BA American Studies

Key details

BA AMERICAN STUDIES

Start Year

2022

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Bachelor of Arts

UCAS course code

T700

Entry Requirements

BBB or ABC

Duration (years)

Understanding America in the 21st century is more essential now than ever. Studying the world’s most significant superpower at this fascinating moment of crisis and change opens up a panorama of academic and career options.

The department of American Studies at UEA is one of the most well-established and highly regarded departments of its kind in the UK, with a long heritage of researching and teaching all aspects of life and culture in the United States. You’ll be taught by scholars who are carrying out cutting-edge research in the fields of American literature, history, politics and cultural studies. And having chosen from a broad range of modules exploring the history, literature, politics and culture of the United States, you’ll enhance your understanding of them with a year spent studying abroad.

About

On this degree you’ll study the United States from literary, cultural and historical perspectives. Through the exploration of great novels, landmark historical events, film, comic books, photographs and paintings, you will gain detailed knowledge of the key moments and debates that have shaped the United States. You’ll get to grips with race, gender and civil liberties in America and examine how US power has been projected around the world. You’ll consider the nation’s relationship with the history of the American West. And you’ll explore a range of aspects of American culture, from the popular to the avant-garde.

You’ll also gain first-hand experience of the US by spending your third year there before returning to UEA to complete your degree in your fourth year. Alternatively, you could study in Canada or, indeed, divide your year abroad, studying for one semester in the US and the other in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or Hong Kong.

Whichever path you choose through your studies, this degree will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how America has shaped and been shaped by the world around us. You’ll learn about the relationship between culture and politics, while gaining an in-depth knowledge of the forces that transform societies and forge nations. The interdisciplinary approach at the heart of American studies will not only provide you with the analytical tools to better comprehend the United States and its role in the world, but also to grapple with the key political issues that shape our society today.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You’ll be assessed at the end of each semester primarily by coursework. In your final year, you’ll have the option to write a dissertation on a topic of your choice with the support of your tutors. Your final degree result is determined by the marks you receive in your second and fourth years.

For every piece of assessment that you submit you’ll receive written and verbal feedback from tutors. These comments and reflections will help you identify the methods and strategies that will improve your work and help you get the most out of your studies.

Structure

In your first year you’ll acquire a comprehensive historical and literary overview of the United States. You’ll analyse a series of topical issues and political events as ways into thinking through important issues that have shaped the American national consciousness. You’ll explore key historical topics such as the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution, the Civil War, the Jazz Age and the Cold War. Through lectures and seminars you’ll also cover the often fiercely contested development of a national literature in the United States. You’ll trace the ways in which a multitude of voices – including Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Pauline Hopkins and William Faulkner – have interpreted the nation.

Throughout the year you’ll cultivate and hone the key academic and practical skills needed to study at university level.

Teaching and Learning

You’ll be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. We pride ourselves on our small group seminar teaching, which allows a greater level of discussion between academic staff and students. In seminars, you’ll learn how to listen to and critique the ideas of others, as well as how to present and defend your own arguments effectively.

You’ll acquire vital skills needed for independent learning throughout your course and will have access to dedicated sessions designed to help you make the most of UEA’s state-of-the-art library facilities. Through these sessions and your academic modules, you’ll gain the crucial research skills of uncovering resources and critically assessing sources. As you progress through your degree you’ll develop as a self-motivated researcher and independent, creative thinker.

In addition to timetabled lecture and seminar slots, each member of staff at UEA holds dedicated office hours where students can come and seek additional advice and guidance on a one-to-one basis. You’ll also be assigned an adviser who can support you through your studies by providing academic and career guidance.

During your time at UEA, you’ll be taught by academics working at the forefront of their fields. Our academics have been published widely on key issues that have shaped the development of American Studies

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Assessment for Year 2

Structure

At this stage of your degree, you’ll choose from a range of module options, allowing you to embark on academic specialization in a particular area or on a compelling theme.

Modules currently on offer cover a broad range of topics such as gender and sexuality, race and racism, contemporary literature, , , and American music and film.

Teaching and Learning

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Assessment for Year 3

Structure

You’ll spend your third year abroad. This invaluable academic and cultural experience is one that most students consider to be the highlight of their time at university.

For further details, visit our Study Abroad section of our website.

Teaching and Learning

Admissions Live Chat

Open Days

Assessment for Year 4

Structure

In your fourth year you’ll be able to choose three optional modules relating to the research specialisms of academic staff within the department. You’ll also complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice. Guided by a supervisor, you’ll be able to take an interdisciplinary approach to your chosen topic or specialise in an aspect of American history or literature.

Teaching and Learning

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Assessment for Year 1

Compulsory Modules

AMERICA NOW, AMERICA THEN

Code AMAS4036A

Credits 20

From COVID19 to Confederate flags, from Black Lives Matter to Donald Trump’s MAGA - how do we navigate the turbulence of contemporary American life? It is impossible to understand America now without understanding America then - the deep social, cultural and political histories which underpin contemporary events and which are still very palpable in the present. In this module, therefore, we will seek to understand some of the most pressing issues in today’s America by unpacking the rich and revealing interdisciplinary contexts that help to explain them. We will do this by using a variety of scholarly approaches and disciplinary lenses, and range widely across the American past. On completion of this module, students will also have the skills required to research, write and edit at university level.

