AMS Skip to main content Menu AMS Open Search Close Search Search the site: Main navigation (extended config) Academics+ Program Learning Outcomes Major Minor Current Course Offerings Academic Year Course Offering AMS Program+ Why be an AMS Major? Alumni People+ Faculty Lecturers Emeritus Faculty Staff Student+ Advising Emphasis Plan Senior Capstone Internship Prizes Transfer Students Letters of Recommendation Resources for Students AMS AT 50+ American Studies at UC Davis: Breaking Down Walls for 50 Years CAREN KAPLAN RETIREMENT SYMPOSIUM         Welcome! Founded during the 1968-69 school year, American Studies Department at UC Davis stands apart as the only department of its kind in the University of California system. In its 50 + years on campus it has been dedicated to creating an interdisciplinary space for students to connect their personal curiosities and concerns to broader public issues, histories, and materials.  What is American Studies? When you hear the phrase "American Studies," you might think of classrooms decked out in red, white, and blue; classes that feel just like your 10th grade U.S. history class; and images of Uncle Sam and Captain America. If you walk through our wing on the second floor of Hart Hall, you'll see that's not the case. The American Studies Department at Davis (AMS at UCD) looks at American culture as a compilation of things that can be questioned and analyzed. And it uses many lenses to understand the complicated, messy, and diverse lives people live in both in the United States and in an interconnected world. As an interdisciplinary department, AMS at UCD pulls from several disciplines (history, literature, environmental science, food science, sociology, and more) to explore phenomena in and related to U.S. culture. The faculty study food, prisons, the environment, artificial sweeteners, music, militarized culture, and much more. Each of them asks questions and teaches classes to help all of us make sense of the world we live in. So, in American Studies classes at Davis, you'll find folks asking questions about drones, thinking about the boom of diversity in comics, studying the California rodeo, analyzing the role of gossip in specific communities, wondering what needs to happen to save our planet, how to tie social science justice and academic research, and more.  Why study American Studies at Davis?  AMS at UCD has spent the last 50+ years grappling with questions of American-ness. The department isn't afraid to shy away from the personal and the political. You'll find that many of our faculty study topics that are near and dear to their hearts. AMS at UCD is a place for rigorous study and "making sense" of what's important to you. It's a place to ask big (and sometimes hard and scary) questions to better understand the world. American Studies Association Statement on BLM & Rebellion of 2020 Asian American Studies Association Statement on Atlanta Why be an American Studies Major? Our alumni are now lawyers, teachers, social workers, urban planners, marketing professionals, software engineers, filmmakers, professors, professional writers (and comedians) and non-profit staff and leaders. If this appeals to you, you might fit well in our community. If you have questions or curiosities about the diverse cultures that make up the U.S., AMS at UCD might be for you. If you want individualized attention, a major that lets you explore multiple disciplines, and the chance to study topics that are important to you, take a class with us or reach out to our major advisor and our undergraduate faculty advisor.  Contact Us Visit our advising office at 1203 Hart Hall (First floor). Closed due to COVID-19. Email general inquiries to ams-advising@ucdavis.edu. To contact individual faculty, see faculty listing. Call the American Studies office at 530-752-6429. Social Media Links Main Office 1203 Hart Hall (First floor) University of California, Davis  One Shields Avenue  Davis, CA 95616  Contact Us Visit our advising office at 1203 Hart Hall (First floor).  Email general inquiries to ams-advising@ucdavis.edu. To contact individual faculty, see faculty listing. Call the American Studies office at 530-752-6429. Join our Facebook group for news and announcements. Admin Links Login Webmaster UC Davis College of Letters and Science | Social Sciences and Humanities Building | 530-752-0394 University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 | 530-752-1011 Questions or comments? Privacy & Accessibility Principles of Community University of California Sitemap Last update: March 22, 2021 Copyright © The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. All rights reserved. This site is officially grown in SiteFarm.