Department of American Studies (GRAD)

The Department of American Studies offers a Ph.D. in American Studies and an M.A. in folklore as well as a graduate minor in either American Studies or folklore for students pursuing a graduate degree in other departments.

Ph.D. in American Studies

The Ph.D. degree in American Studies provides rigorous training in interdisciplinary methods dedicated to the understanding of the complex cultures and history of the United States and its place in the world. Program graduates will be prepared both to teach at the college and university levels in American studies and related fields, including Southern studies, American Indian studies, literature, history, art history, cultural studies, and folklore, and to pursue professional opportunities in museums, historical sites, archives, or related fields requiring interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies.

Admission

Students will be admitted to the Ph.D. in American Studies from a range of academic programs, some with an undergraduate degree, some with a master's degree in American Studies or another relevant discipline. Candidates for admission should be firmly grounded in the humanities, social sciences, or the arts. The best qualified students should articulate an interest in American history, literary, expressive and/or material culture, and/or critical theory; should show some familiarity with library, web-based, and/or ethnographic research methods; and should offer a specific rationale for their interest in the UNC–Chapel Hill graduate program. In addition to The Graduate School application form, candidates for admission will present one or two writing samples, a statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation, official transcripts, and a curriculum vitae. Transfer credits may be awarded at the department's discretion on the basis of course equivalencies.

Applications will be accepted in December for matriculation the following August. Consult the website of The Graduate School for details, specific deadlines, and a link to the online application system.

M.A. in Folklore

The M.A. program in folklore focuses on the study of creativity and aesthetic expression in everyday life and on the social and political implications of this expression as it unfolds in contested arenas of culture. Not bound to traditional definitions of folklore, and committed to preparing students for ethical practice in a multicultural world, the program offers a flexible M.A. curriculum that readies students for both public practice and further academic study.

Admission

Applications will be accepted in December for matriculation the following August. Consult the website of The Graduate School for details, specific deadlines, and a link to the online application system.

The Department of American Studies also offers a Ph.D. in American studies; however, admission to the M.A.in folklore does not constitute admission to the Ph.D. in American studies.

Courses

Numbered 400-999:

• American Studies (AMST)
• Folklore (FOLK)

Ph.D. in American Studies

The Ph.D. program in American studies balances flexibility and a focus on students' own areas of interest with requirements designed to insure knowledge of key issues and texts in the interdisciplinary study of American culture. Ph.D. students must complete 20 courses (60 hours). Those who enter the program with an M.A. may count up to 9 hours of previous study toward the degree. Three specific courses–AMST 700, AMST 701, and AMST 901–are required to be completed between the first and third year. Students supplement that core institutional track with other courses offered by American Studies core faculty and those in a variety of associated graduate programs, such as anthropology, English, geography, history, music, or religious studies. Students pursuing the Ph.D. take two comprehensive exams, one in American studies (which is fulfilled by completion of AMST 700 and AMST 701) and another in an area of specialization developed in consultation with their advisors before beginning their dissertation work. They are also expected to participate actively in the departmental colloquium.

Students who join the department with a master's degree can expect to spend less time on coursework than those who enter with an undergraduate degree, although students admitted with a master's degree in a field other than American studies may need to take some additional courses as they progress toward the American studies Ph.D. The graduate studies committee will make the determination on an individual basis. Students who enter with an undergraduate degree may choose to earn the M.A. at the end of their second year, upon completion the portfolio project, before proceeding to preparation for comprehensive examinations and the dissertation.

Research Proficiency Certification

Each Ph.D. candidate is expected, as a condition of advancing to candidacy, to select and develop an individualized proficiency that will improve the quality and impact of their research and enhance the capacity they will wield in their professional lives. This empowers students to add value to their education by defining and pursuing an enabling skill set that can deepen the dimensions of their research, practice, and service.

Examples of useful proficiencies might include:

• the study of a relevant language other than English;
• ethnographic field work;
• oral history interview and recording techniques;
• digital modes of coding, mapping, and visualization;
• training in the processes of public planning and policy;
• facility in survey methods and quantitative analysis;
• skills in documentary production; or
• archival curation and museum programming.

The proficiency must be in addition to or extend the skill set that students bring with them at matriculation. Certification of this proficiency is met by two requirements:

• the completion of at least one course or an equivalent process of training; or
• a practical demonstration of its acquisition and documentation of at least 100 hours of training.

