United States Studies Centre
United States Studies Centre
AMST1001 Global America
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Brendon O'Connor and Paul Giles Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Assessment: 2x1000wd essays (2x30%), tutorial participation (10%) and 1x1.5 hr exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students intending to do a major in American Studies must complete AMST1001 and either HSTY1023 or HSTY1076
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.
AMST2601 American Foundations
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Rodney Taveria Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: AMST1001 and (HSTY1076 or HSTY1023) Assessment: 3x1500wd essays (3x30%) and tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
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.
AMST2606 Stand Up USA: American Comedy and Humour
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: AMST1001 and (HSTY1076 or HSTY1023) Assessment: 1x500wd Essay Proposal (20%), 1x2500wd Research Essay (40%), 1x1500wd Take-home Exercise (30%), Tutorial Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle, this unit charts comedy's discussions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, and of party and identity politics in the form of parody and satire. Influenced by ethnic, minority, and working-class cultures, comedy challenged and transformed existing norms of American family and institutions, and American identity, sex, and gender. Through forms such as literature, television, stand-up, cinema, and new media, students will learn that comedy provided a space for resistance, profit, and community.
AMST2801 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Students enrolled at Sydney University who wish to take the equivalent of a 6 credit-point senior unit of study in American Studies at an approved overseas university should enrol in this unit. Such students must seek approval for their proposed course of study from the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the American Studies Program.
AMST2802 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
See AMST2801
AMST2803 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
AMST2804 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
AMST2805 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
AMST2806 American Studies Exchange
This unit of study is not available in 2016
Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
AMST3601 American Perspectives
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rodney Taveria Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week and 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior Credit Points of AMST including AMST2601 Assessment: 2x 200wd Online reading response (20%) and Essay 900wd proposal with annotated bibliography (20%) 3000wd Research Essay (50%) and Tutorial Participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This capstone unit will discuss key texts from Politics, History, English, Film Studies, and Music to critically examine the ways the United States has been idealised as exceptional - as democracy, utopia, and empire. Students will study works ranging from de Tocqueville's Democracy in America to the film Birth of a Nation with the aim of developing a critical appreciation of both classic and contemporary debates about American society. The unit will conclude with a discussion of the ways American Studies as a field deals with these long standing debates in innovative and challenging ways.
AMST4011 American Studies Honours A
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x2-hr seminars Prerequisites: A credit average or better in 48 senior credit points of American Studies, including AMST2601 Assessment: A thesis of 18,000-20,000 words and 6000-8000 words of written work or its equivalent for each semester. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
The Honours program in American Studies consists of: 1. A thesis written under the supervision of one member of the academic staff of the American Studies program 2. Two seminars that meet weekly for two hours for one semester, one offered by the American Studies program, one chosen, in consultation with the coordinator of American Studies, from the Honours seminars offered by the departments of English, History and Film Studies. The thesis should be 18,000-20,000 words in length. Each seminar requires 6000-8000 words of work. The thesis is worth 60% of the final Honours seminar and each of the seminars is worth 20%.
AMST4012 American Studies Honours B
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1 Prerequisites: A credit average or better in 48 senior credit points of American Studies, including AMST2601 Corequisites: AMST4011 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to AMST4011
AMST4013 American Studies Honours C
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 2 Prerequisites: A credit average or better in 48 senior credit points of American Studies, including AMST2601 Corequisites: AMST4012 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to AMST4011
AMST4014 American Studies Honours D
Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 2 Prerequisites: A credit average or better in 48 senior credit points of American Studies, including AMST2601 Corequisites: AMST4013 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to AMST4011
USSC2601 US in the World
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Adam Lockyer Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x 2-hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: 2x 1,000 wd opinion pieces (40%), 1x2,500 wd policy report (50%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces students to the key global transformations of the contemporary era, focusing on the role of the United States amid the challenges posed by: globalisation, the rise of Islamic extremism, nuclear proliferation, and the emergence of China and India as world powers. The unit is designed to give students the ability to look behind today's news headlines to understand the underlying forces driving them, particularly the behaviour and views of key policy makers and opinion leaders.
USSC2602 US Politics: Elections, Presidents, Laws
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Associate Professor Brendon O'Connor Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: 1x2000-2500wd major paper (45%), 1x2hr exam (45%) and participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to US political institutions and political culture. The unit will examine the electoral system and recent presidential elections as well as presidencies from 1960 onwards. It will explore US public policies in the area of race, welfare, and criminal justice and analyse how policy ideas and proposals come into law. It will also introduce the dominant ideologies in US politics. By the end of the unit students will have a comprehensive understanding of American Domestic politics.
USSC2603 Americanism and Anti-Americanism
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr David Smith Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 junior credit points Assessment: class participation (10%), 1x2000-2500wd essay (45%), 1x2hr exam (45%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
America has often been described as a culturally backward, unsophisticated and uncouth nation with American politics frequently viewed as populist and anti-intellectual. In contrast America has also been viewed as a haven from the Old World and as an exceptional nation. This unit will explore the origins and development of both these negative and positive opinions of America. It will also examine how these stereotypes impact on America's foreign relations with Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
USSC2604 Sex, Race and Rock in the USA
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 junior credit points from one of the following subject area; American Studies, Anthropology, Music, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, English, European Studies, Government and International Relations, History, International and Global Studies, Media and Communications, Performance Studies, Philosophy, Political Economy or Sociology Prohibitions: HSTY2057 Assessment: Tutorial readings exercise(500wds)(10%) 500wd essay proposal and annotated bibliography(10%) 2000wd research essay (40%) Take home exam (1500wds)(30%) Class participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the cultural history of and intersections between sexuality, race and rock music in the United States from Elvis to Lady Gaga. Influenced by black and working-class cultures, and with sexuality embedded in its form and practice, rock music challenged and transformed existing norms of family, sex and gender. Through subjects including black women, glam rock, and disco, students will learn that rock music, far from frivolous, provided a realm for rebellion, freedom, community and profit.
USSC2605 US Studies Internship
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Aaron Nyerges Session: Semester 1,Semester 2,Summer Main Classes: Minimum 140 working hours, with academic supervision (small group, face-to-face meetings with USSC staff every 2-4 weeks, dependent on actual internship hours and type of placement) Prerequisites: At least one of USSC2601, USSC2602, USSC2603, USSC2604 Assessment: 1x2500wd research essay (50%), 1x1500wd reflective journal (40%), 1x500wd oral (10%) Mode of delivery: Professional practice
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: US citizens cannot be placed in an US Consulate General internship.
This unit will be taken by students accepted into the United States Studies Centre's internship program. Students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to real-world problems through a unique internship placement in an American-based or affiliated business, government or non-government organisation located in Australia or the US. The unit provides academic support for students to discuss and refine research approaches and questions about issues arising from the placement. Assessment includes a reflective journal and research essay, based on the internship experience.
USSC3601 Public Opinion and Voting in the U.S.
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Ariadne Vromen Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1 hr lecture/week and 1x1hrtutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 senior credit points and USSC2602. Assessment: 1x2000wd Major essay (45%), 1x2hr Final exam (45%), Tutorial participation (10%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores political beliefs and behaviour in the United States. Using survey studies, we explore what Americans know and believe about politics, how their attitudes are formed, and how and why they vote. We look at voting patterns in recent elections and examine how these have been affected by attitudes towards race and party identification.