| 1 | Bachelor's Thesis American Studies | LAX999B10 |
• To build upon and develop in-depth understanding and knowledge of the Americas, past and present, acquired during BA seminars.
• To explore a specific topic within American Studies in relation to its cultural, sociological, historical, political, legal, and literary contexts, as appropriate.
• To foster the scholarly skills (selection, processing, and evaluation of information) and academic knowledge necessary for semi-independent research.
• To explore and apply current cultural/political/media and other theories as relevant to American Studies.
• To develop advanced-level insights into interdisciplinary perspectives on the production of knowledge.
• To equip the student with relevant transferable communication and writing skills, including the use of electronic technologies. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | diverse docenten | | Onderwijsvorm | zelfstudie (begeleid) | | Toetsvorm | scriptie | | ECTS | 10 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Propaedeutic phase
Rhetoric and Composition IIa and IIb
one additional second-year AS course: either Theories of Culture II: Media Theory and II: Political Theory or The Americas IIIa and IIIb | | Opmerkingen | Kan niet in de VS worden gevolgd |
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| 2 | Global USA I | LAX065B05 |
“The chief business of the American people is business” (President Calvin Coolidge)
In the years since the Second World War, the character of what Robert Kagan has called “the world America made” has changed considerably. Focusing on a crucial aspect of the evolution of that “world,” this course traces the global history of U.S. capitalism from the establishment of the Bretton Woods system in 1944, through the turbulence of the 1970s and the end of the Cold War, to the present day, when, in the eyes of many commentators, the U.S.-dominated global (or, at least, Western) order faces a series of unprecedented threats .
Students will explore how U.S. economic power interacted with the nation’s military and political power to shape an international order in which U.S.-based companies and U.S.-derived business practices have become increasingly influential in the lives of people all over the globe. Concentrating on the rise of U.S. economic power and influence in three key regions of the world (Western Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East), the course also considers the domestic effects of the expansion of that power and influence and introduces students to different ways of conceptualizing it. Has this been a process of democratization, globalization, imperialist domination, or something else entirely? And what have been the effects on populations both within the U.S. and abroad? While many may feel ambivalent about living in an allegedly Americanized world, how might we feel about alternative ways of working and securing wealth? |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | E.A. Olsen, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, wekelijkse opdrachten, actieve participatie | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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| 3 | Global USA II | LAX066B05 |
“The chief business of the American people is business” (President Calvin Coolidge)
In the years since the Second World War, the character of what Robert Kagan has called “the world America made” has changed considerably. Focusing on a crucial aspect of the evolution of that “world,” this course traces the global history of U.S. capitalism from the establishment of the Bretton Woods system in 1944, through the turbulence of the 1970s and the end of the Cold War, to the present day, when, in the eyes of many commentators, the U.S.-dominated global (or, at least, Western) order faces a series of unprecedented threats .
Students will explore how U.S. economic power interacted with the nation’s military and political power to shape an international order in which U.S.-based companies and U.S.-derived business practices have become increasingly influential in the lives of people all over the globe. Concentrating on the rise of U.S. economic power and influence in three key regions of the world (Western Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East), the course also considers the domestic effects of the expansion of that power and influence and introduces students to different ways of conceptualizing it. Has this been a process of democratization, globalization, imperialist domination, or something else entirely? And what have been the effects on populations both within the U.S. and abroad? While many may feel ambivalent about living in an allegedly Americanized world, how might we feel about alternative ways of working and securing wealth? |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | actieve participatie, essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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| 4 | Media Specialization I | LAX067B05 |
Our contemporary media environment is vertiginously complex, multi-centered, and evolving. Media Specialization is a two-course sequence designed to give students the historical perspective and critical tools they will need to understand U.S. popular culture in the present moment, and to participate in that culture through informed everyday consumption, rigorous scholarly discourse, and thoughtful cultural production. In the first block, we take a historical approach, exploring how media have shaped American life from the 18th century to the present, through a focus on two different kinds of media spectacles: the Event and the Hoax.
How did writers frame the death of a political leader, in the aftermath of a bloody Civil War, to help “heal the soul of the nation”? How do music celebrities use digital technologies to assert control over their careers? We will study primary sources related to diverse historical events--from the funeral of president Abraham Lincoln to the surprise album “drop” of Beyoncé’s Lemonade—alongside the scholarly debates those events have provoked about the role of democracy, celebrity, and collective emotion in American life. Along the way, we will attend to how the mediation and reception of these events are shaped by ideologies of empire, race, gender, and class.
