The Americanist’s Dream American Studies at the Bicentennial

Abstract

As the most recent past president of the United States American Studies Association, I bring you greetings and gratitude for this conference. It has been a good one, with gracious hosts and a friendly exchange of ideas in an ideal setting. An old teacher of mine once said students have a right to see their teachers and lecturers struggle. Hence you will see me before you today – struggling. In this paper I will attempt a ridiculous task: I hope to bring you a report on the current status of American Studies in the United States, to comment briefly on various different academic programs, to note what I believe to be general academic and cultural trends which are affecting American cultural studies, to call your attention to certain noteworthy events, to suggest something of what I think the future holds for American Studies in the U. S. and finally to assess the possible impact of the Bicentennial event upon our profession.