American Studies (BA)

College of Arts and Sciences

Program Website

Program Description

The major in the American Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary engagement with what America means in the United States and in a global context. Students are encouraged to look at the meaning and reality of the evolving United States as a question still in need of answering and as an experiment still in process, not as a dream fully realized. Multiple perspectives and methodologies are used, which require students to synthesize knowledge in ways that develop the skills needed for rigorous, complex analysis. Many of our students go on to graduate study in disciplines such as law, medicine, and education and to careers in digital and broadcast media, teaching, publishing, and many other fields.

Declaring the Major

  • Complete the American Studies Major Application.
  • Meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the AMST Undergraduate Coordinator, to discuss an affiliated faculty advisor, is recommended but not required.

Honors

Beginning with graduates in the 2026-2027 academic year, Latin Honors will be awarded at the college level, and the department will award only one level of Honors in American Studies. 

  • Candidates must maintain an average of B+ in courses pertinent to the major and have taken at least one course in which they wrote a research paper.

  • During the second semester of their junior year, the student must identify an appropriate thesis topic and find an American Studies faculty member willing to sponsor and supervise the research. The advisor and at least the general subject of the thesis must be identified by the May 1 deadline for the application for admission to the Honors Program.
  • Upon approval, students will be provided a permission number in August to enroll in AMST 4993 Honors Essay Tutorial I . In November of their senior year, a first reader from American Studies affiliated faculty, is identified in consultation with the thesis advisor.
  • At the end of their first semester of their senior year, candidates must meet with their faculty advisor and the first reader to discuss their progress. Students must have completed either a substantial prospectus of the thesis or an introductory chapter. If satisfactory, the student will be provided a permission number in January to enroll in AMST 4994 Honors Essay Tutorial II .
  • The submission of the final thesis of approximately 50 – 60 pages is submitted to the American Studies program (american_studies@cornell.edu) by the mid-April deadline. Students must then arrange for an oral exam with their advisor and first reader before final exams begin.
  • The decision to award honors is made in individual written reports by the student’s thesis advisor and the designated affiliated faculty member.