“Events” show us how history unfolds through media; meanwhile, “hoaxes”—successful deceptions of supposedly gullible audiences—show us how people respond to technological change. From the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, to Orson Welles' radio broadcast The War of the Worlds, to the scandal around author/impostor J.T. LeRoy from the early 2000s, hoaxes force us to reflect on our understanding of, and continued investment in, categories like truth, authenticity, and “reality.”
The major assignment for this course is the Curation Project, which asks students to explain and contextualize a media event of their choice for a general audience. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA.Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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| 5 | Media Specialization II | LAX068B05 |
Our contemporary media environment is vertiginously complex, multi-centered, and evolving. Media Specialization is a two-course sequence designed to give students the historical perspective and critical tools they will need to understand U.S. popular culture in the present moment, and to participate in that culture through informed everyday consumption, rigorous scholarly discourse, and thoughtful cultural production. In the second block, we explore the relationship between media and contemporary U.S. politics around three themes: diversity, dystopia, and counterpublics.
How does contemporary media both reflect and obscure the racial, gender, religious, and economic diversity of American life? How do we evaluate the competing arguments around digital media, which is described as both a forum of resurgent democracy and a tool of authoritarian control? To what extent does the digital media environment demand new philosophies and terms of analysis? To explore these essential questions, we will read a few classic works of media theory (by Roland Barthes, Raymond Williams, Jean Baudrillard) alongside primary texts from, and journalistic commentaries on, the current media ecosystem. Our primary texts will be drawn from diverse forms of popular media, including television commercials, streaming series, "fake news" stories, and digital “think pieces.”
The final assignment for this course is a Research Paper, which asks students to devise an original argument about a media-related topic of their choice. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA.Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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| 6 | MINOR Stage American Studies | LAX056B15 |
Internships require the prior formal approval of both the American Studies programme and the Faculty of Arts. They are supervised by both a workplace supervisor and a supervising instructor from the American Studies department.
Final grades are based on the supervising instructor's assessment of the final internship report, feedback from the workplace supervisor, and the outcome of a midterm interview between the student and the two supervisors. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Onderwijsvorm | stage | | Toetsvorm | stageverslag | | ECTS | 15 |
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| 7 | Mobility, Migration, Transculturation | LAX022B10 |
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| 8 | North & South Americans I | LAX043P05 |
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| 9 | North & South Americans II | LAX044P05 |
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| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. A.M. Martinez | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-SchmidtDr. A.M. Martinez | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | presentatie, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 10 | Rhetoric and Composition Ia | LAX048P05 |
Rhetoric & Composition Ia is the first of four language proficiency and argumentation
courses designed for American Studies majors. During this course, students will be
introduced to academic writing skills, with a particular focus on the composition of
argumentative essays. Rhetoric & Composition is not a language acquisition course, but
language proficiency in English will be developed further through various assignments,
writing tasks, and tests. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-Schmidt J.A. Müller, MA. J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | tentamen essay, portfolio | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can not be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. |
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| 11 | Rhetoric and Composition Ib | LAX049P05 |
Rhetoric & Composition Ib is the second of four writing and argumentation
courses designed for American Studies majors. During this course, students will be
introduced to academic writing skills, with a particular focus on the composition of
argumentative essays. Rhetoric & Composition is not a language acquisition course, but
language proficiency in English will be developed further through various assignments,
writing tasks, and tests. |
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| 12 | Rhetoric and Composition IIa | LAX047B05 |
| This second-year course completes the departmental program in Rhetoric and Composition. Building on the foundations of academic writing laid in Rhetoric and Composition I, Rhetoric and Composition II offers rigorous consolidation and additional practice in various forms of academic English while also intensifying the focus on the subject-specific demands faced by students writing and speaking argumentatively in an American Studies setting. Students will deepen their understanding of formal argumentation and produce a series of argumentative essays (ranging in length from 1000 to 2500 words) to demonstrate their grasp of scholarly language, argument, and structure; their ability to deal with historical and theoretical contexts; and the quality of their research skills. Through the analysis of a selection of academic articles and argumentative essays, students will study and learn to reproduce diverse modes of scholarly rhetoric in both written and oral form. In the second half of the course, they give individual oral presentations based on the arguments articulated in their final research essays. Throughout the course, students are asked to reflect critically on their own writing and the writing of others, with the aim of furnishing them with the skills that will be required for third-year research seminars and the composition of their B.A. theses in the final year of the American Studies program. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-Schmidt J.J. Lettinga J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies.
