Consortia

American Studies Consortium

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA USA
School of American Studies, University of East Anglia, UK

Organized by Bryant Simon

Temple University and the University of East Anglia are collaborating on a plan to internationalize the practice of American Studies. The consortia is looking at two related sets of questions.

First, what is American Studies?  How should we teach American Studies in the new century?  What are the best ways to introduce our students to the field and its central concerns and teach them how to think critically about the American experience(s) in its varied social, political, and cultural dimensions? 

Second, what are the boundaries of American Studies?  How can American Studies meet President Hart and Provost Staiano-Coico’s challenge to internationalize Temple’s curriculum?  American Studies might sound like an unlikely place to contribute to this initiation. But globalization is nothing new in this country nor is there anything new about the rest of the world dealing with America or consuming its products and culture—willingly or unwillingly—in some shape or form. 

The American Studies Program and Temple chose the School of American Studies at the University of East Anglia (UK) as collaborators in this initiative. Oone of the largest and most firmly established American Studies programs outside the US, the school is re-imagining its program and thinking about how to conceive of the American experience in a transnational context.

Perhaps more important, as Temple seeks to internalization its own program, they will provide us with an outsider perspective on the nation and its role in the world.  Surely, this will sharpen the critical thinking of faculty and students alike in this complex global age.

For more on the UEA’s American Studies program, see http://www1.uea.ac.uk/cm/home/schools/hum/ams.