About SLU's Department of American Studies

Whether you want to minor, major or seek the finest graduate-level training in American studies, you'll find our department to be a vibrant and dynamic community of teachers, scholars, mentors and peers.

Founded in 1963, the Saint Louis University American Studies Department carries forward a long tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship. Our community is a freestanding, autonomous academic department with its own full-time faculty and carefully designed curricula at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

We are swiftly growing our number of students and academic opportunities. Our undergraduate enrollments have more than doubled in the past half decade. Participants in our doctoral program consistently win grants, prizes and other recognitions for their research. We continue to develop exciting new options in career mentorship, internships and other activities.

Department of American Studies Mission

The mission of the Department of American Studies at Saint Louis University is to provide an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the diverse cultures of the United States.  

We foreground the ways culture—including beliefs, ideas, and practices; formations like race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability; and media or artistic expression—influences social, political, legal, and economic realities.  
 
In support of our mission, we endeavor to produce leading-edge publications, exhibitions, projects, and creative work that speak to academic and public audiences.  
We aim to provide inclusive, meaningful, equitable education for all students, where we train them to apply humanities and social science methods to literary, historical, visual, digital, and material culture sources while cultivating skills in critical thinking, clear writing, and persuasive speaking.  
 
Through collaborating with a variety of community institutions, we engage with the world around us as we reflect ethically on the stubborn problems and emancipatory possibilities posed by American cultural life.