Welcome to American Studies

Wesleyan’s interdisciplinary Department of American Studies provides a broad grounding in the study of the United States in a hemispheric and global context. American Studies majors draw on the intellectual resources of a variety of disciplines—Anthropology, Art History, English, History, Religion, and Sociology, as well as interdisciplinary programs such as Latin American Studies, African American Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Individually designed concentrations, which are the hallmark of the department, allow students to forge interdisciplinary approaches to the particular issues that interest them, from visual culture and aesthetics to racial politics and gender systems.

Alongside its interdisciplinary emphasis, American Studies at Wesleyan stresses a comparative approach to the study of the United States. Such prominent features of U.S. cultural development as colonization, slavery, immigration, imperialism, capitalism, mass culture, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, political culture, the importance of modern social and political identities, and state development are juxtaposed to similar processes and phenomena in a variety of nations in the Americas. By studying cultural phenomena across national boundaries, American Studies majors develop a rich understanding of the complex histories that have resulted from the conflict and confluence of European, indigenous, African, and Asian cultures throughout the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific.

2024 American Studies Prize Winners

Elena Brennan’24 (She/Her) is an American Studies Major and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. Over the two-year duration of her fellowship, she refined her skills in academic research, culminating in her thesis work. Beyond the classroom, she served as the Equity and Inclusion Committee Chair of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) from 2021-2023 and its Vice-President during her senior year. For her leadership on the WSA she was awarded the 2022 Leonard Prize from the University, and the Cardinal Crest Award from the Office of Student Involvement. Off campus, Elena works as an intern with DesegregateCT, a progressive land use reform platform. This experience deepened her understanding of housing and mobility justice, leaving her curious about the social implications of physical transportation infrastructure both globally and within Connecticut. This curiosity led to her senior thesis, “The American City: Technocracy, Community, and Highway Construction in Postwar New Haven,” where she examines the interplay between national and local discourses to explore how postwar highway construction impacted urban spatial organization and social relations within her hometown of New Haven. For her thesis, she was awarded High Honors, and is a 2024 recipient of the Marni Goldstein White Prize for the Best Thesis in American Studies.

Ethan Park '24 (He/Him) is an American Studies Major, African American Studies Minor, and a Fall '23 Student Fellow at the Center for Humanities (CFH). With a focus in diasporic and postcolonial studies, Ethan's senior thesis, "Dreaming Reunion: Narratives of Impasse and Return to a 'Global Korea,'" confronts South Korea as a mediated site of (1) diasporic longing, (2) geopolitical impasse, and (3) globalized imagination since the turn of the century. Ethan has worked on campus as a Peer Writing Mentor at the Shapiro Center and a Senior Dialogue Fellow for PHIL210: Living a Good Life. Outside the classroom, Ethan is a poet, musician, and member of the Latin & Ballroom Performance Team. He was also inducted into Wesleyan's Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in Spring 2024. Ethan's senior thesis was awarded High Honors, and he is a 2024 recipient of the Marni Goldstein White Prize for the Best Thesis in American Studies.