The Department of American Studies at Brown University was founded in 1945 as a collaborative as well as interdisciplinary enterprise. The first catalog statement explained that it provided “the student with a more comprehensive and better unified knowledge of American Studies . . . than would be possible within the limits of a single department.” This rigorous interdisciplinary approach still informs the program's goal of reaching a better understanding of the diverse cultures, groups, and experiences that make up American Studies. Today, we work principally in three areas: American Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Public Humanities.
The Department encourages students to take courses not only with our own faculty, but with faculty throughout the University and internationally. In addition to traditional research and publishing, faculty and students work in the community, in popular journals, and online to provide their research findings and skills to the public. Drawing deeply from the traditions of the liberal arts, American Studies at Brown is predicated on the ideal of a scholarly engagement with the public that enables its graduates to, as Brown's 1764 University Charter demands, "discharge the offices of life with usefulness and reputation."
Affiliations
Faculty Administrative Positions
Alvarado, LeticiaInterim Chair of American Studies
Faculty Positions
Abdur-Rahman, AliyyahProfessor of American Studies and English
Alvarado, LeticiaAssociate Professor of American Studies
Baldoz, RichardAssociate Professor of American Studies
Buhle, Mari JoProfessor Emerita of American Studies
Escudero, Kevin AAssociate Professor of American Studies
Fremland, Jessica RAssistant Professor of American Studies
Guterl, MatthewProfessor of Africana Studies and American Studies
Haviland, BeverlySenior Lecturer Emerita in American Studies
Hernandez, Jesus JamesAdjunct Assistant Professor of American Studies
Hu-Dehart, EvelynProfessor of American Studies
Kim, DanielProfessor of American Studies
Lee, Robert GeorgeAssociate Professor Emeritus of American Studies
Lee, ShelleyW. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of American Studies
Lubar, Steven DGeorge L. Littlefield Professor Emeritus of American History
Malone, Patrick MProfessor Emeritus of American Studies
Meckel, Richard AlanProfessor Emeritus of American Studies
Miller, Kiri MProfessor of American Studies
Murphy, KianaManning Assistant Professor of American Studies
Potvin, RonAdjunct Lecturer in American Studies
Rodriguez, Ralph EProfessor of American Studies
Shih, ElenaAssociate Professor of American Studies
Smulyan, SusanProfessor Emerita of American Studies
Smulyan, SusanProfessor of American Studies (Research)
St Armand, Barton LProfessor Emeritus of American Studies
Weinstein, DebbieAssociate Professor of American Studies
Zipp, SamuelProfessor of American Studies and Urban Studies