American Studies - American Studies Outside of The U.S.

American Studies Outside of The U.S.

Following World War II and during the Cold War, the U.S. government promoted the study of the United States in several European countries, helping to endow chairs in universities and institutes in American history, politics and literature in the interests of cultural diplomacy. Many scholars and governments in Europe also recognized the need to study the U.S. The field has become especially prominent in Britain and Germany. The British Association for American Studies was founded in 1955, and is a constituent member of the European Association for American Studies.

European centres for American studies include the Center for American Studies in Brussels, Belgium and most notably the John F. Kennedy-Institute for North American Studies in Berlin, Germany. Other centers for American Studies in Germany include the Bavarian America-Academy, the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) and the Center for North American Studies (Zentrum für Nordamerikaforschung or ZENAF) at Goethe University Frankfurt. The American Studies Leipzig program at the University of Leipzig offers both BA and MA degrees and is known for the graduate journal aspeers. Founded in 1992, the Center for American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark now offers a graduate program in American Studies. In the Netherlands the University of Groningen and the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen offer a complete undergraduate and graduate program in American Studies. The University of Amsterdam and the University of Leiden only offer a graduate program in American Studies. Both the University of Sussex and the University of Nottingham in England offer both a number of postgraduate and undergraduate programs. In Sweden, the Swedish Institute for North American Studies at Uppsala University offers a minor in American studies. In Slovakia, the University of Presov and Pavol Jozef Safarik University offer a complete undergraduate and graduate program in American Studies combined with British Studies. The Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library also offers a range of events and fellowships, as well as promoting the American collections held at the British Library.

Russia's main center for American studies is the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1967.

In the Middle East, the oldest American Studies program is the American Studies Center at the University of Bahrain in Sakhir. Founded in 1998, the UOB ASC celebrated its 10th year anniversary in 2008. Established as a university minor, the ASC currently offers over 20 different courses for students, heralds weekly movies in its ASC Theater, regularly hosts diverse speakers, and sponsors gatherings and excursions for ASC students. There is a new American Studies program at the University of Tehran, Iran. The new program, offered at the Faculty of World Studies, is a multidisciplinary MA program focusing on American culture, politics, history and ethnicity.

In Oceania, the University of Canterbury in Christchurch New Zealand operated a full undergraduate and graduate American Studies program until 2012, and in Australia, a postgraduate program in US Studies is run by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.