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Units of Study

 The American Studies Major
Prerequisites (students enrolled before 2011 see below)
AMST1001 Global America

HSTY1076 American History from Lincoln to Clinton (not offered in 2012)
or
HSTY1023 Emerging Giant: The Making of America
The Major
 AMST2601 American Foundations  Five Cross-listed Senior Units

AMST1001 - Global America

Semester 2 | Credit Points: 6
Coordinators: Prof Paul Giles, A/Prof Brendon O'Connor, Dr David Smith

Description

This unit will investigate the global connectedness of the United States and how this relates to the core values and interests that define America. The primary focus will be on the United States in the 21st global century. The pedagogical aim of this unit is to provide students with analytical frames to understand the most important issues in contemporary American literature, culture, politics, society and the economy, and how they are affected by and affect the world outside the US.Students intending to study American Studies at senior level are also required to complete either HSTY1076 American History from Lincoln to Clinton or HSTY1023 Emerging Giant: The Making of America (offered in Semester 1)

Assessments

3x1000 word essays (22% each) and 1x1.5 hour exam (34%)

Classes

1x2 hour lecture, 1x1 hour tutorial per week

AMST2601 - American Foundations

Semester 1, 2012  |  Credit Points: 6

Coordinator: Stephen Murray Robertson
Phone: +61 2 9351 3782
Email: stephen.robertson@sydney.edu.au

Description

This unit introduces students to the contradictory richness of 'Americanness' from an interdisciplinary standpoint and prepares them for the Major in American Studies. It is divided into different modules, each addressing a core national myth. We will approach each module from a variety of angles: historiographical, literary and visual, opening lines of interrelation between historical and imaginary forms in the construction and ongoing redefinition of the United States.

Assessments

1x1500wd group presentation (30%) and 2x1500wd essays (2x30%) and tutorial participation (10%)

Classes

2x1-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week

 Monday

  10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm

AMST2601

        

Lect

     

 Wednesday

  10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm

AMST2601

        

Lect

Film 1

  

 

          

Film 2

  
1 Film is a single class on 28th March 2012
2 This class runs fortnightly from Week 10 to 12
The information displayed above is indicative only as online information is subject to change without notice. The Faculty Handbook and the University of Sydney Calendar are the official legal source of information relating to study at the University of Sydney

About the core unit

The core unit is an interdisciplinary course team taught by staff from the contributing departments, and offered in semester one of each year.

Students who began their degrees before 2011 must have completed 12 junior credit points of English, and/or History and/or Art History and Film in order to enrol in the unit. Students who began there degrees in 2011 or later must complete AMST1001 Global America and either HSTY1076 American History from Lincoln to Clinton or HSTY1023 Emerging Giant: The Making of America.

It is recommended that students take the core unit in their second year. The core unit is offered in semester one of each year.

Cross-listed Units

In addition to the core unit, the major in American Studies is made up of five units from those cross-listed from the contributing departments. No more than three units from any one department can be counted towards the major.

Units available in 2012

  • AMST 2602 Regionalism and American Culture (semester 2)
  • ENGL 2603 American Literature: Imagining America (semester 2)
  • ENGL 2617 Postmodernism (semester 1)
  • ENGL 2635 Contemporary American Literature (semester 1)
  • GOVT 2445 American Politics and Foreign Policy (semester 2)
  • HSTY 2611 America in World Affairs: A History (semester 2)
  • HSTY 2656 A House Divided: The American Civil War (semester 2)
  • HSTY 2663 American Indian Holocaust? (semester 1)
  • HSTY 2666 American Revolutions (semester 2)
  • HSTY 2671 Law and Order in Modern America (semester 2)
  • USSC 2601 US in the World (semester 1)
  • USSC 2602 Introduction to US Politics (semester 2)
  • USSC 2603 Americanism & anti-Americanism (semester 1)
  • USSC 2604 Sex, Race and Rock in the USA (semester 2)

All cross-listed units

  • AMST 2602 Regionalism and American Culture
  • ARHT 2657 Contemporary Hollywood
  • ARHT 2658 American Independent Cinema
  • ENGL 2603 American Literature: Imagining America
  • ENGL 2617 Postmodernism
  • ENGL 2627 Reading Sexuality
  • ENGL 2635 Contemporary American Literature
  • ENGL 2660 Reading the Nation: Modern US Writing
  • ENGL 2664 Transpacific American Literature 1838-99
  • ENGL 3604 Cinematic Modernism
  • ENGL 3656 Rethinking the Thirties
  • GOVT 2445 American Politics and Foreign Policy
  • HSTY 2609 African-American History and Culture
  • HSTY 2611 America in World Affairs: A History
  • HSTY 2634 Columbus to Lincoln: America Before 1865
  • HSTY 2656 A House Divided: The American Civil War
  • HSTY 2657 American Cultural History
  • HSTY 2662 Atlantic World in the Age of Empire
  • HSTY 2663 American Indian Holocaust?
  • HSTY 2666 American Revolutions
  • HSTY 2667 Politics and Cultures of US Imperialism
  • HSTY 2670 New York, New York
  • HSTY 2671 Law and Order in Modern America
  • HSTY 2687 Alliance: Australia-US Relations
  • HSTY 3640 Film in Black and White (no longer taught)
  • HSTY 3671 American Utopias (no longer taught)
  • HSTY 3672 American Freakery (no longer taught)
  • HSTY 3698 Class Struggles in the Atlantic World (no longer taught)
  • MUSC 2666 A Global Sound: African American Music
  • USSC 2601 US in the World
  • USSC 2602 Introduction to US Politics
  • USSC 2603 Americanism & anti-Americanism
  • USSC 2604 Sex, Race and Rock in the USA