This lecture will give an overview over American history from a cultural studies point of view. Guiding concerns will be main currents of thought (history of ideas), the successive media revolutions, American myths and ideologies, changing ideas about the nation and the individual (identity), the transformation of gender roles, the crucial role of race/ethnicity/ability, the influence of science, technology and capitalism. The lecture will keep to the time-honored period markers in order to give students some orientation (while also questioning these periods). Headings will be: 1492—the conquest of America; City upon a Hill—the Puritan experiment; The Age of Reason/Age of Revolutions; Sentimentalism and the Reform Age; American Renaissance and Westward Expansion; Slavery and Emancipation; The Age of Realism and Science; Populism and Progressivism; The Gilded Age, Naturalism and the Frontier Thesis; American Modernism; The Harlem Renaissance; The Great Depression; Counterculture and Postmodernism; Contemporary Discussions.
Online format: You will be able to watch the parts of the lecture online (at any time) and discuss questions in an online forum. There are no synchronous (Zoom) meetings for this lecture – you can hear it and respond whenever you please – even though I will supply the videos week-by-week! Just, please, have a look at the Moodle course regularly in case of announcements or changes! And please access your Moodle email regularly, especially during exam times.
Please sign up for this lecture in Agnes – this is the only way I can send you the key to the Moodle course!
Reading and Preparation:
- Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. A Concise History of the American People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 92019. (You can also buy a less costly older edition! No problem – there are also many used versions!)
- The powerpoint presentations used in the lecture will be available for viewing and downloading on the e-learning platform Moodle as a pdf before the online lecture – so that you can have a look before. The key to the course will be announced through Agnes (please look into the email you use for Agnes!). You will also find the syllabus and a bibliography in Moodle.
Module Requirements:
Definitions of 14 terms or concepts from the lecture (Klausur) as part (BA Englisch) or whole (BA Amerikanistik) of the Module-Examination or (in case of an online exam) Take Home Exam!
No „spezielle Arbeitsleistungen.“ |
