A semester after being changed from a department to an interdepartmental program, the American Studies program has structurally changed very little while creating a new track titled "America and the World," according to program chair Prof. Joyce Antler.At a May 24 faculty meeting, the faculty voted to adopt the change suggested by the Brandeis 2020 Committee to change the status of what was then the department of American Studies. Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe stated at the time that in academic year 2016 to 2017, the program's status will be re-evaluated by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

The Brandeis 2020 Committee was formed in January 2010 to recommend academic changes that would improve the University's financial situation.

Recommendations made by the 2020 Committee, including the recommendation to change American Studies to an interdepartmental program, were designed to create long-term change by the year 2020.

The change in the American Studies program will include a change in future hiring for the department. In an interview with the Justice, Antler explained that although no professors will leave or have left the program, as American Studies professors retire, they will not be replaced by new professors.

Instead, professors from other departments will begin to take over the responsibilities of the retired professors.

In an interview with the Justice, Antler explained that "There have been no changes whatsoever" in the American Studies program since the change.

"Our enrollments are robust; our programs and courses . are exciting. We have new ideas for the future, and we're living with this new situation, which is really not that much of a situation at all," Antler said.

Two new courses will be offered in the program next year which will fit into the new America and the World track, according to Antler, which has been developing over time.

In the fall, Prof. Thomas Doherty (AMST) will teach one of the new courses, and in the spring Antler will teach another concerning the "American empire."

Antler explained that one primary difference between the new American Studies interdepartmental program and other programs like it, such as Women's and Gender Studies or International and Global Studies is that the entire faculty is centered in one place.

"We're in the same space, we've been working together for many years, and we will add to this core faculty as time goes on," she said, although the faculty will come from different areas of the University.

Antler explained that programs that grew out of the American Studies department, such as Journalism, Legal Studies and Environmental Studies, have not been and will not be affected by the American Studies change although the directors of the programs are professors in the American Studies program.

"They've always been programs," Antler said. "Our links with them remain strong.