John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies

Research at the department of culture is concerned with the history of American culture from the beginnings of European colonization to the present. Our course offerings explore North American culture and its contributions to modernity, as well as ongoing processes of cultural dehierarchization, hybridization, pluralization, and individualization. Additionally our visiting professors in Art History, generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, teach courses on North American visual culture. More information on our degree programs and our course offerings.

Current research areays of our faculty and staff are: popular culture and seriality, (American) media history and theory, narrative theory and aesthetic experience, African American Studies, print culture, transnational dimensions of American culture. More information is available in our research section and on the individual profile pages of our faculty members.