In recent years, Purdue American Studies graduates have moved to tenure track positions at SUNY Buffalo, Colorado College, Arizona State University, Youngstown State University and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Books and articles by American Studies graduates have in recent years been published by University of Nebraska Press, University of Missouri Press, American Quarterly and Aztlan. Finally, American Studies at Purdue stresses community and political engagement. In recent years, students in the program have performed community service for class credit with the Tarajia Project, a high school program designed to assist women of color, the YWCA Domestic Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, and the Lafayette Journal & Courier newspaper. The program boasts a high placement rate across a wide spectrum of professional vocations, from public television to academy. The American Studies M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue are flexible, largely self-directed plans of study. Two years of coursework are required for the M.A. and Ph.D. each, with the majority of courses being elective. M.A. students also take AMST 63000, a capstone independent research seminar. Ph.D. students take AMST 60300. Ph.D. students are required to take a major and a dissertation prospectus. All students in the program work closely with an advisor and plan of study committee who supervise their path toward the degree.