The department, which is one of two American Studies departments in Austria, is committed to a broad interdisciplinary approach and devotes its efforts to both teaching and research to the study of the overall cultural and social development of the USA. All the courses at the Department of American studies are held in English.

The department has a standing tradition of student exchanges and teaching agreements with many international universities through programs such as Joint Degree, Fulbright and Erasmus. We encourage our students to take advantage of the ample study abroad programs with our European and American partner universities. Our department members are active in a variety of national and international scholarly associations including the Austrian Association for American Studies (AAAS), the American Studies Association (ASA) and the European Association for American Studies (EAAS). In terms of academic outreach, the department has organized many national and international conferences as well as public lectures and film viewings.