American Studies at Kent dates back to 1973. You are based in the Centre for American Studies and taught by internationally recognised academics, whose research interests combine to offer diverse programmes in American history, literature, politics and film.

American Studies is an interdisciplinary degree, which means that you learn by making connections between ideas and concepts across different disciplinary boundaries, such as history, politics, literature and the arts. This enriches your learning and gives you a wider perspective on your subject.

Our degree programme

In your first year, you take an introductory module and can then choose from a selection of modules on American History, literature and politics.

In your second year, you examine key themes in American culture and can then choose further modules from a wide selection available covering areas such as, environmental issues in the US, American cinema, 19th-century American literature, and the American Civil War.

In your final year, you complete an extended essay taking an interdisciplinary approach to your topic. Other modules can be chosen from a wide range in politics, (contemporary US government and US foreign policy); history, (the rise and fall of slavery, and the American revolution); literature (American crime fiction and Native American Literature) or Hispanic Studies (studying the work of Cuban writers and artists since the revolution).

A term abroad

In your final year, it is possible to spend a term studying at one of our partner institutions in the US. We have links with top universities in the US, Canada and Latin America.

Year abroad

We also offer four-year programmes where you spend a year between your second and final years at one of our partner universities in the US or Canada. For details, see American Studies (History) and American Studies (Literature). It is also possible to spend a year studying in Latin America on our American Studies (Latin America) option.