The American Studies Program Mission Statement

The mission of the American Studies program is to produce engaged and thoughtful citizens who are aware of how they have been shaped by the American experience and how they can be responsible citizens both in a multicultural United States and in a global environment.  Students in American Studies will analyze the place of America within the larger scope of world affairs, both through an understanding of how American continues to be shaped within its borders by the contributions of a variety of national and ethnic groups, and by analysis of how America relates to and is perceived by countries outside its own borders. 

The Goals of the American Studies Program
Students will examine American culture from a range of historic and present local, regional, and global perspectives.

Students will develop skills in interdisciplinary, holistic, connected critical thinking, making connections between different fields of academic inquiry, and producing sustained, reasoned, critical analysis of American culture, society, and history.

Students will develop critical self-awareness of how they as individuals have been shaped by their particular American experience as well as a broader understanding of the diverse cultures of the United States and the influential factors of class, gender, race, ethnicity, and religious background.

Students will be able to put theory into practice through service-learning initiatives at local arts, government, charitable and other appropriate organizations.

American Studies is also committed to enriching the life of the campus and community through sponsoring speakers, films, visiting artists, and so on, fostering connections between the campus and community organizations, and facilitating research collaborations between Americanist faculty from different disciplines at IPFW.