To be read in conjunction with the program of study requirements for the degree in which you are enrolled:
A student may complete a major sequence of 36 units in American Studies by completing two Year 1 topics (9 units), two Year 2 topics (9 units) and two Year 3 topics (9 units) plus two additional topics (9 units) from the Year 2 or Year 3 topics listed in the program of study below.
A student may complete a minor sequence of 22.5 units in American Studies by completing two Year 1 topics (9 units), two Year 2 topics (9 units) plus and additional topic (4.5 units) from the Year 2 or Year 3 topics listed in the program of study below.
A minor in American Studies is not available to students who commenced the Bachelor of Education (Primary R-7), Bachelor of Arts from 1 January 2019.
A student may complete an extended major sequence in American Studies by completing the prescribed major topics (36 units), plus an additional two topics (9 units) from the Year 2 or Year 3 topics listed below.
An extended major in American Studies is not available to students enrolled in the double Bachelor of Education/Bachelor of Arts degrees.
Course aims
The major in American Studies is designed to introduce students to the study of the United States as a large, complex society able to generate massive economic and military power in the modern world, while maintaining a relatively open social and political system based on the rule of law.
The investigation of that society will include its social fabric, its institutional forms, its internal tensions and conflicts, aspects of its cultural life, and its global impact.
The methods used to develop insights into the workings of American society will include structured reading programmes, group discussions, and the submission of reports and papers on specific issues. Both the skills and the understandings generated during this process will have continued relevance to the students' careers and their life-long learning.
Learning outcomes
Students who have successfully completed the major in American Studies should be able to understand:
- the major elements in the historical formation of the United States as a nation, and the continuing impact of past experience on contemporary notions of national identity
- the extent to which the United States as a nation is a construct based on explicit and codified political values
- the tensions involved in reconciling those values with the realities of social and economic change in a massive and evolving industrial system
- the nature of the political and social institutions that provide a framework within which those tensions can interact productively and reshape values and within the American community
- the cultural manifestations of the experience of the varied intellectual, racial, ethnic, religious and regional sub-cultures within American society, and the projection of American cultural values onto the global community
- the nature and extent of the impact of the United States at the global level, in terms of its economic and military power, and its technological and scientific expertise.
They should also be proficient in the research skills that are required to reach that level of understanding, and possess an enhanced capacity to deploy them in their later lives.
Specifically, they should be able to:
- define issues for investigation
- locate sources of information and opinion, both printed and electronic
- appreciate the value of social data and both locate and use it effectively
- critically assess the reliability of that information and opinion
- develop and shape conceptual frameworks, and test them by discussion
- present their ideas effectively in both oral and written formats
- work collaboratively with their peers
- demonstrate a commitment to ethical behaviour and academic best practice
- connect across boundaries, both within the University and at a broader social level.
Program of study
The following is the program of study for a 36 unit major sequence in American Studies and should be read in conjunction with the course rule for the degree in which you are enrolled.
Major - American Studies
Year 1 topics
9 units comprising:
AMST1002 America and the World: The United States in a Global Context (4.5 units)
plus 4.5 units from the year 1 topics listed below to make a total of 9 units
HIST1703 Turning Points in World History (4.5 units)
HIST1704 History's Killing Fields (4.5 units)
HIST1802 Europe, 1945 to the Present (4.5 units)
HIST1803 'The Lucky Country'? Australia and the World since 1939 (4.5 units)
POLI1003 An Introduction to Democracy and Government (4.5 units)
Year 2 topics
Select 9 units from the year 2 topics listed below
AMST2002 American Politics (4.5 units)
HIST2020 Colonies, Empire and Revolution: North America 1500-1800 (4.5 units)
HIST2076 The Divided States of America, 1920-2000 (4.5 units)
Year 3 topics
Select 9 units from the year 3 topics listed below
AMST3013 The Alliance and the Re-Emergence of China (4.5 units)
AMST3016 Internship Program: Washington DC (9 units)
HIST3009 Civil War Era America (4.5 units)
HIST3010 One Nation Under God? Religion in American Public Life (4.5 units)
INTR3001 Australian Foreign Policy (4.5 units)
POLI3011 People and Politics: Australia, Canada and the United States (4.5 units)
plus an additional 9 units from the year 2 or 3 topics listed above.
Honours
Refer to Honours- Government and International Relations
