Embassy of the United States

Information Packages

American Studies Resources

IIP Publications

Information USA
Authoritative resource for foreign audiences seeking information
about American society, political processes, official U.S. policies and culture. 

American Popular Music
August 2008
American popular music is a kaleidoscopic mélange of styles and dreams. Its vibrancy reflects the mating of cultural diversity to artistic and creative freedom. The stories in this book illustrate how Americans, borrowing from diverse musical traditions, have contributed to humanity’s universal language.

American Teenagers
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, July 2005

Art on the Edge
November 2004
This joint publication of the State Department's ART in Embassies Program and its Bureau of International Information Programs showcases the work of 17 contemporary American artists. All have made their art available in U.S. ambassador's residences in countries around the world. As a group, these up-and-comers exemplify such bedrock American values as innovation, diversity, freedom, individualism, and competitive excellence.

College and University Education in the United States
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, November 2005

Disability and Ability
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, November 2006

Dynamic English
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, August 2007

Immigrants Joining the Mainstream
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, February 2008

The Movie Business Today
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, June 2007

The Next New Thing
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, January 2008

The Olympic Experience
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, April 2008

An Outline of American Geography
November 1998
Regional Landscapes of the United States, By Stephen S. Birdsall and John Florin.
This publication considers the physical environment of the United States — landforms, climate, soils, and vegetation — in terms of its impact on the country's cultural, regional, and political development.

Outline of American Literature
December 2006
The Outline of American literature, newly revised, traces the paths of American narrative, fiction, poetry and drama as they move from pre-colonial times into the present, through such literary movements as romanticism, realism and experimentation.

Outline of U.S. History
November 2005
A chronological look at how the United States took shape -- from its origins as an obscure set of colonies on the Atlantic coast a little more than 200 years ago into what one political analyst today calls "the first universal nation." This fully illustrated edition has been completely revised and updated by Alonzo L. Hamby, Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio University.

Snapshot USA
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, June 2006

See You in the U.S.A.
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, September 2005

USA History in Brief
March 2007
This publication summarizes in a few thousand words the history of how the United States was founded and the forces and events that shaped the dynamic and varied country that it has become today.

USA Literature in Brief
May 2007
USA Literature in Brief pinpoints and describes the contributions to American literature of some of the best-recognized American poets, novelists, philosophers and dramatists from pre-Colonial days through the present.

USA Map with Facts in Brief
October 2007
This publication includes plenty of facts and statistics about the United States -- its government, geography, environment, sports and entertainment, the economy and employment, education, transportation, and population.

Women of Influence
November 2006
This collection chronicles how 21 notable American women broke new ground, some by championing equal rights for all and others by their accomplishments in fields such as government, literature, and even in war.

World Youth Building a Future
An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State, July 2007

Writers on America
December 2002
Presents 15 essays by a diverse group of contemporary American writers, poets, essayists, and intellectuals, on how being an American has affected their decision to write and what they have written during successful careers. Their meditations illuminate in an interesting way certain American values — freedom, diversity, democracy, in the context of individual development. Frequently, for this group of writers, the sense of home means an immigrant culture, with a parent or grandparent from another land; however, the central concept for many of these authors, no matter what their backgrounds, is "possibility," both in personal and creative terms.

More E-Journals

More IIP Publications

Mega Sites

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
Primary sources of American history, 1200 to the present, including images, audio and text files.

Best of U.S. History Web Sites

Center for Electronic Projects in American Culture Studies
The Crossroads Project is sponsored by the American Studies Association and is funded by the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the Annenberg/CPB Project and the American Studies Program at Georgetown University which helps provide a rich resource in American Studies which includes a listing of:

• American Studies Programs
• American Studies Curricula
• Subject Maps to Fields of American Studies
• Key American Studies Internet Sites
• International American Studies
• New Media and Technologies in American Studies f

Guide to American Studies Resources

Making of America
Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The project represents a major collaborative endeavor in preservation and electronic access to historical texts.

Internet Resources for English and American Literature
University of Delaware Library

Intute: Arts & Humanities: American Studies
Search or browse the database of American Studies resources which have been selected, evaluated and described by subject specialists.

American Authors on the Web

Theory and Method in American/Cultural Studies:A Biobliographic Essay
This bibliography offers an historical survey of and an introduction to work on theory and method in American cultural studies.

Voice of the Shuttle
models the way the humanities are organized for research and teaching as well as the way they are adapting to social, cultural, and technological changes.

American Studies Recommendations 
by Richard P. Horwitz, University of Iowa
Links to resources selected for students and teachers of American Studies.

Subject Research Guides from Rutgers University Libraries

Columbia University's Research Guide on American Studies

Digital Collections of the New York Public Library

Distance or Continuing Education (MIT's OpenCourseWare)

Other Resources for American Studies 

American Studies Associations Worldwide

The University of Delaware Site for English and American Literature (Comprehensive)

European Journal of American Studies

American Memory / Library of Congress Project

University of Virginia: Other Sources of Electronic Texts

University of Northern Carolina: Documenting the South
Documenting the American South (DocSouth) is a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes fourteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
The University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sponsors Documenting the American South, and the texts and materials come primarily from its southern holdings. The UNC University Library is committed to the long-term availability of these collections and their online records. An editorial board guides development of this digital library.

WSSLINKS Women and Gender Studies Web Sites

University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian's Office

American Women's History: A Research Guide

Women's Studies: A New York Public Library Research Guide

An Encyclopedia Online

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes

For your more specific research requests, please contact the IRC

Last updated on November 9, 2009