AMERICAN LITERATURE I: IMAGINING AMERICA

Code AMAL4033A

Credits 20

How did American literature become American? How did literature help to shape the idea of America? This module will provide you with some answers to those questions with a thorough introduction to early American Literature. From the earliest moments of European colonization of the New World through to the bloody Civil War that Americans fought over slavery in the middle of the 19th century, you will explore the ways that a diverse group of writers helped shaped a literary culture that was distinctively American. You will encounter a rich variety of American writers and texts – travellers, novelists, poets, biographers, philosophers – and think about the role that literature played in the creation of a new nation. From puritans to politicians, from revolutionaries to romantics, from slavery to emancipation, you will explore the work of the men and women who shaped our ideas of what American Literature was, is, and might be. Each week, through lectures and seminar discussion, you will also consider the other forces that shaped these texts, and develop your ability to analyse a range of literary styles. As America was colonised, achieved independence, expanded westwards and fought a Civil War, how did American writers respond to the extraordinary tensions running through a newly born nation?

AMERICAN HISTORY I: AGE OF REVOLUTIONS

Code AMAF4008A

Credits 20

The American Constitution opens with the phrase “We the People …”. But who were “the people” being addressed by the Founders? Who was included and, equally importantly, who was excluded from this definition? And how does understanding these questions of inclusion and exclusion help us to better understand the formative years of American history? You'll explore the history of the United States from its founding to the end of the 19th Century, covering events from the American Revolution to the 'closing' of the frontier. Through a range of primary and secondary historical sources, you’ll be introduced to key themes, ideas, events, and people in the early history of the US. And you’ll develop a broad overview of the first century and a half of American history. Beginning with the revolutions which swept Europe as well as the United States in the late 18th Century, events which fundamentally altered the relationships between people and the political structures which governed them, you’ll explore the ways in which these major national and international events spurred micro-level revolutions at all levels of society. Subjects you will discuss include the radical underpinnings of the American Constitution; the reconfiguration of gender identities and ideals in the post-revolutionary period; Native American resistance to white settlement; African American challenges to slavery and the construction of 'race' as a legal category; the Civil War as the second American Revolution and the subsequent abolition of slavery; Reconstruction as a lost opportunity to confirm the revolutionary intent of the Civil War; and the closing of the frontier and Native American response to continued assaults on their freedoms. By the end of the module you will have a better understanding of the history which shaped the modern United States. You will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, and self-directed study. You will draw on and strengthen your skills in researching, reading, analysing, and discussing a wide range of primary and secondary source material. You will also develop your oral communication skills and your critical writing skills through class-based discussions and written assignments.

AMERICAN STUDIES II: BEYOND BOUNDARIES

Code AMAS4037B

Credits 20

How has American culture been shaped by categories of race, gender, class and sexuality? How can we unpick and understand the complex experiences that shape American identity? This module will enable you to develop and expand the research methods, writing skills, and oral skills you’ll have acquired in ‘Reading Cultures I: American Icons’. You’ll continue your exploration of the contemporary United States, you’ll be introduced to the work of critical theorists, and you’ll be encouraged to think about America’s changing position in the world. Classes will further facilitate skills in reading, writing, analysis and independent thinking, through which you will gain the confidence and the tools necessary to be a self-supporting learner, giving you a strong academic foundation for the rest of your degree programme.

AMERICAN LITERATURE II: MAKING IT 'NEW'

Code AMAL4031B

Credits 20

On this module you will learn the central currents of American Literature, from after the American Civil War, through the turn of the century and into modernism and the early 20th century, finishing at the close of World War II. You will follow the – often fiercely contested – development of a national literature, tracing the way this multitude of voices differs from place to place, from decade to decade, and from writer to writer. Writers studied on this module in past years have included: Henry James, Mark Twain, Nella Larsen, Langston Hughes, Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, T.S. Eliot and William Faulkner. You will be introduced to these vibrant voices through reading and discussing short stories, novels, poetry, non-fiction and critical work. You will attend lectures, and take part in follow-up discussion-based seminars. Each week you will consider the context of the texts you read, as well as working to analyse and explain how they work on the reader and in society at large. You will encounter debates about the meaning of freedom in life and in art, what it might mean to be modern (or to refuse that modernity), about the responsibilities of citizenship to other people and to the environment, and about what it might mean to write and be read in the modern United States of America. By the end of this module you will be familiar with a wide range of late 19th century and early 20th century American texts and writers. You will learn the major movements in American literature from the fin de siècle through to the Second World War, and will be able to talk about the issues surrounding the development of a national and literary culture. Through doing this, you will improve your ability to read and analyse literary texts, to describe how language works in history and on the reader, and to identify and present new and exciting patterns in what you read.