Rhetoric and Composition Ia and Ib | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can not be taken as an elective. |
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| 13 | Rhetoric and Composition IIb | LAX050B05 |
| This second-year course completes the departmental program in Rhetoric and Composition. Building on the foundations of academic writing laid in Rhetoric and Composition I, Rhetoric and Composition II offers rigorous consolidation and additional practice in various forms of academic English while also intensifying the focus on the subject-specific demands faced by students writing and speaking argumentatively in an American Studies setting. Students will deepen their understanding of formal argumentation and produce a series of argumentative essays (ranging in length from 1000 to 2500 words) to demonstrate their grasp of scholarly language, argument, and structure; their ability to deal with historical and theoretical contexts; and the quality of their research skills. Through the analysis of a selection of academic articles and argumentative essays, students will study and learn to reproduce diverse modes of scholarly rhetoric in both written and oral form. In the second half of the course, they give individual oral presentations based on the arguments articulated in their final research essays. Throughout the course, students are asked to reflect critically on their own writing and the writing of others, with the aim of furnishing them with the skills that will be required for third-year research seminars and the composition of their B.A. theses in the final year of the American Studies program. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Docent(en) | J.J. Lettinga E.A. Olsen, PhD.Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Toetsvorm | essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies.
Rhetoric and Composition Ia and Ib | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can not be taken as an elective. |
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| 14 | Sp. Topics: American Horror Cinema | LAX074B05 |
| As the infamously last horror movie to be released before the MPAA film rating system came into existence, 1968’s Night of the Living Dead provoked an immediate and visceral outrage. On a superficial level, this outrage was a reaction to the movie’s matinée screening, meaning that children could head from school directly to the cinema and watch what The New Yorker at the time called “one of the most gruesomely terrifying movies ever made.” But on a deeper level, the movie captured and reflected the cultural anxieties of a country shaken by political assassinations at home and an ongoing, inconclusive war abroad. It addressed the creeping demise of the atomic family, the failure of the counterculture, the sense of increasing tension between the genders and races, and so much more. As a horror movie, it was groundbreaking, but as a cultural artifact, Night of the Living Dead provides a unique source and look at the nightmares of a generation. In line with this understanding, this course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the subject of cultural analysis through the examination of horror movies as vessels for various, culturally-bound desires, anxieties, and ideologies. As such, the course will address the subject of what “horror” actually is, how it can be conjured, and the paradoxical nature of horror movies as consumer products that are supposed to horrify their audience. More importantly, however, the course will provide an explicit introduction to the subject of cultural analysis, its purpose, and the variety of ways in which it can be approached. Furthermore, the course will link the topics discussed in the previous semester’s courses Americas I and ToC I, by emphasizing the interrelation between historical moment and cultural zeitgeist. Just like any other cultural product, movies are, by virtue of the period they are made in, left with an imprint, a metaphorical watermark, that identifies them as being of a specific era and culture. It is this course’s aim to extract this identity and read it through the use of various theories and modes of thought as a manifestation of its cultural, political, and social moment. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. |
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| 15 | Sp. Topics: Canada and the US | LAX059B05 |
| In this course unit students are introduced to Canadian society from a historical and comparative perspective, focusing on transatlantic relationships with Europe as well as on the convergences and (cultural) differences between Canada and the U.S. By examining a variety of topics such as the connection between Francophone and Anglophone Canada and bilingualism, Free Trade Agreements, popular culture, media and national identity, representations of space and identity, federal and provincial politics in relation to Indigenous peoples, students will gain insight in the complexity of Canadian society and questions of identity, Canada's transatlantic allegiance, and its dynamic relationship with the U.S. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | dr. J.M.L. den Toonder | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | wekelijkse opdrachten, essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de betreffende major. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective. Major students take precedence. |
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| 16 | Sp. Topics: Canada's Cultural Mosaic | LAX062B05 |
| One of the most important elements of Canadian federal policy was the introduction of official multiculturalism in the 1970s. In 1988, the federal government passed the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. Central to this policy was the official recognition of the diverse cultures in a plural society. In understanding official multiculturalism in a broader context, it is necessary to first examine its basic values. This examination will be followed by a critical discussion of the situation of cultural and linguistic minorities within Canada, which will for example touch upon questions of liberal multiculturalism, multicultural theory and practices, postcolonialism, mixed race and so-called visible minorities. The course also includes a comparative perspective,examining immigration policies and issues of citizenship in Canada, Europe and the U.S. and discussing the Canadian mosaic in relation to the U.S. melting pot. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | dr. J.M.L. den Toonder | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de betreffende major. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective. Major students take precedence. |
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| 17 | Sp. Topics: Free Speech on Campus | LAX076B05 |
This course will introduce students to the legal reality, the activist background, and the contemporary struggle concerning freedom of speech on U.S. college campuses. By learning about the history of the Free Speech Movement of 1964-65 and relating this history to the oftentimes contrastive discourse surrounding free speech on campus today, students will get a better sense of the timeless significance and the development of free speech.
