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American Studies

American Studies

What is American Studies?

The term American studies encompasses a vast range of disciplines, all of which, in one way or another, are trying to describe the cultures of the United States. In recent years American studies has also incorporated comparative studies of Canada and Latin America; and indeed a transnational, global perspective on American culture has become one of the leading currents in the field as we begin the twenty-first century. Where, after all, do the borders of America stop, when its influence was, throughout the twentieth century, so pervasive on world cultures?

-from the Encyclopedia of American Studies Sponsored by the American Studies Association, 2009, Johns Hopkins University Press

American Studies at IUPUI

IUPUI Program of American Studies 

Institute for American Thought

Student Services

Hello,  I'm Bill Orme, your Librarian.  I am happy to assist with all your history and American Studies research needs.  Please don't hesitate to contact me. My contact information is on the left side of this guide.

How I can help:

  • One-on-one research assistance in person, via phone, email
  • Topic development
  • IUCAT search assistance
  • Database search assistance
  • Help finding primary resources
  • Overall research process organization
  • Citation style assistance

Faculty Services

Classroom Instruction

  • Research guides and information sessions tailored to your class
  • General information literacy/research help sessions
  • Topic selection
  • Primary vs. secondary resource
  • How to find book reviews
  • Scholarly vs. popular resources
  • How to search IUCAT for beginners and the more advanced researcher
  • Search strategies for article indexing databases
  • Search strategies for primary resources
  • Referral for student one-on-one research assistance

Research Consultations

You are the expert in your area of research but I may be able to offer insight on search strategies in new information sources.  Please don't hesitate to let me know what you are working on.  I'm happy to meet with Graduate Assistants that are supporting your research efforts.  Additionally, If I know what you are working on, I keep this in mind while making purchases for the library.

Library Resource Purchasing

Never hesitate to request purchases of books, films, audio, databases, journals, etc.  I can't guarantee fulfillment of every request but I try very hard to purchase material that will be of most use to your research and our students' research.

Scholarly Output Sharing and Preservation

University Library supports a variety of mechanisms for sharing and preserving your published, unpublished scholarly output as well as the primary resource materials (datasets, photos, historic documents, etc.) collected during your research. Check out the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Scholarship to learn more about the following services and opportunities: