American Studies

Academic Department Introduction

American studies explores the history and cultures of the United States and its place in the world. As an interdisciplinary field, American studies encompasses literature, history, art history, media studies, sociology, film studies, and music, among other social science and humanities disciplines. Majors choose a concentration that adds depth and coherence to their coursework. We also offer minors in Asian American studies and Latina/o studies that examine the histories and cultures of these groups within the United States and abroad.

Learning goals

Understand the United States’ histories and cultures.
Evaluate the influence and impact of America beyond its borders.
Examine the racial, ethnic, and religious interactions that define its identity.

Programs of Study

American studies major

Students gain skills as critical thinkers, cogent writers, and skillful researchers on a broad range of topics in American life.

Major requirements

Asian American studies minor

The interdisciplinary Asian American studies minor examines the lives, cultures, and histories of people of Asian descent living in the Americas. It intersects significantly with the study of other minority groups in the United States and with the study of the Asia-Pacific region.

Minor requirements

Latina/o studies minor

The Latina/o studies minor focuses on the experiences, cultures, and politics of people of Latin American descent living in the United States. Its interdisciplinary study of social inequalities and racial dynamics overlaps with fields such as Africana studies and Asian American studies.

Minor requirements

Our faculty

Genevieve Clutario

Associate Professor of American Studies
Paul Fisher

Professor of American Studies
Michael Jeffries

Dean of Academic Affairs, Class of 1949 Chair in Ethics and Professor of American Studies
Irene Mata

Professor of American Studies
Petra Rivera-Rideau

Associate Professor of American Studies

Genevieve Clutario

Associate Professor of American Studies

Paul Fisher

Professor of American Studies

Michael Jeffries

Dean of Academic Affairs, Class of 1949 Chair in Ethics and Professor of American Studies

Irene Mata

Professor of American Studies

Petra Rivera-Rideau

Associate Professor of American Studies

Course highlights

Asian/American Politics of Beauty

AMST310

This course examines historical and contemporary contexts and processes of defining Asian/American beauty as well as the ways in which beauty is used to manage bodies, define social hierarchies, and gain or maintain power. Moreover, this course asks how presentations of beauty, especially “beautiful bodies,” could also be used as forms of subversion and resistance. Looking at sites such beauty pageants, cosmetic consumer cultures, drag performances, cosmetic surgery, and the transnational production and consumption of beauty influencers we will investigate how race, gender, sexuality, and class informs definitions of beauty and how definitions of beauty inform constructions of race, gender, sexuality, and class.

Seminar: Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggaeton

AMST323

Benito Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, has quickly risen through the ranks to become one of the most significant and impactful global Latin music stars in history. This course explores what analyzing Bad Bunny can teach us in Latinx Studies. We will explore his role in the 2019 protests in Puerto Rico, and what the summer of 2019 teaches us about U.S. empire and Puerto Rican politics. We will also pay particular attention to the politics of race, gender, and queerness in Bad Bunny’s performance. Finally, we will consider Bad Bunny as a Spanish-language “crossover” star in the United States to understand the place of Latinx artists in the U.S. mainstream. Overall, this course will explore these topics by closely situating Bad Bunny’s work in relation to key texts in Latinx Studies regarding race, empire, gender, and queerness.

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Research highlights

Professor Paul Fisher’s book, The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World (Macmillan, 2022), was named a Book of the Year by the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, and Times Literary Supplement. Fisher helped organize the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s 2020 exhibit Boston’s Apollo: Thomas McKeller and John Singer Sargent, and contributed to its catalog, which won the George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award.
The Bad Bunny Syllabus, created by Professor Petra Rivera-Rideau and Loyola Marymount University’s Professor Vanessa Diaz, is a free online resource for contextualizing the Puerto Rican reggaetón artist’s rise to superstardom. Using music, podcasts, academic articles, and other media, the syllabus explores reggaetón history and gender politics, as well as topics important to Puerto Rico, such as LGBTQ rights, the debt crisis, Hurricane María, race, and the island’s status as a commonwealth.
In Beauty Regimes (Duke University Press, 2023), Professor Genevieve Clutario tells the story of how—in an era of overlapping imperial regimes and the rise of Filipino nationalism—empire and beauty work together and gender becomes a guiding lens through which imperial and nation-state aspirations must be understood.

Beyond Wellesley

Careers of American studies graduates include the law, teaching grades K–12, and nonprofit work. Recent employers include BASIS Charter Schools, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Facebook.