Incoming doctoral students have the responsibility to work with their preliminary advisor to select a proficiency and prepare a plan for its attainment before they complete their prospectus and become candidates for the Ph.D. A written application on a departmental form will spell out which skill set they will acquire to meet this certification, describe the extent of their present competency, explain why it is relevant to their research, and outline how their plan enables them to gain proficiency. Incoming students will submit their proposal to the Graduate Studies Committee by October 1 of their first semester. This committee will meet to approve or suggest alternations to this proposal by November 15. At the end of the fall of the second year, the director of graduate studies will follow up and confirm with students and their dissertation directors whether the benchmarks of attainment have been fulfilled, and if not, what plan is in place to complete the requirement.

Colloquium

All students enrolled in the American studies graduate program are expected to participate throughout their graduate careers in a monthly colloquium in which faculty and M.A. and  Ph.D. candidates will offer presentations of their work-in-progress. The colloquium exposes graduate students to the research interests of faculty in American studies and allied fields and more advanced students, provides opportunities for sharing discourses and ideas, and may also include visiting graduate students and faculty from international partner institutions. The colloquium is the collegial wellspring of the program, the intellectual and social center of the American Studies community. The conversation occurring there will naturally both inform and be informed by classroom work, particularly in AMST 700 and AMST 701 will help to shape, against the backdrop of individual specializations, a common discourse; and will provide a site for the formation of the American studies social and intellectual community.

Comprehensive Exams

All students, regardless of whether they enter with a B.A. or M.A., undertake their comprehensive exams in the fall of their third year. Students and faculty members will work collaboratively, with the aim of integrating the best work with the most current scholarship in particular fields. Each student will assemble a three-person examination advisory committee (often consisting of three faculty members from the Department of American Studies or two such faculty members and one from a related department). Students who complete AMST 700 and AMST 701 are considered to have passed their American Studies exam. The field exam tests an area of specialization chosen by the student in consultation with their advisor. With input from their advisor and their two other committee members, the student will develop a reading list for the field exam, which will test an area of specialization. Shortly after passing the written exams, each student will undergo an oral exam covering both American Studies and their selected field. Students are expected to receive passing evaluations on the written and oral exams. Any student who fails one or more sections of the exam may repeat the failed section(s) only once, no sooner than three months following the exam.

Teaching and Professional Development

All students will be expected to teach as part of their service requirement for financial aid. Students will most often serve as teaching assistants in undergraduate courses taught by members of the faculty. More advanced students may have the opportunity to develop and teach undergraduate courses in their areas of specialization.

Doctoral Dissertation and Defense

The dissertation constitutes an original contribution to knowledge that advances the interdisciplinary understanding of American culture. It may be based upon archival research, analysis of texts and/or cultural artifacts, ethnographic research, or a combination. The student will assemble a five-person doctoral advisory committee, which must include three faculty members from the Department of American Studies. The student ordinarily completes the dissertation prospectus and refines it with the advice of the doctoral advisory committee at the end of their fifth semester, in the Fall of their third year. The prospectus must be approved by the committee following a prospectus defense no later than the January of their third year. Upon completion of the dissertation at the end of their fifth year, all degree candidates must successfully defend their dissertation before their doctoral advisory committee.

M.A. in Folklore

The M.A. program in folklore balances flexibility and a focus on students' own areas of interest with requirements designed to insure knowledge of key issues and texts in the discipline. Master's students must complete 10 courses (30 hours). Two specific courses–Approaches to Folklore Theory (FOLK 850) and The Art of Ethnography (FOLK 860)–are required, and students must take three additional courses offered by core faculty. Students take the remainder of their courses in a variety of associated graduate programs, including American studies, anthropology, communication, English, history, music, and religious studies, or they may take advantage of the opportunity to enroll in courses at neighboring universities, particularly those offered at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Students pursuing an M.A. must compile a critical literature review at the beginning of their third semester and must complete and defend a thesis at the end of their second year of study.

Graduate Minor in American Studies

The American studies graduate minor serves students admitted in a variety of departments, including art, communications studies, English, history, music, and religious studies. Interdisciplinary training in the study of American culture can enhance scholarly and teaching capabilities for these students. The object of study is American culture in all its diversity, and the methodologies include historical, literary, and visual analysis as well as ethnography, sociology, economics, and political science as appropriate. To apply, contact the director of graduate studies.