AMERICAN HISTORY II: THE AMERICAN CENTURY

Code AMAF4010B

Credits 20

In 1941, Henry Luce, publisher of Time Magazine, declared the 20th Century to be “the American Century.” This module challenges you to consider whether Luce was right. In exploring the possible answers to this question, you’ll consider the history of the United States from approximately 1900 through to the early 21st Century. Through a range of primary and secondary historical sources, you’ll be introduced to key themes, ideas, events, and people in the history of the US since the early 20th Century. In doing so, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of how American political and economic power developed and explore the challenges and opportunities Americans faced as the US became a superpower. Beginning with the massive social upheaval of industrialisation and mass immigration in the early 20th Century, you’ll also explore, among other things, the impact of the 'Jazz Age' of the 1920s, the Great Depression and New Deal of the 1930s, the impact of World War Two and the coming of the Cold War, the 'Rights Revolution' of the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement, and the re-emergence of political conservatism and its consequences in the late 20th Century. You’ll discuss the legacy of racism in American society, changing gender roles and the consequences for society and politics, and the domestic political and cultural impact of the half-century long Cold War. You’ll deepen your knowledge of modern American history and politics and explore the ways in which the legacy of the nation’s earlier history runs through more recent events. You will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, and self-directed study. You will draw on and strengthen your skills in researching, reading, analysing, and discussing a wide range of primary and secondary source material. You will also develop your oral communication skills and your critical writing skills through class-based discussions and written assignments.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Students should take 60 credits from each semester.

Assessment for Year 2

Compulsory Modules

Optional A Modules

(40 credits)

POLITICS IN THE USA

Code AMAH5058A

Credits 20

This module will introduce you to current trends and developments in American politics and government. But to understand contemporary events, we also need to understand the history that brought us here. In this module you will explore contemporary US politics and developments in modern American political history, underpinned by discussions about the structure and functioning of the US government from the nation’s founding to today. No prior knowledge of American politics is necessary but a general interest in the subject is advisable.

AMERICAN MUSIC

Code AMAS5023A

Credits 20

The first book published in the New World was a hymn book. Music, sacred and profane, has been at the centre of American lives ever since. Distinctive American musical styles still dominate the globe, as they have done for decades. But how did American music develop into the genres that we recognise today? How did uniquely American sounds catch the ear of listeners all over the world? You will gain a thorough understanding of the development of American music. You will focus on a number of distinctive musical traditions - from minstrelsy to blues, jazz, and country; from rock and roll to hip hop - and consider the way that they have shaped popular music today. Throughout the course, you will encounter a rich variety of music and an extraordinary range of characters, from the most famous entertainers in modern culture, to the obscure, the forgotten and the neglected. Whilst exploring the development of American music, you will also examine the ways in which its growth tells a larger story about the history of America and its people. In particular, it will give you a different perspective on the issue of race in American life. Through seminar discussion, written coursework, and group presentations, you will develop your analytical and critical abilities - whether that means your ability to think about the significance of a song and its meaning for a particular historical moment, or the way that the shifting meaning of a genre of music can tell us many things about its wider social and cultural context.

THE COLD WAR

Code AMAS5044A

Credits 20

What was the Cold War? When did it start? Where was it fought, how was it waged, and why did it last so long? Such seemingly straightforward questions belie that the conflict was neither “cold” nor a “war,” and lacks a clearly defined start and end. Indeed, the subject has produced a vast range of arguments but continues to defy easy answers. We will examine these questions in an international context to uncover how and why the United States and Soviet Union waged a “cold war” in every corner of the globe during the twentieth century. You will consider nations and peoples who aligned with the superpowers or, as was increasingly the case, with neither. You will look at the multiple ways in which this unique “war short of total war” influenced all aspects of life, from diplomacy and politics, to economics, to culture and values, to bombs and warfare, to societal norms, to questions of race and sexuality. Examining the role of a range of state, private, and transnational actors, we will present a global and international history of the Cold War. You will work with original primary sources, the latest secondary literature, and consider fictional sources like films and novels to gain a full and rich understanding of the topic. You will engage a rich historiography on the changing ways that historians have written about the cold war. As a result, you will be able to debate how one of the most powerful historical narratives of the twentieth century continues to shape America and the world today.

THE POLITICS OF STORYTELLING

Code AMAS5054A

Credits 20

We all tell stories. Some stories are based in fact. Others are fictional and deliberately play with and distort realities. But how do we decide on which stories get told and which stories don’t? What does this tell us about the political structures that shape our society? Or indeed the relationship between history and power? Can the stories we tell play a role in our political present? Relevant to all students studying the arts and humanities, this module explores the politics of storytelling. It interrogates the relationship between fact and fiction, while encouraging students to think through the societal forces that shape their subject and their own work. Drawing on the expertise from a range of disciplines - from film studies, history, literature, politics and creative writing - it shows how stories can remake our reality and have the potential to profoundly shape our present moment.

