Faculty affiliated with the American Studies Program come from departments throughout the university. These faculty members have served as professors, mentors, and thesis advisors to students in the program. A small group of faculty and two student representative comprise the Advisory Board which meets regularly to guide the programs' policies, course listings, and admissions process. (*Indicates advisory board member.)

Aldrich, Marcia (PhD, University of Washington, 1987)
Associate Professor of English. 20th-century American Poetry, contemporary women's fiction, gender studies.

Arch, Stephen (PhD, University of Virginia, 1989) Associate Professor of English. Colonial and revolutionary American literature, critical narrative theory.

Athanason, Arthur (MFA, Yale; PhD, Pennsylvania State) Professor of English. Comparative modern drama, 20th century British and American literature, playwriting, stage direction, film analysis.

Bailey, David (PhD, University of California-Berkeley, 1978) Associate Professor of History. United States southern and religious cultural and social history.

Banks, Jenifer (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1972) Professor of English. 19th Century American fiction, women and fiction.

Barbatsis, Gretchen (PhD, University of Minnesota) Associate Professor of Telecommunications. Telecommunications and media.

Bonner, Robert (PhD, Yale University, 1998) Assistant Professor of History.  Slavery and American nationalism.
 
Contreras, Sheila American Thought & Language

Cooper, David (PhD, Brown University, 1977) Associate Professor of American Thought and Language. American literature, religion in America, public culture series.

Cornell, George (PhD, Michigan State University, 1982) Associate Professor of History American Studies; and Director, Native American Institute. Native American Studies.

Coté, William E. (PhD, Michigan State University, 1986) Associate Professor of Journalism. Journalism, news writing and reporting, journalism history, war reporting, victims and the media, journalistic works of Ernest Hemingway.

Crane, Maurice A. (PhD, University of Illinois, 1953) Professor and Director, G. Robert Vincent Voice Library; oral history, media history, jazz history, popular culture.

Daniels, Christine (PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 1990) Assistant Professor of History. Colonial American history.

*Dewhurst, C. Kurt (PhD, Michigan State University, 1983) Professor and Director of MSU museum. material folk culture, folklife, museum studies.

* Fine, Lisa M. (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985) Associate Professor of History; U.S. labor history, women's history, social history. Fishburn, Katherine (PhD, Michigan State University) Professor of English. Women's literature and theory, African-American literature and theory, cultural studies.

Flanagan, Maureen (PhD, Loyola University of Chicago, 1981) Associate Professor of History. U.S. political history, late 19th-20th century with specialization in urban women and politics.

Gross, Barry (PhD, Ohio State University, 1966) Professor of English. 20th-century American literature, especially fiction and drama; Jewish-American literature and culture, American responses to the Holocaust.

* Haltman, Kenneth (PhD, Yale University, 1992) Assistant Professor of Art. American art history.

Henry, Gordon (PhD University of North Dakota) Assistant Professor of English. Native American literature, fiction.

Herzog, Dagmar (PhD Brown University) Assistant Professor of History; German history; also history of sexuality, feminist, post-structuralist and queer theory; critical race theory; post-Holocaust memory. Hine,

Hine, Darlene Clark (PhD, Kent State University, 1975) John A. Hannah Professor of History; 20th-century U.S. history, black women's history, the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans in the learned professions.

Hoppenstand, Gary (PhD, Bowling Green State University, 1985) Associate Professor of American Thought and Language. Popular Culture Studies, film studies, literary studies.

*Jew, Victor (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1992) Assistant Professor of History. Asian-American history, legal history.

Kornbluh, Mark (PhD, Johns Hopkins University), Assistant Professor of History. Executive Director of H-Net and Director of Matrix. 20th Century American History, technology and humanities teaching.

Korth, Phillip (PhD, University of Minnesota, 1967) Professor of American Thought and Language. American labor; Native American; populist/progressive period; 1930s.

Ladenson, Joyce (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1970) Professor of American Thought and Language and Director of Women's Studies. Women's studies, American literature, Jewish women's lives and literature.

Landrum, Larry (PhD, Bowling Green State University) Professor of English. Popular culture, film, American studies, American literature.

