Further Education and Career Opportunities

They develop a comprehensive perspective with flexible critical thinking, writing and speaking skills. Because the American Studies Program prioritizes collaborative learning, majors cultivate strong team-building abilities. The Program’s emphasis on public humanities and digital scholarship equips majors with marketable skills that are relevant to many career paths. 

American Studies majors are well-positioned for careers business, law, education, the arts, museum work, public service, marketing, and media production.

“The major gave me the opportunity to learn methods and insights from a range of disciplines, which gave me a deep understanding of American history and culture. It was the perfect gateway to understanding how the U.S. fits into the larger world when I headed to Washington, D.C., to work on Capitol Hill.”

– Elizabeth Robinson ’84, Associate Dean, Middlebury College

Career Fields

American Studies majors are ideally suited to careers in the following fields:

Media:

• Publishing
• Journalism
• Television and film
• Digital media
• Marketing 

Politics and Public Service:

• Law and politics
• Social activism
• Local, state, and federal government
• Labor organizing
• The Peace Corps
• Non-profit and Non-governmental Organizations

Education and the Arts:

• Primary, secondary, and post-secondary education
• Public arts organizations
• Public history and museum work

Our Alumni

Here are some of the many interesting ways our graduates have applied their American Studies learning to engage the world:

• Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Logmein Software
• Deputy State’s Attorney, Rutland County State’s Attorney’s Office
• Chief Compliance Officer, Whale Rock Capital Management
• Physician, Veteran’s Administration
• Law Partner, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
• Needs Assessment Analyst, USAID
• Head of School, The Peak School
• Manager of Public Policy for U.S. & Canada, Twitter Inc.
• General Counsel, Clover Health
• Managing Director, J. P. Morgan Securities LLC
• Recruitment & Admissions Manager, New Leaders for New Schools
• President, Digital Quest Video
• Owner/Graphic Designer, Three Square Design
• Sales Manager/Publisher, Outer Limits Publishing/The Mountain Times
• Associate Professor of Theater & Dance, Colby College
• Senior Manager of Partner Marketing, Datadog
• Owner/Photographer, Brian W. Ferry Photography
• Managing Director, Verition Fund Management
• Project Coordinator, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Director of Renewables and Energy Storage, Advanced Power
• Staff Therapist/Clinical Supervisor, South Bay Mental Health Center
• Vice President, American International Group (AIG)
• Director (Industrials), Barclays
• Communications & PR Specialist, Tufts University, Fletcher School
• Associate Director/New York State Deputy Director, FoodCorps/America Farmland Trust
• Chief Health Counsel, House Oversight Committee
• Vice President of Communications, The Nation
• Manager, Corporate Partnership Activation, Cleveland Browns
• Director of Onboard Products & Entertainment, United Airlines
• Resident Physician, Utah Health  School of Medicine
• 8th Grade Social Studies teacher, Punahou School
• Lead Curator, Vimeo
• Moreau Post Doctoral Fellow, Department of American Studies, University of Notre Dame
• Social Media Associate, A+E Networks

Additional Resources

For more information on careers and internships in American Studies, visit Middlebury’s Center for Careers and Internships.

For information about fellowship opportunities for undergraduates and recent graduates, see the Fellowships page at the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research.

For more information on applying to graduate programs in American Studies, visit FAQS for Applying to Graduate Programs at the American Studies Association website.