Ministerio de Desarrollo Urbano
DISPOSICIÓN N.° 1045/DGIUR/
student characteristics, types of programs : Parallel programs at any of our 16 peer
institutions. Parallel programs at any of our regional/student referent peer institutions.
Regional and national comparisons of academic programs.
The University of New Mexico's American Studies Department possesses a national reputation for research and is especially distinguished in terms of graduate teaching. As the following data tables demonstrates, UNM's graduate program is comparable in some aspects to leading national institutions like Yale University and New York University and in some ways surpasses peer institutions like the University of Texas at Austin and University of Kansas. These findings are corroborated by the doctoral program's high rankings in the 2010 National Research Council ratings for research (See Appendix D).
We gathered the data on all peer and parallel programs with national reputations through published sources and correspondence with their graduate directors and that information is summarized in the tables that follow this analysis. UNM parallel peer institutions that replied to our queries included the University of Kansas and the University of Texas at Austin. Parallel regional and national departments that also replied included George Washington University, New York University, University of Hawaii, University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, and Yale University. UNM peer institution University of Iowa's graduate program did not respond to our correspondence requesting data.
Department strengths include a national reputation for research and productivity in terms of graduate teaching. As the information and the table shows, we serve a large number of graduate students with a relatively small number of core and affiliated faculty. Only the Yale University American Studies program teaches more graduate students and only the University of Kansas department possesses a smaller number of core faculty. Successful applicants to the graduate program include both regional and national populations. In keeping with New Mexico's population and our program's historic strengths, an unusually large percentage of each year's incoming graduate are Hispanic and/or of Indigenous origin. This characteristic of the department is further corroborated by high NRC rankings for student diversity.
Comparisons to parallel institutions also reveal comparative weaknesses in UNM's undergraduate program and graduate funding. Our undergraduate program is relatively small in comparison to our parallel institutions. Only the University of Kansas serves fewer undergraduate American Studies majors than UNM. Another area of weakness is graduate funding. We commonly award graduate or teaching assistantships on an annual basis. In contrast, most other programs including our peer institution the University of Kansas offer multi-year funding packages.
Table One: Comparative American Studies Departments General and Undergraduate Data
Institution # Core Faculty # Affiliated Faculty BA Minor BA Major # of Minors # of Majors University of New
Mexico 11 14 Yes[1] Yes 21 33
George Washington
University
15 21 Yes Yes 20 76
New York
University[2] 27 12 Yes Yes 2 8[3]
University of
Hawaii 14 NA[4] Yes Yes[5] 40 45
University of
Kansas 9 10 No Yes 0 10
University of
University of
Michigan 34 50 Yes Yes 12 25
University of
Minnesota 10 50 Yes Yes 4 20
University of
Texas @ Austin 12 61 Yes Yes 50 120
Yale University 22 24 No Yes NA 105
Table Two: Comparative American Studies Departments Graduate Program Data
Institution Grad Cert. MA PhD
Current Grad. Students Avg. Graduate Student Funding Package University of New
Mexico No Yes Yes 55
Most students receive annual graduate
assistantships. George Washington
University No Yes[7] Yes 50 5 year funding[8]
New York University No No Yes 55 5 year fellowships
University of Hawaii Yes[9] Yes Yes 70[10] variable[11]
University of Kansas Yes Yes Yes 25 4 year and 3 year
packages University of
Maryland No Yes Yes 53[12] 5 year funding
University of
Michigan Yes Yes 40
$230,000 over five years University of
Minnesota Yes[13] No Yes 30 4-5 year funding[14]
University of Texas
@ Austin No Yes Yes 40
Single year funding packages.
Yale University No Yes Yes 84 5 year funding[15]
[1]University of New Mexico also offers an undergraduate concentration in Southwest Studies.
[2]At NYU, the American Studies program is housed within the Department for Social and Cultural Analysis.
[3]NYU also has 14 students majoring in Social and Cultural Analysis with a concentration in American Studies.
[4]University of Hawaii does not have formal affiliated faculty.
[5]University of Hawaii, Manoa also offers a double major.
[6]University of Maryland houses a US Latina/o Studies Minor.
[7]George Washington University also offers a combined BA/MA degree
[8]George Washington University’s funding is usually in the form of teaching assistantships for all PhD students (average cohort 3/year). No funding for MA students.
[9]University of Hawaii, Manoa offers graduate certificates in Museum Studies as well as Historic Preservation.
[10]This number includes students in graduate certificate programs.
[11]University of Hawaii, Manoa has a small amount of funding to give to graduate students, including tuition waivers, TAships, and scholarships funneled from online tuition dollars.
[12]University of Maryland has 48 PhDs and 5 MAs.
[13]University of Minnesota offers a graduate minor in American Studies.
[14]University of Minnesota has a base funding package (in forms of teaching assistantships, etc.) of 4-5 years guaranteed, depending on whether the student has an MA degree or not, and offers a minimum of one summer of funding (at the dissertation writing stage) and a small conference travel budget.
[15]Yale offers full funding (approx $28k/year) through a range of teaching and fellowships, as well as tuition remission. There is also a University Dissertation Fellowship awarded to all students in their 5th or 6th year. There is no funding for MA students.