Optional B Modules

(40 credits)

BLACK FREEDOM STRUGGLES: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Code AMAH5050B

Credits 20

The African American freedom struggle did not begin or end with the civil rights protests of the 1950s -1960s. Since the demise of slavery, black activists have been forcefully demanding racial equality. From 1865 to the present day, African Americans have not only asserted their rights as citizens, but have demanded an end to economic injustice, while questioning the actions of the U.S. government both at home and abroad. This module examines black political and cultural protest in the United States over the course of the ‘long’ civil rights movement. Covering the period from the first years of black freedom following the Civil War to the emergence of Black Lives Matter, you will learn about the breadth and diversity of African American activism. You will challenge popular narratives of the civil rights movement and uncover the radical impulses that have animated the freedom dreams of black America. You will cover how African Americans responded to disenfranchisement, racial violence and economic inequality. You will also learn about the lives of key figures in the black freedom struggle such as Booker T. Washington, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Marcus Garvey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis. Ultimately, through the study of primary sources and secondary texts, you will grapple with the complexity of black political thought and develop a detailed understanding of how African Americans counteracted white supremacy. On successful completion of this module you will have a broad understanding of the major trends in African American political and cultural history from the nineteenth century to the present day. You will able be able to clearly articulate how African Americans have shaped our understanding of the American nation, democracy and the meaning of human rights. Finally, through the close study of a range of cultural and political texts including autobiographies, speeches, newspapers and film, you will develop key analytical skills that are vital to the interdisciplinary study of history and politics.

BREAKING NEWS! AMERICAN JOURNALISM: HISTORY AND PRACTICE

Code AMAS5049B

Credits 20

How do we know what is real and what is fake? Previous generations, we are told, could reliably turn to “the news”—but is that really true? From the very beginning, American news was always synonymous with low scandal, scurrilous rumour, and fakery. And yet, there is no doubt that there have been crucial moments when journalists and journalism have gone beyond merely reporting events, to shape the public imagination. “The news” has always manipulated as much as informed its audiences, and in this module you will learn about how this in turn has shaped American life. In learning about the history of journalism and its cultural impact in America in the wider global context, you will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the art of journalism, both critically and in practice. You will engage with questions surrounding print, broadcast and digital media—looking back to the past, reflecting on the present, and looking forward into the future of journalism. You will consider the ways in which marginalised peoples have sought to assert their voices through news media, by seizing the means by which our public understanding of reality is produced. The work will involve critical readings, engagement with primary source materials, seminar discussions, presentations, and critical writing with creative practice. You will have the opportunity to refine your communication skills, and especially the art of writing in different modes for different audiences.

AMERICAN LITERATURE ON SCREEN

Code AMAL5082B

Credits 20

Module Description A large number of films and television programmes are adapted from literary sources, and often produce powerful responses from viewers and critics. This module explores the phenomenon of American literature on screen, comparing the adapted screen versions with their literary originals to consider how and why the decision to adapt is taken, and what effect is achieved. This module provides the tools to critically assess and interpret how American literature adapted for the screen approaches key issues in American culture such as race, gender, class, identity, and power. We will also explore the intersectional nature of systemic structures such as settler colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, organised religion, etc. Additionally, this module will consider the ways that screen adaptation appropriates literary texts, and assess the political and economic dimensions of such appropriations. Literary genres covered will include autobiography and the novel, including the graphic novel, with examples ranging from the 19th to the 21st centuries; screen media will include both film and television adaptations. Students will be encouraged to explore the connections and the differences between the uses of specific media, and to think through how and why adaptation works in a range of critical and often tense American cultural contexts. Students will also consider narrative and narration, characterisation, voice, point of view, style, and audience. The module is team taught by a wide variety of American Studies specialists, and our approach is firmly interdisciplinary and intersectional; students will be encouraged to take similarly diverse critical approaches. Weekly seminars will explore a range of texts and films from the 19th to 21st centuries, and students will be expected to devise their own essay topics from the interests they develop across the module.

AMERICA IN THE WORLD: THE HISTORY OF U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

Code AMAH5051B

Credits 20

Has the United States helped or harmed the rest of the world during its rise to world power? Why has it been, and continues to be, involved in every corner of the globe? You will be offered a critical introduction to understanding the history of U.S. foreign relations. You will explore the key themes and traditions that have informed America’s approach to international affairs, from foundational ideas in the 18th and 19th centuries to increasing influence in the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to analysing traditional political and diplomatic issues, you will consider the link between foreign and domestic policies, and the role of various state and non-state actors that have shaped America’s actions abroad. You will work with original primary sources, the latest secondary literature, and a range of cultural and political texts including speeches, newspapers, and editorial cartoons. This broader consideration of foreign relations history engages important contemporary trends in the historiography of U.S. foreign policy – regarding race, gender, and the “international” and “cultural” turns – and connects them to emerging trends in the fields of American history and international relations. As a result, you will gain a detailed understanding of the history of U.S. foreign relations and the legacies that continue to shape debates about America’s role in the world today.

