Estudios Norteamericanos (Conjunto con UAH)

Máster. Curso 2024/2025.

ESTUDIOS NORTEAMERICANOS Y METODOLOGÍAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN - 608554

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 - Possess and understand 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
20%
Clases prácticas
40%
Presentaciones
20%
Otras actividades
Online boards: 20%
TOTAL
100%

Presenciales

1,5

No presenciales

3,5

Semestre

1

Breve descriptor:

American Studies as a discipline tries to understand and explain the American experience, its culture, ideas, and worldview. In this introductory course, we seek to study some of the foundational myths of the United States, analyze how the discipline itself has evolved, and familiarize students with research methods connected to the discipline and their specific fields of interest within it. This will allow students to study American culture and civilization in an interdisciplinary way and to identify patterns, ideas and themes that characterize the nation and its inhabitants.

Requisitos

General requirements for admission to the master's degree

Objetivos

The main objective is to make the students understand what is meant by “America” from its foundation to the present, and see how American Studies have evolved in academia, both inside and outside the US, paying attention to recent conceptions and ideas and to how the discipline itself is contested and reformulated constantly. The course will also provide students with methods for doing research in American studies in the different sub-disciplines that they may be interested in.

Contenido


We will start by analyzing foundational myths connected to the idea of " American Exceptionalism.” We will study myths such as the frontier, individualism, the “New Adam,” the American Dream, and the melting pot, by using texts by Thomas Paine, Alexis de Tocqueville, Hector Saint John de Crèvecoeur, Frederick Jackson Turner, and others.
 
The second part of the course will focus on how this mythic idea of America has been contested, focusing on alternative visions of America. From the 1960s, American Studies have tended to consider elements from popular culture (bestsellers, pop music, mass culture, jazz, film, TV, advertising, etc.) as indicators of cultural currents, thus opening the door to structuralist, Marxist, feminist, deconstructive, post-structuralist and postmodern readings. We will consider these approaches as connected to the field of cultural studies and to the conception of the United States as a mosaic of different ethnicities, rather than a melting pot. Our analysis will be organized around thematic units such as American Exceptionalism, space, the frontier, or American imperialism.
 
Finally, the students will be presented with research methods as applied to American Studies: there will be sessions on the use of online resources, academic styles such as MLA and APA, and an introduction to the American Studies Association (ASA) and other national and international professional associations (SAAS, AEDEAN, EAAS, ESSE).

Evaluación

Evaluation will be based on the students' performance, and it will take into consideration both formal assignments (presentations, papers) and in-class activities and online participation.

Bibliografía

Bigsby, C., ed. The Cambridge Companion To Modern American Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006.
Bradbury, M. and H. Temperley, eds. A New Introduction to American Studies. London: Routledge, 2005.
Burgett, B. and G. Hendler. Keywords for American Cultural Studies. New York: New York University Press, 2014.
Campbell, Neil, and A. Kean. American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture. New York: Routledge, 2012.
Menand, Louis. American Studies. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giraux, 2003.
Pease, D. and R. Wiegman, eds. The futures of American Studies. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2002.
Pease, Donald. The New American Exceptionalism. Minnesota: Minnesota UP, 2009.
Rowe, John Carlos. A Concise Companion to American Studies. Malden, MA: John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
Rowe, John Carlos. The Cultural Politics of the New American Studies. Michigan: U of Michigan P, 2012.
Temperley, H. and C. Bigsby. A New Introduction to American Studies. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman, 2006.

Otra información relevante

The information in this document does not replace the course syllabus for each year, where specific activities, materials, readings and thematic contents will be provided. The syllabus will be distributed in class during the first week of the course and it will also be available in the course's campus virtual space.

English will be used as the language of instruction, and for all assignments, activities and exams in the course.

Estructura

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

Grupos

Clases teóricas y/o prácticas
GrupoPeriodosHorariosAulaProfesor
Grupo T12/09/2024 - 13/12/2024MARTES 15:00 - 18:00A-22ACARMEN MENDEZ GARCIA