BA in American Studies in Long Beach United States | California State University, Long Beach

As prominent American Studies expert George Lipsitz describes, American Studies is a multidisciplinary area exploring American society and culture. This field operates both in academic settings and local communities. Researchers in American Studies explore where American democratic principles shine brightest and where they still fall short.

Central inquiries include: What defines an American? Why does culture matter to our existence and sense of self? How do we portray history, and what significance—and constraints—do these portrayals carry? In what ways does culture—including mass media, creative works, and writings—become an arena for societal debates? How do various communities across the Americas perceive their identities and connections to the U.S.? What insights emerge when we analyze our surroundings from multiple viewpoints? These are among the core issues tackled in American Studies, a cross-disciplinary examination of America's past, present, and cultural expressions.

Established slightly more than five decades ago, American Studies remains a dynamic, adaptable, and expanding scholarly pursuit, recognized for raising fresh inquiries, offering novel angles on U.S. cultural examination, and contributing original insights to academic and public discussions about national character and lived experiences. Spanning literature, history, arts, music, psychology, political science, linguistics, and environmental research, American Studies can adopt an introspective, narrow focus or provide a wide-ranging perspective on global spatial, temporal, creative, cultural, and societal frontiers.