American studies, also called American civilization, is an interdisciplinary field examining American literature, history, society, and culture. It draws on literary criticism, historical research, critical theory, and related fields to investigate the United States and its influence on world history. Topics include communities, ideologies, social movements, media, tourism, folklore, and intellectual history. African American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American studies are both distinct fields and parts of the larger discipline.
Vernon Louis Parrington is frequently described as a founder after his Pulitzer Prize-winning Main Currents in American Thought combined literary and historical methods. Henry Nash Smith later helped establish an academic precedent for interdisciplinary programs. Early “myth and symbol” studies sought recurring themes in American texts, but scholars from the 1960s onward criticized these interpretations for supporting American exceptionalism—the belief that the United States possesses a special national mission.
The discipline then embraced multicultural and transnational approaches, examining race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, global connections, and colonial power. Yet this “transnational turn” generated new criticism: some scholars argued that it still centered the United States and its influence.
The meaning of “American” itself remains contested. Defenders regard it as a necessary organizing term, while critics say it obscures diverse communities and carries colonial assumptions. Related debates address cultural imperialism within the continent and whether scholarship should challenge or reinforce national myths.
American studies has become a global enterprise. Programs and research centers exist across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and the Americas. The International American Studies Association connects scholars worldwide, while journals such as American Quarterly provide major forums for debate.