North American Studies

Entry requirements

1. A completed Bachelor's degree in American Studies or related area
   You’re required to have a Dutch Bachelor's degree (or equivalent, from a research university) in American Studies or related area.
2. A proficiency in English
   In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Master's program in North American Studies touches on subjects such as Americanization, globalization, balances of power, transatlantic transfer, cultural mobility, exceptionalism, and cultural diplomacy. You’ll come to understand what shaped Europe's image of the United States and vice versa. Our Master's gives students the opportunity to acquire solid expertise in relation to the concept of ‘America' in a variety of fields: US history, literature, culture (including literature, popular culture, film, music, and the arts) as well as political history, foreign policy, constitutional law, religion and social science.

Radboud distinguishes itself from other American Studies programs through its emphasis on the cultural and political relations between the United States, its neighboring countries, and Europe. Current events such as the religious tension between the USA and the Middle East, American foreign policy in Latin America and challenges to approach the transnational and transcultural dimension of North American literatures and cultures form an integral part of our classroom discussions.

What will you learn?

• Gain a theoretical background in Transatlantic cultural and political exchange
• Choose from a variety of fields to focus on, including diiplomacy, economic and business policy, or cultural heritage
• Get a multidisciplinary perspective on the topic of Transatlantic relations
• Gain valuable experience deisgning, conducting and presenting your research

Career prospects
There’s a wide range of opportunities for graduates of this program. Your broad interdisciplinary education, expertise in research skills, and excellent command of English will help you find a job in a large variety of international settings. Graduates from this programme could find work in a variety of areas:

• International affairs and diplomacy
• Consultant for businesses, NGOs, or governmental organisations
• Researcher
• Cultural heritage expert
• Media and journalism

This is a specialisation of the Master's in North American Studies

If you have any questions, email us here: study-information@ru.nl

Learn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.