Do you aspire to a career in global politics, media, business, journalism, or education? Are you interested in all things American, from the U.S. political system to cultural imperialism, and from literature and film to contemporary digital cultures?
Would you like to spend a semester studying abroad at one of our partner universities in the U.S. or Canada?
Our American Studies MA will provide you with an English language learning environment that challenges you to develop your own interests and formulate your own arguments in small-group seminars. Along the way, you’ll be guided by our team of leading international researchers in the field of American Studies.
Since at least 1945, American culture and American politics have sat at the heart of our contemporary world, and American Studies is the interdisciplinary, wide-ranging study of that culture and politics and the ways that they interact not just in the United States but around the world. But doing American Studies involves more than mastering knowledge related to America and its place in the world.
After completing our MA in North American Studies, you’ll certainly know a lot about America. But you’ll also be able to think, talk, and write critically about it, independently analyze any aspect of its culture that fascinates you, and conduct your own research project that cuts across traditional academic boundaries. We don’t use boring textbooks, and we don’t just ask you to summarize what others think about a topic. We challenge you to build your own persuasive analysis of whatever it is about America that interests you.
Our students’ research topics are as diverse as America itself. From the Stars Wars franchise and its place in U.S. and global culture to gerrymandering, voter suppression, political polarization, or the history of Audubon's Birds of America–in American Studies, we let you follow your own path. And through a specially designed writing course and our network of local, national, and international partners, our students also learn how to write and communicate their ideas in English to a wide variety of public audiences.
In your first semester, we make sure you’re up to date on the latest developments in the exciting and often argumentative field of American studies, while also teaching courses based on our own research interests. Students can also do an internship during their degree. From small Dutch tech start-ups to national newspapers and consular offices in the U.S., those who have hosted our American Studies students send back glowing reports of culturally savvy, intellectually mature, and highly effective interns.