The graduate minor consists of five courses, to be selected with the advice of the chair or director of graduate studies in American studies. These courses should include AMST 700 or AMST 701 and at least two other graduate courses with an AMST designation. Additional courses may be chosen from related departments. These courses must be in addition to those required for the degree in the student’s major field of study.

Graduate Minor in Folklore

Students pursuing the Ph.D. in another department at UNC–Chapel Hill may qualify for a minor in folklore by completing six courses, chosen in consultation with the coordinator of the folklore program. These courses must be in addition to those required for the degree in the student’s major field of study.

Professors

Amanda Cobb, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, American Indian History, Museum Design and Curation
Elizabeth Engelhardt, Southern Cultures, Food, Appalachia, Feminism, Literature, Region and Place
Sharon Holland, Critical Race Theory, Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Sexuality Studies, Animal Studies
Timothy Marr, 19th-Century American Literary and Cultural History, Transnational American Studies, Islam in/and America, Herman Melville

Associate Professors

Gabrielle Berlinger, Material Culture, Ritual, Jewish Folklore and Ethnology, Ethnography, Public Folklore, Museum Anthropology¹
Seth Kotch, Digital Humanities, Modern South, Oral History, Criminal and Social Justice
Michelle Robinson, 19th- and 20th-Century United States Religious History, 19th- and 20th- Century American Literature, U.S. Cinema

Assistant Professors

Kelly Alexander, Food Studies, Ethnographic Methods, Documentary Studies, Sensory Studies
Ben Bridges, Folklore, Art-making, Environmental Humanities, Indigenous peoples in Alaska
Amanda Martinez, Race and Ethnicity; Cultural History; History of Capitalism; Business and Labor History; Country Music Industry
Soham Patel, Asian American Cultural Studies, South Asian Diaspora, Social Movements, Anticolonial Thought, Migrant Histories
Antonia Randolph, Black Masculinity, Popular Culture (Hip-Hop), Music, Race Theory, Education, Sexuality

Adjunct Faculty in American Studies

Daniel Anderson (English and Comparative Literature), Digital Humanities, Rhetoric, Alt-Scholarship
Fitzhugh Brundage (History), American History since the Civil War, Southern History, Historical Memory
Maggie Cao (Art History), Art and Technology, Landscape, Material Culture, Ecocriticism
Claude Clegg (African, African American and Diaspora Studies; History), African American History, Modern U.S. History, Migrations and Diaspora, Nationalism, Social Movements
Kathleen DuVal (History), Early America, Cross-Cultural Relations on North American Borderlands
Philip Gura (English and Comparative Literature), American Literature, American Studies
Glenn D. Hinson (Anthropology), Ethnography, African American Expressive Culture, Belief Systems, Vernacular Art, Public Folklore, American South¹
Heidi Kim (English and Comparative Literature), Director, Asian American Center
Jocelyn Neal (Music), 20th-Century Music Theory, Popular Music¹
Michael Palm (Communication), Technology and Everyday Life, Politics and Economics of Media Culture, Telecommunications History, Work, Labor and Consumption Studies
Eliza Richards (English and Comparative Literature), 19th-Century American Literature, Gender Studies, American Poetry
Jane Thrailkill (English and Comparative Literature), 19th-Century American Literature, Medical Humanities
Timothy Tyson (Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University), American Christianity, Southern Culture, Civil Rights, African American History
Ariana Vigil (Women's and Gender Studies), Latina/o Literature, Militarization, Gender and Sexuality Studies

¹ Core members of the folklore program
For a complete list of adjunct and affiliated faculty, click here.

Retired Professors

Robert Allen, Digital Humanities, American Cultural History, Family History
Marcie Cohen Ferris, Southern Jewish History, Food Studies, Southern Studies
William Ferris, Southern Music and Literature, Documentary Studies, American South
John Kasson, American Intellectual and Cultural History, Technology and Society, Art and Literature, Popular Culture
Joy Kasson, American Visual Culture, Literature, Popular Culture, Cultural History
Daniel W. Patterson, Ballads, American Folksong, Religious Folklife, Gravestones, American South
Theda Perdue, Native American History
Patricia Sawin, Narrative, Discourse, Festival, Culture of Adoption
Rachel Willis, Global American Studies, Transportation Planning, Labor Economics, Education