Never has the fullest understanding of the culture and history of the United States seemed more urgent, as the only global superpower profoundly affects the rest of the world while rapidly altering in itself, challenging the adequacy of assumptions about the origins and consequences of American interests and interventions.

To meet this challenge the research and doctoral supervision interests of the School of American Studies at UEA range across interdisciplinary boundaries, from the colonial to the postmodern period, and offer expertise in contemporary literature and drama, American politics and foreign policy issues, the nineteenth century and American gothic, Native American and African American history and culture.

 The American Studies Team

Professor Christopher Bigsby is an authority on contemporary and recent American drama, with a particular focus on Arthur Miller and David Mamet. He is Director of the Arthur Miller Research Centre, which annually attracts a series of internationally famous authors to the campus, and which provides research assistance to students and faculty. Dr Sarah Churchwell researches twentieth century American literature and popular culture, focusing particularly on intertextual representations and iconography; she has written a book on biography and Marilyn Monroe, as well as work on Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Professor Richard Crockatt specialises in American foreign policy, the history of the Cold War, anti-Americanism and the new global order. Dr Jacqueline Fear-Segal writes on Native American history, focusing on nineteenth and twentieth century education policies and practice. Dr Rebecca Fraser is pioneering work on domestic life among slave communities. Dr Allan Lloyd-Smith works on nineteenth-century American gothic and uncanny literature and also publishes on contemporary culture and film studies. Dr Malcolm McLaughlin's research concerns urban racial flashpoints, from the race riots of the early 1900s, including East St. Louis in 1917, to the violent protests of the "long hot summers" of the 1960s.  Dr Thomas Ruys Smith is an expert on the literary and cultural life surrounding the Mississippi River from its discovery to the present day. Dr Rebecca Tillett focuses on Leslie Marmon Silko, Native American writing and contemporary western ecological issues. Dr Nick Selby joined in September 2007 and has a wide range of research interests, with poetry of the twentieth century at the core of his research.

 PhD Supervision

We welcome PhD applicants in any of the above topics, but we also supervise across a much wider range. Recent doctoral studies (several resulting in book publication) have included work on Paul Auster, William Gibson, Sam Shepard, nineteenth century American humorists, American Militia Movements, the Cold War, and the early history of the Mississippi River.