Optional C Modules

(20 credits)

BLACK FREEDOM STRUGGLES: SLAVERY, 1619-1865

Code AMAH5043A

Credits 20

Race is central to the history of the United States. The conversations about race in 21st century America have their origins in a system of slavery that developed from the early colonial period. This module excavates these roots and thereby enables you to look to current conversations and understand where these began. You will follow a chronological sequence on the module, allowing us to trace the course of racial slavery in North America from its inception in 1619 through to its abolition in 1865. You will consider the roots of racism in the colonial era that strengthened during the antebellum years and beyond and consider their relationship with racial slavery. You will engage with the developing historical scholarship of slavery in the United States, gaining a deeper understanding of contemporary (then and now) debates concerning race and racial identity. Employing a range of resources including written and visual primary sources, oral histories, cinematic depictions, and nineteenth century novels, will allow you to see the networks of power articulated though race and ideas of otherness . You'll learn through a mixture of seminars and self-directed study, often working with artifacts or source materials in seminars to enable you to think collectively about their meanings. Assessment will be entirely through coursework. The study of slavery in the United States will make you a better historian, whatever your area of interest. Concepts of race and ideas of otherness are so central to the study of history in the 21st century that the techniques and strategies of analysis employed on this module will enable you to think about the arguments of others more effectively and also position yourself within those debates.

LGBT AND BEYOND: SEXUAL CULTURES, QUEER IDENTITIES, AND THE POLITICS OF DESIRE

Code HUM-5007A

Credits 20

How do notions of gender and sexuality shape culture, and how are in turn our understanding and experiences of gender and sexuality shaped by cultural production? How important are other times, places and identifications – associated with class, race, ethnicity – to these understandings and experiences? And to what extent can a film, an image, a testimony, or a place capture such complexity? Addressing these questions from an interdisciplinary approach, the aim of the module is to explore the ways in which gender and sexuality are constituted through a broad array of experiences, practices, and cultural products. The module focuses on issues raised in classical and contemporary research in history, politics, media, cultural studies and visual cultures such as: representation and cultural production; subjectivity; identity; identification; bodies and embodiment; performance and performativity; among others. Overall, by exploring theory in conjunction with queer cultural production that explores questions of power, identity, and desire across different racial, national, and cultural landscapes, the module aims to problematise how gender and sexuality are not stable identities or classifications but are instead processes involving normalisations, hierarchies and relations of domination that can be challenged, troubled and/or queered.

MAKING IT PUBLIC: PUBLISHING, AUDIENCE, AND CREATIVE ENTERPRISE

Code AMAS5056A

Credits 20

This module will provide you an introduction to the world of publishing. What does it mean to publish, which, from the Middle French publier, means ‘to make public, to make known, to make famous’? And how do you do it? On this module, with practical support from the Media Suite, you will acquire the basic skills for designing and publishing your own short publication, whether it be a book, a magazine, a fanzine, audiobook, or podcast. In seminars you will learn what it takes to be a successful editor, and, by considering issues of readership, marketing, promotion, finance, scheduling, and copyright law, you will know how to successfully plan and manage your project. You will also be introduced different kinds of publishing—commercial, independent, DIY, and digital publishing—and gain an understanding of editorial roles and processes, the ins-and-outs of pre-production, and the best way to market and publicize your creative product. Students will also have the opportunity to attend the annual London Book Fair.

TRANSATLANTIC LITERATURES

Code AMAL5081A

Credits 20

This module will explore the diversity and histories of literatures emerging from transatlantic crossings and exchange. Taught through a lecture circus format, it will draw on the research expertise of colleagues in both AMA and LDC, in order to demonstrate the breadth of the Transatlantic as both a geography and an imaginary. Materials will include literary responses to the Middle Passage of the Atlantic slave trade, writing from the Caribbean, the work of writers whose careers took them from America to Paris—or from London to New York—and transatlantic literary networks. Each lecture will be given by a different academic, based on their own areas of research, and include Q&A's on how they conceive of the Transatlantic as a critical concept and constellation, and as a crucial site for understanding decolonisation.

Optional D Modules

(20 credits)

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FICTION

Code AMAL5079B

Credits 20

Writers who want to address the contemporary scene confront a dilemma: as soon as you try to capture it on the page, you’ve already fallen behind the present moment. You’ll explore how contemporary American writers nonetheless respond to this challenge. You’ll consider the issues they identify as pressing in American culture, as well as the literary strategies used to explore those issues. As you progress in the module, you’ll acquire understanding of a number of important concepts associated with contemporary American fiction, such as postmodernism, metafiction, identity, globalisation, and memory. When you’ve completed the module, you’ll be familiar with a number of literary and cultural debates relating to contemporary American culture, and have detailed knowledge of some of the most exciting writers working today. You’ll be able to explain why it is difficult to define, and write about, the ‘contemporary.’ And in the course of your assessed work and seminar discussions, you will develop your communication, writing, and research skills.

LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA

Code AMAM5053B

Credits 20

This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of the history and structure of the cinema industries, practices and people of Latin America. Combining film and cultural studies modes of inquiry this module will examine different approaches to film style and theme in this region, as well as looking at the social and cultural role of cinema and its importance as an area of economic and political activity. Covering a range of relevant theories and concepts, the module will provide students with a critical understanding of the key issues at stake in how films are made, circulated and received by audiences, both within relevant national borders and beyond. An indicative weekly outline is as follows: • History and socio-cultural context of Latin America (including legacies of colonialism and religion; what/where is ‘Latin America’ ) • National cinema theories and perspectives • Genres in Latin American cinema • ‘New’ Latin American cinema and ‘Third Cinema’ theory of the 1950s and ‘60s • Indigenous filmmaking and representations of indigeneity • Gender in Latin American cinema • Representations of economic deprivation in Latin American cinema • Censorship and government regulation • Role of co-productions, film festivals and awards (including issues to consider around the reception of sub-titled films) • Focus: Perú (Barrow) • Focus: México and/or Colombia (Aveyard) The proposed weekly structure for the module is as follows: • 2 hour film screening • 1 hour lecture • 1 hour seminar

ARTS AND HUMANITIES PLACEMENT MODULE

Code HUM-5004B

Credits 20

This module will provide you with the opportunity work within a creative/cultural/charity/ heritage/media or other appropriate organisation in order to apply the skills you are developing through your degree to the working world and to develop your knowledge of employment sectors within which you may wish to work in the future. The module emphasises industry experience, sector awareness and personal development through a structured reflective learning experience. Having sourced and secured your own placement (with support from Careers Central), you work within your host organisation undertaking tasks that will help you to gain a better understanding of professional practices within your chosen sector. Taught sessions enable you to acquire knowledge of both the industries in which you are placed as well as focusing on personal and professional development germane to the sector. Your assessment tasks will provide you with an opportunity to critically reflect on the creative and cultural sector in which you have worked as well as providing opportunities to undertake presentations, gather evidence, and articulate your newly acquired skills and experiences.

RACE AND VISUAL CULTURE

Code AMAS5055B

Credits 20

This course examines the visual construction of race, including how indigenous groups have been racialized through visual means and how the category of “black” has been established as the hyper-visual opposite of the comparatively low-profile (some might say invisible) “white.” We will consider and critically contextualize examples of visual representation of racialized bodies from throughout modern history, in an examination of the racist visual rhetoric that props up white supremacy in the West. Visual culture is part of social and political life, and in studying images we will think about the context of their production, the public for whom they were intended, and the ideologies that inform ways of seeing it. Our in-class examples will be drawn from all aspects of visual culture, including film, television, painting, comics, magazines, advertising, postcards, sculpture, anthropological illustrations, museum exhibits, digital media, and more, and our secondary readings will come from both historical considerations and contemporary critical race theory.

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Important Information

Students spending a year in the USA/Canada must select: AMAY5028Y. Students spending a semester in the USA/Canada and a semester in Australia must select AMAY5026B and AMAY5027A.

Assessment for Year 3

Compulsory Modules

AMERICAN STUDIES SEMESTER ABROAD: AUSTRALIA

Code AMAY5026B

Credits 60

A semester spent at a university in Australia or New Zealand taking an approved course of study.

AMERICAN STUDIES SEMESTER ABROAD: AMERICA

Code AMAY5027A

Credits 60

A semester spent at a North American (United States or Canada) university taking an approved course of study.

AMERICAN STUDIES YEAR ABROAD

Code AMAY5028Y

Credits 120

A year spent at an American university taking an approved course of study.

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Students should take 60 credits from each semester.

Assessment for Year 4

Compulsory Modules

Optional A Modules

(60 credits)

US INTERVENTIONISM, THE CIA AND COVERT ACTION

Code AMAH6009A

Credits 30

Covert intervention represents the most controversial aspect of U.S. foreign relations. No agency is more closely associated with it than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Supposedly hidden from view, the CIA is nonetheless known around the world and is regularly in the news and a fixture on our cultural landscape. We will reveal the hidden history of how and why the United States has manipulated abroad from the twentieth century to the present. We discover how we come to understand the “secret world of covert action. After an introduction to the key conceptual and historical debates regarding covert action as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, you will examine key moments and cases of U.S. interventionism, from Europe, to Asia, to Africa, to Latin America, to the Middle-East, and in America itself. Have clandestine activities been consistent with official policies or do they represent a form of covert imperialism? How have they been resisted? You will gain a sound understanding of the institutions and processes behind covert action, especially the role of the CIA, and analyse how American interventionism is debated at home. You will work with previously classified sources, the latest secondary literature, and draw on fictional sources like films and novels to gain a fuller and richer understanding of the topic. As a result, you will be able to debate ongoing questions regarding covert American power and the nation’s role in the world.

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND EMPIRE

Code AMAH6041A

Credits 30

Racism knows no borders. African Americans have long been attuned to the international character of white supremacy. As the black intellectual and activist W.E.B. Du Bois noted at the dawn of the 20th century, racism in the United States “is but a local phase of a world problem.” You will examine the global character of the black freedom struggle in the United States. Historically denied full citizenship rights in the United States, African Americans often looked abroad in their fight against racial prejudice – connecting the struggle against Jim Crow to calls for colonial independence around the world. Over the course of the semester, you will explore how and why black Americans forged transnational alliances that challenged racism on a local and a global level. Covering connections between African Americans and movements for racial justice in Europe, Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and beyond, you will be asked to critically engage with the global political outlook of prominent black figures, including Marcus Garvey, Claudia Jones, Huey Newton and Barack Obama. On successful completion of your module, you will have a broad knowledge of the global forces that have shaped African American history. In addition to this, you will be able to identify and engage with theories relating to transnational, diaspora and black Atlantic history. Finally, you will be able to critically reflect on how people and cultures are connected throughout the world.

