American Studies – (M.A.)

American Studies is a vibrant, challenging and exciting field of studies. First established as an academic discipline in the United States in the 1920s, American Studies is now recognized internationally as one of the most stimulating degree programs in cultural studies. Despite cynicism and censure in some quarters, there is no denying that in terms of its global impact American culture is the world´s only "super-culture." It is inconceivable that one can come to an effective understanding of the complexity of today´s world without a thorough analysis of the history and culture of the nation that has in various degrees impacted on the way we live and the way we think about the world and ourselves.

Exploring the cultural domain called "the United States of America," American Studies starts from the premise that "America" was shaped as much by its literature, arts, folklore, music, film, philosophy, commerce, entertainment, media, education, science and religion, as by its Constitution, its laws, political treaties and wars.

Initially, American Studies explored the question of what constituted America´s common national identity. In the course of the 1960s the focus of study shifted more and more to America´s racial, ethnic, social and regional diversity, as well as to exploring and theorizing the cultural and ideological processes that have generated, mediated and institutionalized this diversity. Besides studying "high culture," the discipline increasingly began to analyze aspects of the culture of everyday social practice-film, music, fast food, the media and other forms of "popular culture."

What has not changed since the 1920s is the awareness that none of the academic monodisciplines (history, literature, sociology, art history, philosophy, and so on) is sufficiently equipped to offer a comprehensive account of the complex dynamics of American culture. Interdisciplinarity has therefore always been a key defining characteristic of American Studies. Not surprisingly, American Studies has been at the forefront of developments in the broader field of cultural studies.