PhD in American Studies

alcam86
Fri, 14 May 2010 00:47:50 +0000

Hi! I’m currently an junior undergraduate majoring in political science, and for most of my life I was pretty sure I wanted to be lawyer. This past semester, I took a course on the history of American law, and I realized that I found studying American law to be fascinating, but I don’t think I really want to practice law. This has forced me to really rethink what I want to do with my life, and I’ve been flirting with the idea of getting a PhD in American Studies. I though about going to grad school in poli sci, but I’ve heard that most of the classes you take are in methodological skills, and, while I did fine in my undergrad methods class, I found it completely dull. So, I was thinking that American Studies would allow me to take a more qualitative approach to studying American politics, American law, and culture in general.

Does this seem like a good option? Are there many professorships out there for American Studies PhDs? Would a JD/PhD be beneficial? If anyone has any information about American Studies graduate programs, I would really appreciate the assistance. Thanks!