| This research essay encompasses both a historical and contemporary inquiry of American Studies programs in foreign universities and associations. In the historical inquiry I look at American Studies programs in the pre and post-World War II twentieth century. Particular attention is paid to the European programs with a concentration in the German programs. In the Literature and Anthologies section, the different books and articles written about American Studies are discussed. An examination of different authors shows the myriad of perspectives of American Studies. A list of tables is used to display the progression of study for this research essay. The final Table 4 shows the division of five course category areas, Politics, History, Literature, Culture and Media used to study the image of America. Of the 50 university and association websites, five were chosen for further study. These five websites for Peking University, The University of Hong Kong, Canterbury University (New Zealand), The Free University of Berlin, and Karl-Franzens-Universitat Graz (Austria) were examined in three ways: their program description, course content, and future use of their American Studies degrees. A final section in the Appendix presents a course entitled American Immigration 1814–1914 that is suggested for foreign universities' American Studies programs. |
