Explore the American Experience in all its Diversity
American Studies focuses on one big question: What does it mean to be an American? This is not an easy question to answer and the stakes are high. As a nation of natives and immigrants, the United States has always encompassed diverse racial and ethnic groups. Throughout rapidly changing historical and global contexts, Americans have forged various cultures expressing the diversity of American experience. American Studies examines those cultures, societies, and politics from multiple perspectives. How do we express, institutionalize, celebrate, and contest American identities?
"American Studies, to me, provides an ability to develop a uniquely critical and intellectual eye for the American cultural landscape. We think for ourselves. We’re ready to weather whatever comes our way
after we leave Notre Dame"
-Maisie O’Malley, from her American Studies Graduate Address
