Located in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, The College of
William & Mary has stood for three centuries at a crossroads of
colonial expansion, national formation, and global migration.
Not far down the road lies Yorktown, the site of the last major
military engagement of the Revolutionary War. Even closer is
Jamestown Island, the site of the first permanent English
settlement in North America, and where the first African slaves
arrived on the continent. The American Studies Program offers
students the opportunity to engage with the complex and diverse
histories of cultural, racial, and national encounters that,
like those of our local area, have come to shape the past and
present of the United States, and the Americas. In a rigorous,
yet flexible environment of intellectual inquiry, students
develop the critical skills that allow them not only to pursue
rewarding careers, but to serve as responsible citizens of the
21st Century.