American Studies
The program provides a rigorous yet flexible interdisciplinary study of the diverse populations and cultures in the United States, with students able to take courses from more than forty faculty members drawn from across the humanities and social sciences. Beyond core courses in history, literature and politics, students choose an area of concentration such as visual studies, cultural studies, race and ethnicity, legal and constitutional studies, the American environment or class and social structure. With its emphasis on critical thinking and writing, it is no surprise that Cornell students who major in American Studies have gone on to careers as diverse as law, journalism, medicine, business, film making and teaching.
Interesting Classes
- Democracy and its Discontents: Political Traditions in the United States
- Working-Class America in Mass Media and Popular Culture
- Jim Crow and Exclusion-Era America
- U.S. Art from FDR to Reagan
- Policing and Prisons in American Culture
Students went on to...
- Study law at the University of Chicago
- Be a production assistant at ESPN
- Teach in the Baltimore City Public School System