THE AMERICAN NOVEL IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

Code AMAL6010A

Credits 30

On this module you will study a vibrant selection of early twentieth century American novels and the surrounding literary, historical and critical debates. Many of the books on this module are by writers we have come to think of as a central part of ‘American Literature’, of the ‘American Tradition’, of the ‘Jazz Age’ and of ‘American Modernism’. You will look past these labels to place these books back in a more nuanced contemporary context, and you will work on your own context as twenty-first century readers in order to re-examine the ways in which they come down through history framed to us by our own historical and cultural concerns. You will use these rich, well-researched, texts to practice the deep pattern-making and problem-solving skills that are acquired by what literary theorists call ‘close reading’. Through close reading in discussion-based seminars and literary essays, you will look at the stylistic diversity of the period to unravel how these novels work on their readers, and how they look to re-imagine the form of the novel. You will consider modernity and modernism as entangled, and will use the notion of ‘the modern’ to investigate areas such as the representation of everyday life in early 20th century America, the Great Depression, urban and pastoral narratives, the place of the expatriate and immigrant in American life, fantasies of the American Dream, and ideas and negotiations of gender and race in the period. By studying on this module you will gain a working knowledge of canonical American writing in the early twentieth century. You’ll develop close reading, writing, and discussion skills that will allow you to ground your analysis of historical, cultural, and thematic concerns in the language of the novels. You’ll begin to understand the social and aesthetic concerns of American writers of the period and you’ll begin to participate in the ongoing literary and critical conversation that surrounds some of the best-known authors and moments in the American writerly tradition.

AMERICAN APOCALYPSE: TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CLIMATE CHANGE FICTION

Code AMAL6012A

Credits 30

In the 21st century, the threat of global warming and climate change is quite literally ‘game-changing.’ Engaging with Naomi Klein’s contention that “this changes everything,” you will consider how the apocalyptic dangers of climate change are being addressed by 21st century American fiction. Climate change fiction, or ‘cli-fi’, has recently emerged as a distinct genre, directly responding to the dangers that global warming poses to human and non-human societies. You will consider how fiction offers us ways to assess, understand, and address the phenomenon of global warming, and the impact of humans on their environments. You will evaluate ongoing debates about the ‘facts’ of climate change and global warming, including the evidence being produced by scientists, and the emergence of ‘climate change denial’ as a feature both of popular culture and at the highest levels of government in the United States. Exploring American novels published since 2010, you will develop a broad understanding of how American climate change fiction represents the profound dangers of climate change, through its depiction of drought, flood, deforestation, species extinction, intelligent biotech, and the impact of global capitalism. Through seminar based discussion, you will gain insights into the ways that writers are engaging with the fact of climate change to shape both popular awareness and popular debates, and consider how cli-fi is imagining possible futures for human and all other life on Earth. You will be assessed through coursework, reflective reports, and student-led workshops, and gain expertise in communicating your ideas via student-led group work and seminar discussion. On successful completion of the module, you will have the knowledge and skills to assess the complexities of climate change fiction as a new literary genre, discuss the emotive reach and influence of fiction in this context, and evaluate the strategies of contemporary cli-fi writers.

GENDER AND AGE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

Code AMAS6068A

Credits 30

This module will focus on two key concepts in American culture, ageing and gender. It will consider the ways in which these two concepts are deeply integral to each other, shaping the identity of men and women as gendered beings always in the process of “aging”. The module will consider the intersections of age and gender in American so-ciety and consider how these narratives engage with ideas of class and race in certain spaces in American culture. It will consider a wide variety of case studies including de-bates around the body, citizenship, and representations of age and gender in memoir and visual culture. In addition, it will also reflect on rhetoric around aging and gendered beings in public spaces such as the political arena and the workplace, allowing us to reflect how central these concepts are to the nation’s narrative.

Optional B Modules

(60 credits)

AMERICAN STUDIES DISSERTATION

Code AMAS6056B

Credits 30

You will complete an independent research project leading to a dissertation of 8,000 words to be submitted at the end of the semester. A member of American Studies faculty will supervise the dissertation.

COMICS GET REAL: GRAPHIC NARRATIVES OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY, TRAUMA, AND WAR

Code AMAS6059B

Credits 30

Why do people draw their life stories in comics form? How can trauma be represented in words and pictures? What does it mean to bear witness to horrific events graphically? Throughout this module, you’ll study the recent phenomenon of reality-based American comics, which stand in sharp contrast to the form’s common association with superheroes and the fantastic. In addition to discovering comics’ powerful potential for representing real-life events in engaging and disturbing ways, you’ll learn to analyse both form and content, and will develop a critical vocabulary for reading, thinking, and writing about comics. You’ll read comics that tell a wide variety of stories anchored in real life, and from many different genres, such as autobiography, memoir, investigative journalism, and war reportage. Throughout, you’ll learn to pay special attention to issues of representation, spectatorship, and the position of the artist in relation to the events depicted. You’ll also study a variety of critical and theoretical material that puts these comics-specific issues in conversation with more general concerns about the ethics of representing the real world in diverse written or visual forms. You’ll learn through seminars and independent study, and will be assessed through coursework including a final essay. At the end of the module, you’ll be able to read reality-based as well as other comics in a transformative way, and will have gained a deep understanding of how this vibrant and upcoming cultural form creates new opportunities for representing the increasingly complex personal and geopolitical realities of the world in the twenty-first century.

