"What then is the American, this new man?"
The perennial question that the French observer J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur formulated in 1782 has long been an intriguing starting point for the exploration of American culture and society.
Although the search for American identity stood at the cradle of the discipline, American Studies no longer seeks to define exceptional qualities of the American Creed or essential traits of the American Mind. Rather, it now foregrounds the cultural interactions and negotiations within a multicultural and extremely diverse society.
Comparative and International Cross-cultural Approach
Moreover, American Studies does not study the United States in isolation, but employs a comparative international and cross-cultural approach that emphasizes the many "borderlands" that enclose and define American culture. In doing so it focuses on the ongoing debate about the nature of American civilization and its relation with the world.
Given that the Master's program in American Studies at Utrecht University focuses on the United States from a European perspective, it, too, emphasizes the international dissemination and reception of American culture. American Studies does this using a broad cultural concept, embracing cultural and political history, literature and the arts, and including both popular culture and intellectual history.
The Utrecht program focuses on international debates about the global position of American culture that employ concepts such as cultural hierarchy, cultural imperialism, cultural national identity, anti-Americanism and globalization.
Dynamic and Relevant Discipline
This focus makes American Studies a highly dynamic and relevant discipline that hopes to attract students who seek to understand the cultural, ethnic and national encounters that have shaped the most powerful and controversial culture in the world.