Major - American Studies

To be read in conjunction with the program of study requirements for the degree in which you are enrolled:

• Bachelor of Arts - Phasing out major – only available to students who commenced study in the BA prior to 2016
• Bachelor of Arts - Enhanced Program for High Achievers - Phasing out major – only available to students who commenced study in the BA prior to 2016
• Bachelor of Applied Geographical Information Systems - Phasing out major – only available to students who commenced study prior to 2017
• Bachelor of Arts, Master of Teaching (Early Childhood)
• Bachelor of Arts, Master of Teaching (Primary)
• Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Education (Primary), Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of International Studies  

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), Bachelor of Arts from 1 January 2019.

The minor sequence is not available to students who commenced the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Teaching (Primary) from 1 January 2020

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
• Learning outcomes
• Program of study
• Honours
  

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 Rise 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