The minor Bachelor’s degree program in American Studies (BA AS) provides interdisciplinary and subject-specific knowledge about the forms and developments of literature, culture, and history in the United States. It examines various cultural productions, texts, and media that reflect and shape these processes, the social groups and institutions involved, as well as the transcultural dimensions of American literatures, cultures, and history. The program is divided into the following three areas of focus:
- American Literature and Literature Studies
- American Culture and Cultural Studies
- American History and Society
The American Studies department within the Institute for English and American Studies (IEAS) is one of the few crossdisciplinary American Studies departments in Germany. This approach is further strengthened through close collaborations with other institutes at Goethe University. In Frankfurt’s American Studies program, the research interests of professors and staff create unique teaching opportunities: In addition to general introductory courses, individual classes focus on specific literary eras or particular literary and media forms, as well as approaches such as African-American Studies, Gender and Queer Studies, Animal Studies, Film Studies, Sound Studies, Media Philosophy, Aesthetics of Democracy, or the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting in the third semester, students specialize in two of the three offered focus areas, allowing them to develop their own academic profile.