American Studies

Overview

• Flexible study opportunities across history, politics, literature, and film

• A wide choice of exchange programmes in the US, Canada or Europe

Love it or loathe it, the United States remains a superpower and its policies and culture impact on the daily lives of all of us. The influence of US popular culture can be seen everywhere, from rock and roll and jazz music to Hollywood films, from McDonald’s to Coca Cola. Further, as the largest industrialised nation, the US plays a key role in both international politics and the world economy. No matter what your opinions, if you want to understand current events and culture, you must understand America.

American Studies at Keele explores the nature, development and rich diversity of the US from a variety of perspectives, offering a wide range of teaching in not just one discipline but several: history, literature, politics, and film. Tied to this diversity is an emphasis on student choice in selecting modules, so that, after a multidisciplinary grounding in American society and culture during the first year, students can combine different approaches or choose to specialise according to their own interests.  Another important element of the Keele programme is the opportunity for students to exchange with a partner university in the US or Canada and actually live in the culture they are studying. Dual Honours students studying abroad spend the first semester of their second year in the US, while Single Honours students can choose to go for the whole second year. The exchange programme provides tremendous personal, academic, and career development opportunities.

Keele pioneered the development of American Studies in the UK and, as one of the country’s leading programmes, we have earned a reputation for combining world-class research with dedicated teaching to provide a challenging but very supportive environment.

We’re committed to our subject and to ensuring that all our students leave with a range of knowledge and skills to take the opportunities of life after university.

Course Content

First Year

Autumn Semester core module
A Beginner’s Guide to Contemporary America is a wide-ranging survey of key topics in modern American society – from immigration to foreign policy – as well as an introduction to key methods for studying the US. It is a core module for Dual Honours and Single Honours students.

Single Honours students take a second core module: Starting Out: An Introduction to American Literature. This module looks at key 19th- and 20th-century narratives, and develops skills of literary critical reading. 

Spring Semester core module
New York, New York: An Introduction to American Culture, another multidisciplinary module – ranging from film to literature, painting to music – that also develops key research skills. It is a core module for Dual Honours and Single Honours students.

Single Honours students take a second core module: either

The American Past: Explorations in US History or
Introduction to American Politics

All these modules are also available as electives, as are:

Transatlantic Gothic - Studies in 19th-Century English and American Literature and
The Unreliable Truth – Studies in 20th-Century English and American Literature

Second Year

More specialised study begins in the second year, when, through a choice of modules, students can both consolidate their studies and also spread further into the other subject areas within American Studies.

Dual Honours students take one core module per semester, Single Honours two, while all students can choose more modules as programme electives. Current modules include:

The Romance of Fiction - History and Society in 19th-Century American Literature
Hooray for Hollywood?  - Approaches to American Film
Burning Crosses - Religion and American Culture
History of the US in the 20th Century
Atlantic Frontiers: From Empires to Independence
From Modernity to Counterculture – American Literature and Social Criticism in the 20th Century
Alfred Hitchcock’s America
The History of the American West
The Detective and the American City
The Presidency of the United States
The New World in Chains: Slavery and the Bonds of Race in America, 1619-1877

Third Year

In the third and final year students are able to specialise further and explore specific areas of interest to the highest level, through a choice of modules – one for Dual Honours, two for Single Honours students - in each semester, plus a year-long dissertation based on individual research.

Modules currently offered include:

Film Noir: The Dark Side of the American Dream
High Culture: Drink, Drugs, and the American Dream
Silence, Strength and Sentiment: Gender and Sexuality in 19th-century American Literature
Environmental Politics in the US
Contemporary American Fiction
Under God: Religion and Society in the US since World War II
Words and Pictures: the Contemporary American Graphic Novel
Writing Slavery
Electoral Behaviour in the United States
Social Thought and Social Movements in the US
Eyes on the Prize: The Struggle for Civil Rights in America

These modules reflect the research expertise of staff and so usually allow you to study an area as far as possible using original sources. This work is then developed still further through the dissertation module, through which you have the chance to research and write at length on a topic of your own choice.

Codes and Combinations

Students are candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) (BA Hons) if their two Principal courses are in humanities and/or social science subjects.

All students who study a science subject are candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science (with Honours) (BSc Hons).

Dual Honours Course can be combined with:

Single Honours, Major and Foundation Courses available:

Teaching and Assessment

American Studies uses lectures, especially in the introductory core modules, to convey significant information and new methods of analysis, but most teaching and learning takes place in seminars. These classes work as small discussion groups of around 15 to 20 students, where you will be encouraged to participate in critical debates, while group-work is further developed in certain modules through the use of workshops. Higher-level students can also take advantage of special seminars run by the David Bruce Centre for American Studies, where guest speakers from institutions around the world present papers on relevant topics.

Most modules are assessed by a mixture of coursework essays, portfolios, examinations, and seminar performance. The range of assessment is designed to provide clear feedback on progress and to help students develop key skills in research, writing, and presentation.

In the final year dissertation module, students have the opportunity to apply those skills to a subject of their interest at the highest level.

Programme specifications (new window)

Skills and Careers

By the end of the academic programme students will have acquired a specialised knowledge of US society and a range of specialised skills in research and presentation. Students will also have significantly enhanced their experience of other societies through the curriculum and the exchange programmes, acquiring both subject-specific skills and transferable skills valued in the world of work.

American Studies destinations for graduates who completed their undergraduate course in 2011:

Of those who responded:

Want to work in?

Many students are excited by careers that utilise the academic knowledge and skills developed on their degree:

• Secondary School Teacher
• Journalist
• Editorial Assistant
• Academic Librarian
• Social Researcher
• Museum Conservator

What else?

For those who do not wish to pursue a career directly related to their degree, here are some career ideas to open up options:

• Advertising Copywriter
• Marketing Executive
• Politician's Assistant
• Public Relations Officer

Visit our Careers pages (new window)

UK/EU Admissions
Tel: 01782 734005
Email: admissions.ukeu@keele.ac.uk

International Admissions
Tel: +44(0) 1782 733274
Email: international@keele.ac.uk

Course Information
Tel: 01782 733010
Email: j.a.braddick@keele.ac.uk