Moreover the course will introduce students to various ideological schools of thought regarding the First Amendment and its scope of influence on campus as well as their differing negotiation with calls for restrictive measures on campus free speech. We will thus also discuss and learn about the legal do’s and don’ts regarding speech codes, trigger warnings, and free speech zones. However, not only by looking at their (il)legality, but also by closely considering the ever growing push towards social justice, in large parts carried out by the contemporary student generation themselves.
At the end of the course students will have gained a better understanding of the workings of the First Amendment on campus, be aware of its heavily debated past and future, and hopefully find their own stance on this “hot” topic. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-Schmidt | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | tentamen essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. |
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| 18 | Sp. Topics: Pioneer Landscapes | LAX075B05 |
| Accounts of the colonization of the Americas often represent Europeans’ success as inevitable. Colonizers had “guns, germs, and steel” and native peoples were bound to give way before them. But most colonial projects failed, sooner or later. Although their names may have been scrubbed from maps and memory, many defunct colonies had legacies that lasted long after they expired. This course examines the history and literature of failed colonies in the early Americas and beyond. It considers why most settlements initially struggled with survival, why some collapsed after promising starts, and why others only appeared in visionary proposals. It considers the difficulties colonizers faced in building new societies, polities, and economies in unfamiliar environments among wary and often hostile neighbors. Alongside this analysis of causes and effects, the course considers historical representations and the cultural legacies of these failures. It explores the fact-based fictions of colonizer-castaways, the arguments of early critics of colonialism, as well as the moral, political, and imperial lessons that contemporaries learned from failure. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | dr. J. Pelgrom M.L. Thompson | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective. Major students take precedence. |
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| 19 | Sp. Topics: The American Presidency | LAX077B05 |
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| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | E.A. Olsen, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective. Major students take precedence. |
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| 20 | The Americas Ia: The American Century | LAX025P05 |
| This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural, historical, political, social, and economic developments in the Americas from the 1890s until the 1970s. While our main focus will be on the United States, we will frequently adopt a comparative, hemispheric perspective due to the U.S.’s substantial involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean during the first half of the twentieth century. We will focus in particular on the following themes: the Spanish-American War and the rise of the U.S. as a global power; expansionism and empire; pan-Americanism and transatlanticism; U.S. diplomatic and military responses to developments in Latin America and the Caribbean; immigration and demographic shifts; WWII; the Cold War; Castro and the Cuban Revolution; the Vietnam War; the Civil Rights Movement. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | Dr. T. Jelfs J.A. Müller, MA. E.A. Olsen, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, schriftelijke opdracht(en), schriftelijk tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 21 | The Americas Ib: The American Century | LAX026P05 |
| This course completes the interdisciplinary introduction to cultural, historical, political, social, and economic developments in the Americas from the 1970s to the present begun in The Americas 1a. While our main focus will be on the United States, we will frequently adopt a comparative, hemispheric perspective due to the increasing economic, political, and military integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada since the 1990s. We will focus in particular on the following themes: 9/11 and the war on terror; the war on drugs; party polarization and the rise of the New Right; family politics in the Americas; environmental concerns; Inter-American economic relations; the US’s current cross-national and international relations and trade networks; strategies of world leadership and power. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | Dr. T. Jelfs J.J. Lettinga J.A. Müller, MA.Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, schriftelijk tentamen, schriftelijke opdracht(en) | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 22 | The Americas IIa: New Frontiers | LAX032P05 |
| This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural, historical, political, social, and economic developments in the Americas in the 19th century, with a specific focus on the position of the U.S within a hemispheric framework. Among the many topics we will address are the consolidation of the nation, the impact of Caribbean slave revolts on national identity construction, expansionism to the West and South, the American Borderlands, slavery, immigration, mobility, religious movements, industrialization, architecture, urbanization and changing gender roles. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA. E.A. Olsen, PhD. M.L. Thompson | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, schriftelijk tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 23 | The Americas IIb: New Frontiers | LAX033P05 |
