Location:

Leiden, Netherlands

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Master

Specialty:

Area, Ethnic & Cultural Studies

Program Overview

Program Description:

The idea that the United States is exceptional is widely held among Americans, but also vigorously contested. The question of what is unique to U.S. history and culture, and what is not, is one of the scholarly and theoretical debates explored in the interdisciplinary MA programme in American Studies at Leiden University. The inspiring academic environment offered by Leiden University allows you to explore major issues in the history, literature and culture of the U.S., but also lets you undertake in-depth studies of specific historical and literary topics. The strengths of Leiden MA programme lie particularly in African-American history and literature, U.S. political history and foreign policy, and immigrant and ethnic studies in the U.S. Graduates in American Studies go on to a variety of careers in teaching, journalism, radio and TV, politics, government, publishing and research, as well as other fields that call for academic training and skills. In the Netherlands, Leiden is a leading center of research in American Studies, and has an international faculty and student body. The Leiden history department has the Netherlands’ only endowed chair in American history, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair of U.S. History and Culture, occupied by Professor Adam Fairclough. At Leiden University, master’s students study U.S. history, literature and culture, as part of an integrated approach to American Studies. This enables you to discover connections between historical events and cultural and literary developments. You can, for example, investigate how the struggle for black civil rights influenced African-American and other minority literatures, and study how films and novels became weapons in the struggle for, and against, civil rights for minorities.

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

Accredited by the NVAO (Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation)