About American Studies and History, BA - at University of Nottingham
Course overviewThis course gives you the opportunity to examine key periods, debates, and ideas within American and European history. In American and Canadian studies, you will examine issues surrounding American foreign policy, war, political protest, slavery, the penal system, and the US presidency, among many other topics. The history side is broad, both in chronology (spanning from AD500 to the present) and in areas covered, allowing you to focus on the periods of history that interest you most. At the beginning of Year two, you may apply to transfer to a four-year degree course with a year abroad, depending on availability of places and academic performance.
Year oneYou are introduced to the basic themes and events of American History and the key authors and texts of American Literature. The History core is Learning History, a skill and methodology based module. The emphasis is on reflecting on the nature of history as a discipline and developing the skills required for the writing and debating of history.
Year twoYou will broaden and deepen your understanding of both disciplines. Study of American Thought and Culture complements the first-year surveys of History and Literature, and a range of modules allow you to focus on certain periods, events, authors or texts.
In History, you select modules from Medieval, Early Modern or Modern History, and submit a long essay at the end of the second semester. The History core module is Exploring Historiography, which involves planning, researching and writing a 5,000-word analysis of the historiography of a topic of your choice.
International study yearStudents registered for the four-year programme attend a major North American university for one year.
Final year (of both three or four-year programmes)You will continue and extend the process of specialisation, submitting a dissertation on a subject of your choice, choosing from a range of advanced level modules and continuing to engage with the historiography in various debates, taking a critical approach to the use of primary source material.
By the end of the courseYou will have an in-depth and wide-ranging knowledge of key periods, movements, and developments within American and international history, and will be highly proficient in research, essay-writing and presentation skills. If you spend a year abroad, you will have greater insights into North American society through first-hand experience.