* Larabee, Ann (PhD, New York State University) Associate Professor in American Thought and Language. Science, technology, and society; disaster studies; cultural theory; women’s drama.

* Largey, Michael (PhD, Indiana University, 1991) Assistant Professor of Music. Haitian music and culture, African-American music.

* Lebeau, Patrick (PhD, University of Michigan) Assistant Professor of ; Native American Studies

* Little, Kimberly (Ph.D., History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998)  Assistant Professor of American Thought and Language.  Political and women's American history, the urban environment, and Cold War culture.

Lockwood, Yvonne R. (PhD, University of Michigan, 1979) Michigan Folklife Extension Specialist, MSU Museum. Ethnicity, folklife, folk history.

Lunde, Erik (PhD, University of Maryland, 1970) Professor of American Thought and Language. Writing, film studies, American history, American literature.

* Ma, Sheng-Mei (PhD, Indiana University, 1990) Assistant Professor of American Thought and Language. Asian American/Asian diaspora literature, postcolonial and ethnic literature.

MacDowell, Marsha L. (PhD, Michigan State University, 1982) Professor and Curator; Folk Arts; material culture, art education, women's culture.

*Melendez, Theresa (PhD, University of California, San Diego) Associate Professor in English and Coordinator of the Chicano/Latino Studies Program. Chicana/o literature, Mexican folklore, medieval literature, and oral traditions.

* Michaelsen, Scott (PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1992). Cultural studies theory; theory and history of the social sciences (particularly anthropology); popular culture studies; law and literature; 19th century America.

Moore, Kathryn M. (PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1972) Professor of Education. Educational policy studies, higher education and educational administration, American history.

Noverr, Douglas (PhD, Miami University of Ohio, 1972) Professor of American Thought and Language. 19th-century American literature and culture, sports history, American art history.

O'Donnell, Patrick (PhD, University of California, Davis, 1979) Chair of English Department. Postmodern literature and culture, history and theory of narrative, general American literature and American Studies.

Penn, William (DA, Syracuse, 1979) Professor of English. Creative writing, the oral tradition, American identities, cross-cultural studies and comparative literature.

Posner, Alan (PhD, Columbia University, 1977) Associate Professor of Political Science. Social differentiation, political culture, popular culture, politics and literature.

* Rachman, Stephen (PhD, Yale University, 1993)
Director of American Studies Program. Associate Professor of English. 19th-century American literature, history of medicine, cultural studies, documentary film.

Reed, Harry A. (PhD, Michigan State University, 1975) Professor of History. 19th- and 20th-century African-American history.

* Rehberger, Dean (PhD, University of Utah, 1992) Assistant Professor of American Thought and Language. Cultural studies, critical theory, new historicism, American studies methods, nationalism, Civil War, American studies/literature 1800-1950.

*Roof, Judith
English Professor.

Rutledge, Frank (MA, Ohio State University) Professor of Theater. American playwriting and drama, 19th-century American opera houses, American theater history.

Seaton, James (PhD, University of Iowa) Professor; 19th- and 20th-century literature, cultural studies.

*Sleeper-Smith, Susan (PhD, University of Michigan) Assistant Professor of History. Native-American history, material culture, United States history to 1850.

Steinberg, Michael (PhD, Michigan State University, 1974) Professor of American Thought and Language. American literature, creative writing, composition, theater.

* Stowe, David (PhD, Yale University) Assistant Professor of American Thought and Language. American Popular Music.

Teahan, Sheila (PhD, Yale University, 1989) Associate Professor of English. 19th-century American literature, the novel, literary theory.

Thomas, Richard (PhD, University of Michigan) Professor of History. Race and poverty in cities; African American urban history; formation of a multicultural society; history of interracial and multiracial unity.

Versluis, Arthur (PhD) Professor of American Thought and Language. 19th-Century American Literature; Creative writing; German romanticism; and religious studies.

Vincent, William (PhD, Yale University, 1973) Professor of English. Film studies.

* Waltzer, Kenneth (PhD, Harvard University, 1977) James Madison College Professor. American social history; immigration, ethnic minorities, and urban history.