QUEERS READ THIS : NARRATIVES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Code AMAS6061B

Credits 30

Ideas and ideals of gender and sexuality in US culture and society are all around - in advertising, film and TV, education, the law and more. Most Americans engage in the performative matrix of expected patterns of gender and sexuality without really ever thinking about it; for others they can be, often painfully, aware of the limitations and impositions of such expectations. This module will see students engage with narrative theory as a means to interrogate the sustained construction and dissemination of these patterns of gender and sexuality, as well as explore those points of challenge that create fissures and changes in such patterns.

WRITING AND PUBLISHING AMERICAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE: FROM LITTLE WOMEN TO BAREFOOT BOYS

Code AMAL6056B

Credits 30

This module explores the history of writing for children in America while also offering practical publishing experience. While encountering a wide range of American children’s literature, students will work with UEA’s Boiler House Press to produce a new edition of a classic American text for a new generation of young readers. As well as writing a collaborative introduction, they will engage with the full publishing process, from conception to design and marketing. This practical work will be underpinned by their exploration of the rich history of children’s literature, and their engagement with the ways in which American writers addressed young audiences across centuries of social and cultural change. More broadly, it will think about the development of children’s writing in America in relation to the wider issues of American literary history, and open up debates about what it meant to write for a youthful readers, then and now.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Code AMAH6045B

Credits 30

“Law and order” has been a common refrain from American politicians in recent years, but what does it actually mean? What exactly is “law and order”? How have its meanings changed over time? And what are the consequences of “law and order” policies for those in the criminal justice system? Throughout the module you’ll explore the changing nature of criminal justice in the United States, drawing on a range of legal, political, and historical sources. You’ll learn to place legal changes in their political context and to consider the implications of legal and political debates about crime and punishment for those in the criminal justice system. You’ll learn to read Supreme Court cases for their legal and political implications as well as gaining skills in managing a range of primary and secondary sources. You’ll also develop your critical thinking and writing skills. In this module you’ll take a tour through the American criminal justice system, beginning with police investigations and following through arrest, trial, and punishment. At each stage you’ll consider how the process has changed over time, why those changes have taken place, and with what consequences. You’ll explore legal and constitutional debates about the civil rights of suspects and the accused (including the so-called “right to silence” and the right to a lawyer), as well as considering contemporary political and policy debates which shaped those debates (for example, gangsters and Prohibition or the impact of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s). By the end of the module you’ll have developed a deeper understanding of how law, policy, and politics interact to shape criminal justice and see how “justice” is a product of the times in which we live. You’ll learn through self-directed study and seminars. By the end of the module you will have a better understanding of key issues in American history and politics. You will have strengthened your reasoning, analytical, and debating skills and further developed your writing and oral communication skills.

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Entry Requirements

A Levels

BBB or ABC including History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Psychology, English Literature or Sociology or BBC including History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Psychology, English Literature or Sociology with an A in the Extended Project

T Levels

No acceptable pathways for 2022 entry

BTEC

DDM alongside grade B in English Literature or History A-level (or equivalent qualification). Excluding BTEC Public Services, BTEC Uniformed Services and BTEC Business Administration

Scottish highers

AABBB including English Literature or History

Scottish highers advanced

CCC including English Literature or History

Irish leaving certificate

2 subjects at H2, 4 subjects at H3 including English Literature or History

Access course

Access to Humanities & Social Sciences pathway. Pass the Access to HE Diploma with Merit in 45 credits at Level 3, including 12 credits in English or History

European Baccalaureate

70% including 7 in English Literature or History

International Baccalaureate

31 Points including HL 5 English, History or Global Politics

GCSE offer

You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE

Additional entry requirements

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our Foundation Year programmes.

INTO UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

If you do not meet the academic and/or English requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO University of East Anglia offers guaranteed progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree:

Alternative Entry Requirements

UEA recognises that some students take a mixture of International Baccalaureate IB or International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme IBCP study rather than the full diploma, taking Higher levels in addition to A levels and/or BTEC qualifications. At UEA we do consider a combination of qualifications for entry, provided a minimum of three qualifications are taken at a higher Level. In addition some degree programmes require specific subjects at a higher level.

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):

IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components)

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Please click here to see our full list.

INTO University of East Anglia

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:

Interviews

Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time. 

Gap year

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year.  We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application. 

Intakes

This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake is in September each year. 

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Course Reference Number: 4479674

BA AMERICAN STUDIES