| This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural, historical, political, social, and economic developments in the Americas in the 19th century, with a specific focus on the position of the U.S within a hemispheric framework. Among the many topics we will address are the consolidation of the nation, the impact of Caribbean slave revolts on national identity construction, expansionism to the West and South, the American Borderlands, slavery, immigration, mobility, religious movements, industrialization, architecture, urbanization and changing gender roles. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA. E.A. Olsen, PhD. M.L. Thompson | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, schriftelijk tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 24 | The Americas IIIa | LAX046B05 |
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| 25 | The Americas IIIb | LAX049B05 |
| This module is the second part of a course that offers an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural, historical, political, social, and economic developments in the Americas roughly between 1500 and 1800, with our principal focus on the regions that would later become part of the United States. Our investigations will be cast within an Atlantic framework: that is, they will consider how the European settlement of the Americas and the creation of the United States and is pluralistic, heterogeneous culture were in constant interaction with the economic, dynastic, statist, and cultural developments of those people who lived in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. We will use this perspective to trace the settlement of and cultural developments in the Americas from the late fifteenth century to the forging of the United States in the late eighteenth. The course is designed to provide an introduction to early American political, social and cultural history, and to provide a framework for synthesizing knowledge of the Americas within broader world-historical developments. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | M.L. Thompson | | Docent(en) | E.A. Olsen, PhD. M.L. Thompson | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | opdrachten, tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies.
The Americas I (A and B) OR
The Americas II (A and B) | | Opmerkingen | Mandatory Background Reading: John M. Murrin et al., eds. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People. Wadsworth Publishing. Concise 5th Edition (2007/2011).
80% mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. |
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| 26 | Theories of Culture Ia | LAX039P05 |
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| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-Schmidt J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | actieve participatie, tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit. Major students take precedence. |
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| 27 | Theories of Culture Ib | LAX041P05 |
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| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. A.M. Martinez | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-SchmidtDr. A.M. Martinez | | Onderwijsvorm | hoorcollege, werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | actieve participatie, tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars. Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. This module can be taken as an elective and/or Open Course Unit by those students who have completed Theories of Culture Ia. Major students take precedence. |
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| 28 | Theories of Culture II: Media Theory | LAX048B05 |
| This course introduces students to a range of media theories relevant to the study and analysis of American social and cultural life. Theorists and thinkers we will study may include: Walter Benjamin, Marshall McLuhan, Raymond Williams, Friedrich Kittler, Niklas Luhmann, Lev Manovic and Jason Mittell. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Docent(en) | J.A. Müller, MA. J.D. Schnepf, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. |
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| 29 | Theories of Culture II: Politic. Theory | LAX045B05 |
| This course introduces students to a range of political theories relevant to the study and analysis of American political life. Theorists and thinkers we will study may include: John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, John Dewey, and Hannah Arendt. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. T. Jelfs | | Docent(en) | Dr. T. Jelfs J.J. Lettinga J.A. Müller, MA. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | essay, tentamen | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Toegang tot het tweede jaar, d.w.z. minimaal 45 ECTS behaald uit de propedeuse van de BA American Studies. | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. |
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| 30 | Theories of Culture IIIa | LAX052B05 |
