In American studies—where disciplines, fields, methods, and archives push boundaries and cross borders—teaching becomes intimately articulated to research. Sharing research allows teachers-scholars to impress upon students the vibrancy of the field: through its critical genealogy, alternative trajectories, and emergent voices most of all.  

Below are a few ways in which ASA-affiliated publications can be used in the classroom. 

American Quarterly

Beyond the Page

As a supplement to American Quarterly, the editors work with each author to bring together a host of resources—from additional readings and bibliographies, to audiovisual materials and online sources, to art projects and interdisciplinary collaborations. Called "Beyond the Page," the section is designed to enhance each issue. It also serves as an jumping-off point for American studies educators who are looking to situtate recent work within a rich surrounding for critical understanding and classroom engagement.  

Teaching Forum 

American Quarterly Teaching Forum (Vol 68.2, June 2016) 
In its June 2016 issue, American Quarterly published a collection of essays, reflections, and interviews that address how central themes within the field come to bear upon teaching, specifically through 1) public scholarship and interdisciplinarity, 2) transnationalism, and 3) collaborative practice. The forum is a resource for American studies in the classroom, as well as interrogating the broader geographical and political ideological contexts that produce American studies classrooms.

The forum is available open-access through Project MUSE@.  With contributions from: Julie Sze, Michael Mark Cohen and Grace Wang, Tanya Erzen, Rebecca Hill, Joanne Pope Melish, Min-Jung Kim, Christina Owens and Abigail Boggs, Chih-ming Wang, Grace I. Yeh, Kristina Bross, David Correia, Gillian Harkins and Erica R. Meiners, Allison M. Guess, Mistinguette Smith, and Eve Tuck

Keywords Publications

While not an ASA publication, many ASA members have contributed to the Keywords series available through NYU Press. Launched through the collection Keywords for American Cultural Studies (2007), the format's popularity and ease-of-use in the classroom have contributed to the collection's expansion into five volumes, each with a digital component that includes online-only essays, preview text for print-only essays, and search and citation tools that faciliate making connections across the series. The Keywords essays themselves provide a productive frame for scaffolding course units across a range of fields and disciplines, and many offer additional tools for classroom use.

  • Keywords for American Cultural Studies (Eds. Bruce Burgett, Glenn Hendler)
  • Keywords for Asian American Studies (Eds. Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Linda Trinh Võ, and K. Scott Wong)
  • Keywords for Children's Literature (Eds. Philip Nel, Lissa Paul)
  • Keywords for Disability Studies (Eds. Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, David Serlin)
  • Keywords for Environmental Studies (Eds. Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, David N. Pellow)