American Studies at Emory emphasizes the study of cultural forms, practices, institutions, technologies, and movements as these unfold in history and place. As a faculty, we are particularly concerned with the interactions of gender, place, class, race, and ethnicity as these inflect cultural patterns. Our work currently encompasses the following: habits and structures of consumption (and consumerism), struggles for social justice, the forms--literary, musical, visual, and material--of popular culture, religious and ethnic histories and communities, the social construction of space. Students in the program work across the disciplines (and faculties) of the university, making particular use of Emory's strong programs in African American Studies and Women's Studies, while gaining broad expertise in the methods, theories, and materials of American Studies.

While American Studies at Emory takes the United States as its primary field of reference, we do so understanding that the external and internal borders of what we call America have changed over time, in practice, in law, and in the popular and the academic imagination. We therefore encourage both the exploration of America as population, place, and historical event and scholarship with international comparative and historical dimensions.

The Emory American Studies manages the American Routes website. American Routes is a weekly syndicated radio program distributed by Public Radio International that explores the history and varieties of American Music.

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