American Studies at the University of Kansas offers an interdisciplinary program in which faculty and students think critically about the many institutional and cultural meanings of America, popular culture, society and identity. Through studying topics such as film, jazz, literature, visual culture, gender, race and religion, American Studies investigates America in the present and the past, beyond both disciplinary and national boundaries. Given our recognition of the critical impact of difference and power in American life, we insist that a student's program of study consider the profound impact of diversity on society and address differential power structures in American life and social relations. Motivated advanced students have the opportunity to work independently on research and service projects.
| news | Fairway couple will receive KU doctoral hoods together.
He hadn’t intended to go through with the centuries-old ritual of the doctoral “hooding” ceremony, and she certainly had no such plans herself. After all, Jane Mobley skipped it 35 years ago when she completed her doctorate in English at the University of Kansas, and she wasn’t about to be hooded now. But after she insisted her husband, Phil Hofstra, go through with it, he said, “Well, let’s do you, too.” To read more about the Fairway couple who will receive KU doctoral hoods together click here
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Deanell Reece Tacha receives Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award for 2009 Federal appellate judge, U.S. Court of Appeals
Anecdote: Tacha believes the only way to a humane future is through civil discourse and tolerant listening. “My only advice is: take the courses that are hardest, listen carefully to all viewpoints, integrate and examine every position, and speak in measured, thoughtful, constructive, and respectful tones. Treasure the past and nurture the future. In other words, be for another generation what Emily Taylor, Norman Yetman and Chancellor Franklin Murphy were for me. That is my KU.” Quote: Tacha says she had no idea when she decided to major in American studies how important that interdisciplinary approach would be in her career path. “In many ways, the job of being a judge is the ultimate interdisciplinary job. Every case requires us to learn about something new that inevitably intersects disciplines. My American studies courses made me look beyond the confi nes of one particular discipline and consider information and engage in an analysis in light of a host of different sources.” |
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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences introduces new Latino/a studies minor The interdisciplinary program offers students the opportunity to study what census reports have identified as the largest minority group in the United States and Kansas. Read the full announcement |
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New Scholarships Announced Generations of University of Kansas students will benefit from two $10,000 endowed scholarships established in memory of a former KU professor's parents. The John S. and Yoshino Harmon Multicultural Scholars Award and the John S. and Yoshino Harmon Award in American Studies funds were established through KU Endowment by their children, former KU professor Chico Herbison, Olympia, Wash., and Tonya Farmer, Kansas City, Mo. Read the announcement. |
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New Study Abroad Program in the Netherlands The American Studies Program has set up a Study Abroad program with Radboud University Nijmegen in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, a 2,000 year-old city located near the border with Germany. The University was established in 1923, boasts an enrollment of 17,000, and offers a wide variety of classes for exchange students, from American Studies to Environmental Science, from Literature to Psychology. For a full list of courses, and more information on the program, visit the Study Abroad page on Radboud University Nijmegen. Be sure to explore the other opportunities for American Studies students to study abroad, too. |
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Congratulations to Professors Ruben Flores and Ann Schofield! Professor Flores received a fellowship from UT-Austin: The Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Texas-Austin has appointed five external research fellows for 2008-09 from an extraordinarily talented and diverse pool of over 230 applicants. The external research fellows are: Nancy Appelbaum, Binghamton University; Ruben Flores, University of Kansas; David Kinkela, Suny-Fredonia; James Sweet, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Ebru Turan, Fordham University. "We congratulate and welcome them to the IHS and to UT-Austin," said Prof. Julie Hardwick, director of the Institute. Visit the IHS website for more information. Professor Schofield was awarded a Senior Fellowship at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford for the 2008-09 academic year. This fellowship will support writing and research on her book manuscript, The Age of Respectability: Gender, Class and Cultural Change in America, 1870-1920 which studies how respectability functions as a surrogate for class in an ostensibly classless society. |
KU degree: Bachelor’s in American studies Background: Tacha graduated in the top 10 percent of her high school class—of 10 students—and has continued to impress ever since. After working in Washington, D.C., she joined the KU School of Law faculty in 1974, becoming associate dean of the law school and eventually vice chancellor for academic affairs. She was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 1985. Tacha has served as a National Trustee of the American Inns of Court Foundation, past chair of the Appellate Judges Conference and a past chair of the national board of directors of the KU Alumni Association.