourage this kind of scholarship, the American Culture Studies Program aims to build a community of graduate students and faculty who share interests in American topics and trade knowledge, methods, and ideas across departmental bounds. The links among graduate students across campus, as well as their access to faculty from a variety of disciplines, help to expand the scope of intellectual interaction and to avert temptations to hunker down in unduly narrow corners of scholarly proficiency. It is hoped that this kind of community-building will promote the cross-fertilizing give and take of ideas that makes graduate study most stimulating.

Students who satisfy curricular requirements for 18 credits in American studies courses outside their home departments will receive the American Culture Studies Certificate along with the award of the Ph.D., when they complete all requirements of their home department and the Graduate School. This is one of the interdisciplinary certificates offered by Arts & Sciences programs, intended as a credential of special competency. The certificate enables its holders to build academic careers including interdisciplinary teaching and distinctive research profiles.

The graduate program in American Culture Studies also invites students to participate in a range of academic and public events promoting discussion of, and new research in, issues of American history, economy, society, culture, personality, and politics.

• Lectures and workshops offered by distinguished visiting scholars or public figures, such as Thomas Sugrue and Richard Rodriguez, or Washington University faculty.
• Reading groups, guest lecturers, and academic conferences in American culture studies provide other avenues for graduate student involvement.
• Summer exchanges and seminars (currently under development) in American studies programs at other U.S. universities, and in academic institutes abroad, will provide opportunities to enrich the understanding of regional variation and cross-national perspectives in culture studies.

AmCS offers fellowships to a select number of graduate students across the range of participating departments who want to complete the certificate, teach in American Culture Studies, and participate in program development.

If you are interested in being considered for an AmCS fellowship, please write to Professor Wayne Fields, Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Chair in English and Director of American Culture Studies, Campus Box 1126, Washington University, at the time you submit your application to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In your letter, please explain the nature of your interest in American Culture Studies and how you expect your work toward the Certificate to enhance your graduate studies. You can also contact the American Culture Studies Office for information at 314-935-4912 or via email: acsp@artsci.wustl.edu.

American Culture Studies offers a part-time master's degree administered through University College, the evening division of Washington University. The M.A. requires 30 credits of course work in American topics (distributed among history and literature, the social sciences, and the arts), and a master's thesis or directed research project. More information is available from University College, (314) 935-6700.