专业描述

The American Studies program is part of the Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism and Diaspora. American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that studies the paradigmatic narratives that shape our received understandings of the American past and present. American Studies considers contexts such as settler colonialism, slavery, labor, capitalism, immigration and war, all of which have influenced the ideas, history, culture and society of the United States. Students examine how political, economic and social differences inform and are reproduced by institutions and in public areas such as the law, education, work, health and the environment. Students attend to the intersecting dynamics of race, class, religion, region, gender and sexuality, and consider how these dynamics are mediated by literature, music, the visual arts and popular culture. Established in 1980, the Tufts program offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies. The signature feature of the program is the interdisciplinary clusters, which offer students the opportunity to design their own course of study. With the help of their advisor, students draw upon the academic resources of a variety of disciplines – Anthropology, Art History, Drama, English, History, Music, Religion and Sociology, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as Africana Studies, Asian American Studies, Latino Studies, Community Health, Education, International Studies, Peace and Justice Studies, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, or Environmental Studies. In their senior year, all American Studies seniors design a capstone project or honors thesis related to their cluster. They are encouraged to engage with and contribute to the public sphere as interns, artists, activists and scholars.