About the Program

The Master's program in American Studies offers students the opportunity to study many aspects of the culture of the United States, including its history, literature, and arts. The program draws upon the methods and insights of several disciplines, as well as those distinctive to American Studies, and emphasizes the history and culture of Hartford and of the Connecticut Valley. It is intended to serve people interested in culture and history, teachers, curators of local collections, and others who desire an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the United States at the graduate level. The program has several features that distinguish it from other graduate programs in the humanities and the social sciences.

First and foremost, the American Studies program is interdisciplinary. A fundamental aim is to enable students to integrate the knowledge of historians, scholars of American literature and culture, art historians, and other specialists, to achieve an understanding of American life and letters that no single discipline can provide. The program is meant to be both flexible--it allows students wide choice among electives in many fields; and focused--it directs interdisciplinary learning to the goal of illuminating the American experience.

In addition to these features, the program also takes advantage of the rich resources for American Studies located in Greater Hartford. Students are encouraged to combine classroom learning with research and internships in the excellent libraries, museums, archives and other institutions in the Hartford region. The following are among the resources available to students in the program:

African-American Cultural Center (Yale)
Antiquarian and Landmarks Society of Connecticut
Connecticut Historical Society
Connecticut State Library
Hartford Public Library
Hill-Stead Museum
Mark Twain Memorial
Mashantucket-Pequot Museum
Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies (Mystic Seaport)
New Britain Museum of American Art
Old State House
Real Art Ways
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Wadsworth Atheneum
Watkinson Library of Trinity College
Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum (Wethersfield)
West Hartford Historical Society
Wethersfield Historical Society

Whenever possible, courses in the program draw upon the collections of these institutions. The program gives special attention to artists and intellectuals who made their homes in Hartford; to the ethnic communities of this region; to the experience of women; and to the topics that can be explored in depth by the use of research collections in or near the city.

For more information about the resources available to students please visit our Related Links.