created by Shauna Lee Manning
The purpose of this website is to foster communication and collegiality among our American Studies graduate students. Since we are an evening program on a commuter campus with a studentbody who have other lives (careers, families, etc.), it is often difficult for our students to see one another, let alone come to campus when they do not have a class. Cyberspace is the perfect meeting area for busy people who want to connect with their colleagues and get the latest program news.
The site is laid out in a "frequent user" fashion; the linked pages that students might want to check most often are at the top of the navigation bar; the ones they may refer to less frequently are on the bottom.
The homepage has a weekly calendar and announcements section to give students important information right away.
Current Students lists all active students (those who are taking courses and those who are on program fee) in alphabetical order with email links on their names, where they are from or currently live, and their research interests. Students can find others who have similar research interests or live in their community or are new to the area.
The Message Board is a space for students to advertise or reach out to others...they can advertise for a roommate, look to carpool to class or conferences, sell or borrow course books, let others know about a job opportunity, etc.
Faculty and Staff list all the graduate program faculty and staff with their contact information, educational qualifications, and research interests/areas of specialization. This will help students who are looking for an advisor in their own area of interest.
The On Campus page has information/resources at UMass, including the location of the American Studies office, commuting, capus map, where to eat, emergency information, etc.
The Program Handbook page has the entire American Studies Graduate Program Handbook online.
The Courses page has the current semester schedule for American Studies graduate courses with links to course descriptions. Look here for any updates on classroom locations, teachers, etc. There are also links to the bookstore to look up which books are required for your course, and links to the academic calendar and computer labs.
Online Research has links to all kinds of useful research websites under categories from African American to Women. These sites can help students discover research topics and research questions as well as have access to information and historical databases.
The Final Projects page, when completed, will have a searchable database of all the UMass American Studies final projects, including project abstracts. (No more having to come in to the Conference Room and go through them by hand!)
The Reading Room has links to various U.S. newspapers across the nation as well as local Boston and campus newspapers. It is often interesting to see how the same story is covered in different regions.
Discovering Boston is still under construction. It will offer both fun and historical links for the newcomer to explore the Boston area.
A website is always a work in progress with new information and links being added. I hope you will not only check the site frequently, but email me with information to include in the calendar, the message board, or other web links that might be useful to your fellow students (online research, reading room, discovering Boston, etc.). And, please let me know if your email or research interests change and need to be updated on the Current Students page!