American Culture

Recommended Prerequisites

Proficiency in English.

Teaching Methods

Expository and interactive methods, including close-reading and analysis of texts in the widest sense of the term (this may include literary works, songs and music, films, tv shows and photography, for instance); comment and discussion; oral presentations; individual assignments; group-work.

Learning Outcomes

Students are expected to:

– identify, define and use correctly a number of relevant concepts within the discipline of American culture;

– acquire a substantial knowledge of the diversity of cultures resulting from an immigrant society and of the dynamics established among them;

– perceive American culture as a terrain of unequal power where different voices dispute meanings;

– acquire specific tools of analysis and reflection on American culture;

– develop a critical perspective on the topics of discussion;

– develop autonomous research skills.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Conceiving of American society as a plurality of constituencies, references and expressions, and of American culture as a reflection of that society, this seminar will be based on the exploration of a specific topic, or range of topics, central to American culture, including issues of identity, immigration, aspects of popular culture and consumption, representations and exceptionalism, among others, and of cultural modes and forms (for example comics, cinema, tv sit-coms and recorded music). It will offer a juxtaposition of perspectives in order to suggest the complexity of culture as a terrain where different voices participate, debate and dispute meanings, e.g. what is Americanness, what is American identity, what is the nation, issues of belonging, etc. The course will also bring students into contact with contemporary methodologies and debates in American Studies

N.B. The syllabus and bibliography may change depending on teaching staff.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria José Florentino Mendes Canelo

Assessment Methods

Continuous Assessment
In-class participation, oral presentation and other assignments: 40.0%
Research work: 60.0%

Bibliography

Bigsby, C. ed. (2006). The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture.Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Campbell, N., Kean, A. (2006). American Cultural Studies. An Introduction to American Culture. London and New York: Routledge.

Gerstle, Gary. (2001). American Crucible. Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton UP.

K Kaplan, Amy, Pease D. (Eds.) (1994).Cultures of United States Imperialism. Durham: Duke UP.

Lawrence L. (1996). The Opening of the American Mind: Canons, Culture, and History. Boston: Beacon P.

Pease, D. (2009). The New American Exceptionalism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota P.

Takaki, R. (1993). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

Takaki, R. (1998). A Larger Memory: A History of Our Diversity with Voices. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.

Zinn, H. (2003). A People’s History of the United States. 1492—Present. New York: Harper Collins.