The American & New England Studies Program (AMNESP) is a nationally recognized leader in American Studies, dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of US society in a local, national, and global context. For information about Preservation Studies, an MA program that has trained hundreds of students for careers in the stewardship of cultural resources and heritage, click here.

AMNESP students and faculty study the disparate yet interconnected cultures of the United States as seen in the ideas and actions of its people, and as expressed in a range of forms, especially culture, the arts, media, literature, and institutions. We are attuned to the global and national dimensions of the US experience and to the importance of race, gender, sexuality, and inequality. The program began in the 1970s with an emphasis on New England; over the last thirty years especially we have covered all regions of North America, from the colonial period to the present. Our program gives students, at all levels, skills that will prepare them professionally, and we are often in active collaboration with Greater Boston’s cultural organizations. Our large, prestigious PhD program has produced professors, public historians, museum curators, and directors at major universities, museums, and other cultural and historical institutions. Our individualized BA program benefits majors and non-majors seeking a rigorous interdisciplinary experience. The skills and knowledge gained by an AMNESP undergraduate concentration can help students interested in careers in journalism, education, law, communications, business, and other fields.

To learn more about our program, students, and community, please see the most recent edition of The Boston Americanist, our annual newsletter.

To learn more about the Preservation Studies Program, please see the inaugural edition of the Preservation@BU newsletter.