academic Mission

In fulfillment of its academic mission, the Center will:

  • Host lectures, symposia, and conferences
  • Provide grants to assist graduate student research and travel
  • Support faculty publication
  • Broaden the possibilities for undergraduate study in American literature
  • Publicize and promote the major scholarly projects ongoing at Penn State
  • Sponsor seminars and works-in-progress series, such as the Working Papers in American Literature and Culture group and the graduate Article-in-Progress group
  • Facilitate discussions about the present and future of American literary studies and of academic publishing
  • Foster intra- and interdisciplinary conversations
  • Encourage more faculty-student contact on graduate and undergraduate levels
  • Promote the work of affiliated groups such as the American Women Writers Workshop, Early American Reading Group, and Postmodern Reading Group
  • Contribute to and draw from an expanding network of humanities centers and American studies programs internationally