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Week of 27 March 1998 Vol. I, No. 25 Feature Article BU's American Studies Program gets a new lease on life by Cliff Bernard An old framed poster on the wall of Bruce Schulman's office displays a mustachioed man with an appalled look on his face beneath the large red headline, "Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?" The underlying message, Schulman says, is that if employers want to keep their workers happy and thereby prevent a communist revolution, they'd better supply their washrooms with Scott brand paper towels. The associate professor of history and new director of the GRS American and New England Studies Program (AMNESP) grins broadly as he explains, "I use this as a teaching tool, to demonstrate how pervasive anticommunist attitudes were." AMNESP is undergoing a renewal and expansion under Schulman's direction. The shakeup includes a revived undergraduate program, renewed collaboration with Boston-area cultural institutions, and new lecture and seminar series, including the American Conversation Series, with distinguished guest speakers. This series has so far covered such subjects as law, food, and the documentary, and next will examine popular culture. The revived academic programs will offer internship opportunities for students at the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Our National Heritage, the National Parks Service, and the Boston Athenaeum. Course work includes elements of art, history, English, religion, sociology, philosophy, and political science. AMNESP offers a Ph.D. program in American and New England studies, an M.A. in preservation studies, and J.D. and M.A. degrees in law and preservation studies. In addition to these, Schulman says, he plans to revive the "moribund" undergraduate program. "We want the BU American Studies Program to be a Boston-area center for discussions of American culture," he says. The American Studies Program is undergoing renewal and expansion under the direction of CAS Associate Professor of History Bruce Schulman. Photo by Vernon Doucette Most American studies programs, according to Schulman, are a marriage of history and literature, but BU's program, founded in 1971, is "one of the first true interdisciplinary programs, with a strong emphasis on visual and material culture." Its alumni list boasts Marty Blatt, historian and chief of cultural resources, Boston National Historic Park; Mary Panzer, curator of photography, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; and Gerald Ward, associate curator of decorative arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Christopher Walsh, executive secretary with The University Professors program, is studying for his Ph.D. with AMNESP. "It's always been a unique program," Walsh says. "The interdisciplinary approach I find very stimulating, and Bruce, with his enthusiasm and vision, gives the program a new energy. It's exciting to be around." Schulman spoke to the BU Bridge from his office, an elegant room with a view onto Bay State Road through large bay windows. Schulman's interests and achievements are displayed, neatly framed, on one wall. These include the Luckman Distinguished Teaching Award and the Eby Award for the Art of Teaching, as well as the framed c