American Studies Research

Research strengths cover a broad range of historical periods and disciplines, with staff committed to interdisciplinary explorations and contextual understanding. Staff publications and research interests include:

• Examinations of American art, literature and civil and natural history in the late 18th and 19th centuries;
• Historical approaches to American sport;
• American cultural studies;
• Contemporary American popular culture;
• Dialogues between literature, science and cultural discourse in early 20th-century America;
• Interactions between African American literature, philosophy and the social sciences;
• Relations between poetry trends in phenomenology and aesthetics and also between poetry and anthropology;
• New ways of conceptualising queer cultural history in the context of the American South;
• The incarceration of Japanese Americans in the context of race discourse and the built environment; mass media, globalisation, and identity formation;
• Native and European–American relations in the colonial period; Native American culture and photography;
• Corporate culture, terrorism and representations of the city;
• Conspiracy theories;
• Transparency and open government;
• Government and cultural secrecy.

The University libraries, the British Library and the diverse cultural venues of London make the city an unparalleled resource centre for American Studies in Europe.

The university libraries, the British Library and the diverse cultural venues of London make the city a resource centre for American Studies unparalleled in Europe.

The department offers training sessions including writing a bibliographic essay, devising a research proposal and completing a dissertation. In the summer term, work-in-progress events are held for all graduate students. Students also participate fully in the induction and training programmes offered by the School.