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Estudios Norteamericanos (Conjunto con UAH)

Master's Programme. Academic Year 2024/2025.

LA HISTORIA DEL PUEBLO ESTADOUNIDENSE:MEMORIA E IDENTIDAD - 608552

Curso Académico 2024-25

Datos Generales

SINOPSIS

COMPETENCIAS

Generales
CG1 - Students will acquire a deeper and more specific knowledge of the disciplines inherent to American Studies.
GC2 - Students will be able to use the acquired preparation as a resource and reference model through which to adequately solve theoretical and practical issues related to the different areas of specialization that are achieved through the itineraries suggested in the training program of this degree.
CG3 - Students will be able to learn in a continuous, autonomous and self-directed way, developing new approaches and analytical methods within American Studies.
CG4 - Students will be familiar with the most recent innovations in the field of American Studies.
CG5 - Students will acquire the skills necessary to conduct a research paper.
CG6 - Students will apply theoretical and analytical contributions from different fields of knowledge in pursuit of the same scientific objective during their participation in the sessions, through group work, in written papers and in their dissertations.
CB6 - Possessing and understanding knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.
CB7 - That students know how to apply their acquired knowledge and problem-solving skills in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.
CB8 - That students are able to integrate knowledge and deal with the complexity of making judgments based on incomplete or limited information, including reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities associated with the application of their knowledge and judgments.
Específicas
CE1 - Students will be able to question the validity of relativistic assertions about American idiosyncrasies.
CE2 - Students will be able to discern the various milestones of American political and cultural history in both their dyschrony and synchrony.
CE3 - Students will be able to carry out a research work with an adequate structure, clear writing, solid argumentation and respecting all the rules of citation and relation of sources typical of this type of work and assimilating the theories or opinions exposed in other studies on the subject.
CE5 - Students will have the ability to interpret and evaluate all types of current American texts (press, advertising, reports, communiqués, scientific or economic texts, ideological, historical, literary texts, etc.) revealing their ideology, objectives, and function.
CE6 - Students will have a global vision of transatlantic cultural, political and historical relations from the creation of New England to the present day.
CE7 - Students will be able to take inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to American cultural constructs, regardless of their nature.

ACTIVIDADES DOCENTES

Clases teóricas
Participation: 25%

Presentaciones
Oral Presentations: 25%
Otras actividades
Written papers:
- Two take-home exams: 25%
- One final paper: 25%
TOTAL
100%

Presenciales

2

No presenciales

4

Semestre

1

Breve descriptor:

This course will approach the study of the political, social, economic and cultural evolution of the United States from its colonial origins to the present time. Through the analysis of specific periods, processes, events, social groups and individual protagonists, it will highlight the differences between historical memory and historiography. Specific subjects will include the question of American “national character”, nationalism and exceptionalism, and issues related to different components of collective identities such as race, class, gender, migrant origins, religion, consumption or political ideology. We will also tackle historical events -such as the Civil and World Wars- which influenced human connections, the relations between different groups and particular geographical places or spaces, the formation and evolution of attitudes and cultural practices that have underscored the adaptive capacity –and its limits- of American society , the role of American political culture in the historical evolution of memory and identity -for example through the struggle to reconcile social realities with democratic ideology-, or the ways in which international relations have had enduring influence on the collective self-images of particular groups within the nation. Throughout the course, we will deal mostly with historiographic material and primary sources, without neglecting other vehicles of representation of identity such as works of art, periodicals, commercial advertisements, radio, music, photography, literature, television, and film.

Requisitos

General requirements for admission to the master's degree

Objetivos

Course Goals:

1) Deepen the students' knowledge about the different dimensions of the historical evolution of the United States, as well as the social, economic, cultural, political and international problems associated with it. 

2) Improve their understanding of the development of those traits typically attributed to American identities. 

3) Improve their ability to contextualize ideas, events and historical processes with reference to the Unites State and its role in the world. 

4) Improve the students' ability to search, organize, analyze and use information coming from different historical sources. 

5) Improve the students' ability to prepare oral presentations. 

6) Improve their ability of prepare written papers relating to historical issues. 

7) Improve their ability of using technical historical vocabulary, of applying historical research methodologies, and of familiarizing themselves with different interpretative paradigms. 

 

Contenido

1. Introduction. Methodology and evaluation
2. History, Memory, and American Identity
3. The Origins of American Exceptionalism
4. Exceptionalism and the Young Republic’s worldview
5. Memory of the Civil War and Reconstruction
6. American Thought and the Impact of the Civil War
7. A New Empire? 
8. Foreign Wars and the American Century 
9. Conflicted Identities and Memories: Native and African-Americans 
10. Faith and American Politics, Domestic and Foreign 
11. Revisiting the American Dream: Social Conflict and Consumer Capitalism
12. A tipically American institution: The Supreme Court and Judicial Review

 

Evaluación

Students will be graded on their attendance to and participation in the course's sessions, as well as on the presentation and preparation of different written and oral projects, both individually and with other students. There is an option to a final examen, only under special circumstances.

Bibliografía

ABBOTT, Philip, Exceptional America: Newness and National Identity. New York: Lang, 1999.
ADAMS, David K., and VAN MINNEN, Cornelis, eds., Reflections on American Exceptionalism. Keele, Staffordshire, Ryburn Publishing/Keele University Press, 1994.
HUNTINGTON, Samuel P., Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
KAMMEN, Michael, Mystic Cords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture. New York: Knopf, 1991.
KAZIN, Michael, & MCCARTIN, Joseph A., eds, Americanism: New Perspectives on the History of an Ideal. Chapel Hill: 2006.
KING, Desmond, The Liberty of Strangers: Making the American Nation. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
MARTIN ALCOFF, Linda, and MENDIETA, Eduardo, eds., Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003. 2004.
VAN MINNEN, Cornelis A., and Sylvia L. HILTON, eds., Federalism, Citizenship and Collective Identities in U.S. History. Amsterdam, VU University Press, 2000.

Otra información relevante

The information contained in this page does nor replace the course's syllabus, which will be handed out on the first session and after that published on Campus Virtual. That document will detail all activities, materials, readings and contents.

Estructura

MódulosMaterias
No existen datos de módulos o materias para esta asignatura.

Grupos

Clases teóricas y/o prácticas
GrupoPeriodosHorariosAulaProfesor
Grupo T12/09/2024 - 13/12/2024LUNES 15:00 - 18:00A-22ALUIS GONZAGA MARTINEZ DEL CAMPO