ChooseWhy Choose This Program?

Why Study American Studies at Goucher?

The American Studies Program is one of Goucher's most interdisciplinary majors. It balances a broad foundation with a specialized concentration that students design to meet their unique interests and plans for the future. Students study history, literature, religion, music, art, folklore, and material culture, and specialize in themes such as immigration and America's education system.

LearnWhat Will You Learn?

What Will You Learn?

Students delve into American history and society; American economic and political institutions; and the beliefs, values, codes of behavior, expressive arts, myths, and symbols that constitute American culture. Courses are distributed among at least five academic centers and examine the following key themes: power and responsibility, identity, the natural and human-made environment, and cultural and social expression. While gaining content-based knowledge, students develop analytical thinking and writing skills essential to many careers.  Learn More

DoWhat Will You Do?

What Can I Do With an American Studies Major?

The program is rigorous preparation for graduate school and for professional careers in a variety of fields, including journalism, communications, law, public service, business, planning, social work, teaching, publishing, historic preservation, and museum work. This degree can lead to jobs as an archivist, historian, lobbyist, museum curator, public policy specialist, researcher and more.

Course Curriculum

Major Requirements Courses

Faculty

Program Contact

Ann Duncan
Department Chair, Susan D. Morgan Professor of American Studies and Religion, Executive Director, Goucher Prison Education Partnership
Areas of Expertise: American Religious History; Religion and Social Reform; Motherhood and American Christianity; Religion and Politics; New Religious Movements
View Ann Duncan's Bio

Full-Time & Half-Time Faculty

Maxwell Greenberg
Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies
Areas of Expertise: Ethnic; Jewish and Religious Studies; Western Empire and Settler Colonialism(s); Colonial Americas and Modern US; Race; Religion and Public Memory
View Maxwell Greenberg's Bio

Matthew Rainbow Hale
Associate Professor of History
Areas of Expertise: Early American History; Atlantic Revolutions; Print Culture
View Matthew Rainbow Hale's Bio

Nina Kasniunas
Associate Professor of Political Science and Arsht Professor in Ethics and Leadership
Area of Expertise: American Politics
View Nina Kasniunas' Bio

Mary Marchand
Professor of English
Areas of Expertise: American Literature; American Studies

Jamie Mullaney
Professor of Sociology
Areas of Expertise: Culture and Cognition; Qualitative Methods; Gender; Time; Identity; Emotions
View Jamie Mullaney's Bio

Jeanie Murphy
Associate Professor of Hispanic and Latinx Studies
Areas of Expertise: Latin American Literature and Theater; Latin American Cultural Studies; Latin American History; Gender Studies
View Jeanie Murphy's Bio

Angelo Robinson
Associate Professor of English
Areas of Expertise: African American Literature; American Literature; American Studies; Gender and Sexuality
View Angelo Robinson's Bio

Carolyn Schwarz
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Areas of Expertise: Cultural Anthropology; Global Christianity; Health and Wellbeing; Healthcare Delivery; Food; Aboriginal Australia; Anthropology of the United States
View Carolyn Schwarz's Bio

Janet Shope
Professor of Sociology
Areas of Expertise: Sociology of Medicine; Inequality; Gender; Research Methods
View Janet Shope's Bio

Daniel Swann
Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology
Areas of Expertise: Race; Atheism; CRT; Social Psychology; Religion; Rhetoric and Public Discourse; Methods; Political Sociology
View Daniel Swann's Bio

David Zurawik
Assistant Professor
Areas of Expertise: Journalism; Media Criticism; New Media
View David Zurawik's Bio


Professor Emeritus or Emerita or Emeriti

Jean Baker
Bennett-Hartwood Professor of History
Areas of Expertise: U.S. History; 19th Century: Women’s History

Julie Roy Jeffrey
Professor of History
Areas of Expertise: 19th-Century American Reform; Especially Abolitionism; Religion; Gender

Opportunities & Internships

Internships

Internships help students explore possibilities, apply classroom learning, and gain experience. Explore internships and credit options.

Student Employment

Student employment connects students to both on and off-campus opportunities. The Career Education Office provides resources and support to students with or without Federal Work Study to find jobs, submit applications, and learn more about the job search process. Students have access to Handshake — a website for job postings, events, resumes/cover letters, and career management.

Major & Career Exploration

Exploring career options, choosing a major, and making career decisions is a multi-step process in which all students are encouraged to engage early and often. Goucher students have a variety of resources available through the Majors and Career page to assist them in this process.

Job Search

A Goucher education prepares students for today’s job market and beyond. Students can explore job opportunities and access job search resources through the CEO Job Search page.

Graduate & Professional School

Students access resources for searching and applying to graduate and professional school through the CEO Graduate and Professional School page, through faculty and staff members, or utilizing their own resources, network and tools.

Academic Partnerships

Goucher College has partnered with other institutions to provide students with expanded academic and post-graduate opportunities. Partnerships include dual-degree programs and accelerated graduate pathways with the following colleges: Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola, Middlebury, Notre Dame of Maryland University, University of Maryland Baltimore.

I am a Global ChangemakerChevron iconJaclyn Peiser ‘14

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Works for The Washington Post

“My professor saw my potential and told me I should seriously consider journalism as a career…he reviewed my application for journalism school and was an invaluable resource…”

 

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