HENA01091U English - Elective 1: Introduction to American Studies A:
In this valgfag course, we will take an
interdisciplinary approach to aspects of American history,
literature and culture. We will consider not only J. Hector St.
John de Crevecouer’s famous question “What is an American?” (from
1782’s Letters from an American Farmer) but also “What is
American studies”? In other words, we will study the United States
through the (inter- and multi-disciplinary) lens of American
studies, while also considering the history and methodology of
American studies itself—a scholarly field which has changed
considerably over the last few decades. Rather than focusing only
on (highbrow) literature and history, we will analyze and discuss a
wide range of primary “texts” from different cultural fields:
sermons, essays, speeches, political documents, autobiographies,
songs, short stories, poetry, novels, films, and photography.
These primary texts will be supplemented by secondary reading in
scholarship from Neil Campbell and Alisdair Kean’s American
Cultural Studies and Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty!: An
American History. These textbooks have been chosen partly
because they are both organized thematically (Campbell and Kean
around various subthemes within American studies; Foner around the
concept of “freedom”), and this thematic approach will inform the
structure of the course itself. The course will be divided into
four sub-sections or sub-themes in which we will
consider specific aspects of American literature, history and
culture through both the primary texts (literature, historical
documents, visual culture, etc.) and the secondary reading (the
academic scholarship). There will also be links between and across
the four sub-themes. The four sub-themes will be (NB: subject to
final confirmation):
- THEME #1 (weeks 2 to 4): Give Me Liberty!: American Struggles for freedom
- THEME #2 (weeks 5 to 8): American exceptionalism and the mythology of the American Dream
- THEME #3 (weeks 9 to 11): The Nation’s Region: the U.S. South
- THEME #4 (weeks 12 to 14): Transnational American and the Transnatioonal Turn in American Studies
Students are encouraged to see “Introduction to American Studies”
as a course that will help to prepare them to take further American
studies courses at both the valgfag and MA
level.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 42
- Preparation
- 162,75
- Total
- 204,75
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Other
Criteria for exam assesment
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- HENA01091U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Bachelor
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedule
- See link to schedule
- Study board
- Study board of English, Germanic and Romance Studies
Contracting department
- Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies
Course responsibles
- Martyn Richard Bone (4-65727168436b7870316e7831676e)