Mission Statement
- Our Mission: To support our students and faculty in the study of American culture, recognizing that the culture and history of this place are complex and contested and that developing the ability to understand American culture thoughtfully and critically is crucial to creative and ethical leadership 21st-century challenges demand.
- Our Values: Respect, Courage, ᎦᏚᎩ (Gadugi, a Cherokee word meaning “working together for everyone’s mutual benefit”).
- Our Teaching: The discipline of American Studies is contemporary, innovative, inclusive, and global. UNC’s Department of American Studies offers an extraordinary range of courses informed by cutting-edge theoretical perspectives, teaching and research methods, and vehicles for reporting and representing knowledge. The faculty invite students to join us in the search for the always developing answers to a timeless question: “What is America?”