| Theories of Culture III is a two-course sequence dedicated to materialist approaches to culture: theories based on the premise that the way people make their living (the mode of production) determines the way people make sense of their lives (ideology). The first two weeks of the course introduce basic concepts of historical materialism, such as alienation, commodity fetishism, and ideology. Subsequent weeks focus on case studies from U.S. culture in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s: as the economy changed from one based on agrarian and industrial production, to one driven by the engine of consumer desire, literature and popular culture reflected on those changes in surprising ways. Marx and his heirs (Althusser, Williams, Mulvey), will help us analyze primary texts like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1925), a scandalous novel by Anita Loos that became a sexy 1953 film. We’ll expand our analysis with help from sociologists and historians--Thorstein Veblen, Max Weber, Lizbeth Cohen--who studied the social, religious, and political dimensions of American life in a time of rapid economic and cultural change. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Docent(en) | J.J. LettingaDr. K.S. Roberts | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | opdrachten, essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Propaedeutic phase
Rhetoric and Composition IIa and IIb
Theories of Culture II: Media Theory and II: Political Theory | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. |
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| 31 | Theories of Culture IIIb | LAX053B05 |
| Theories of Culture III is a two-course sequence dedicated to materialist approaches to culture. Building on the first block, this course considers what happens to U.S. culture when the economy transforms again, from the corporate capitalism of the early twentieth century to the “late capitalism” of the present. We begin with updates to Marxist theory that come to terms with the changes wrought by the emergence of the United States as a global superpower: Horkheimer and Adorno’s classic account of “the culture industry,” Jameson’s powerful description of “postmodernism”, and Bourdieu’s influential critique of “cultural imperialism.” From there we move to contemporary challenges, like climate change and the digital revolution, that have shaken the foundations of U.S. hegemony based on the universal spread of capitalism and democracy. We will investigate the role of critical theory under these new conditions, which have prompted both calls for a “post-critical” turn in the humanities (Latour and Felski) and revivals of communist praxis (Dean and Clover). |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | Dr. K.S. Roberts | | Docent(en) | J.J. LettingaDr. K.S. Roberts | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | opdrachten, essay | | ECTS | 5 | | Entreevoorwaarden | Propaedeutic phase
Rhetoric and Composition IIa and IIb
Theories of Culture II: Media Theory and II: Political Theory | | Opmerkingen | 80% Mandatory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments. |
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| 32 | US Political Culture 1 | LAX060P05 |
Political culture is what embeds and informs our political behavior. It can be defined as a set of attitudes, values, beliefs and practices shared by a people and shaping their political perceptions and actions. As such, involves moral judgments, political myths, and ideas about what makes for a good citizen, a good society, and a good government. Political cultures vary from state to state (and sometimes even within one state), but they tend to be fairly stable over time.
This course examines American political culture. Drawing on a wide range of historical and theoretical readings, it familiarizes students with some of its guiding ideas, including liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, unity, and diversity. Moreover, we will study how political debates in the U.S. tend to be over how these ideas can be realized, not over whether they are worth striving for in the first place. We will explore how American political culture—through debates, public protest, and the circulation of values and myths—intersects with American media and popular culture. And we will try to assess what the election of Donald Trump means for American political culture. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | dr. J. Olthof | | Docent(en) | J.J. Lettinga E.A. Olsen, PhD. | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | actieve participatie, essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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| 33 | US Political Culture 2 | LAX061P05 |
Political culture is what embeds and informs our political behavior. It can be defined as a set of attitudes, values, beliefs and practices shared by a people and shaping their political perceptions and actions. As such, involves moral judgments, political myths, and ideas about what makes for a good citizen, a good society, and a good government. Political cultures vary from state to state (and sometimes even within one state), but they tend to be fairly stable over time.
This course examines American political culture. Drawing on a wide range of historical and theoretical readings, it familiarizes students with some of its guiding ideas, including liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, unity, and diversity. Moreover, we will study how political debates in the U.S. tend to be over how these ideas can be realized, not over whether they are worth striving for in the first place. We will explore how American political culture—through debates, public protest, and the circulation of values and myths—intersects with American media and popular culture. And we will try to assess what the election of Donald Trump means for American political culture. |
| Faculteit | Letteren | | Voertaal | Engels | | Coordinator | dr. J. Olthof | | Docent(en) | K.U. Dehan-Schmidt J.A. Müller, MA.dr. J. Olthof | | Onderwijsvorm | werkcollege | | Toetsvorm | actieve participatie, essay, wekelijkse opdrachten | | ECTS | 5 | | Opmerkingen | 80% Compulsory attendance in seminars.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussions during seminars and to duly carry out all assignments in and outside class. |
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