Module Directory

This module, taught by staff from across the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University, takes an extended, interdisciplinary look at The American Idea and its current crisis.

The module aims to unpack and unpick the American Idea, both as it was expressed in the early history of the American Project and as it has been articulated in and by its subsequent history.

The aims of this module are:

• To examine the historical roots of major issues in contemporary political and social issues in the United States of America.


• To examine whether or not the current status of US political discourse might be understood as a ‘crisis’.


• To analyse and discuss varying perspectives on contemporary issues as they relate to the foundational ideas, ideologies and texts of the United States of America.


• To discuss the place and status of United States in relation to its neighbours in Latin America and the Caribbean and its various marginalised communities.


• To examine if the current ‘crisis’ is a crisis of these founding ideas, ideologies and texts, or a crisis of their (mis-)implementation.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Speak and write with authority about a variety of issues relating to the US’ political and cultural history, particularly in relation to its foundational ideas and ideologies.


2. Identify key historical, social, cultural, political and geographical themes that are specific to and defining of these issues in historical and contemporary discourse, particularly in regards to race, class, gender, and national identity.


3. Discuss the relationship between ideas of (for example) liberty, freedom and, justice, and their execution in the US context.


4. Approach topics and texts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

Across a wide spectrum of political opinion one finds a shared conviction that something is amiss in the American project.

Some point to Trump's election as evidence that something has gone badly wrong. At the same time Trump's supporters pointed to an American crisis as their reason for electing him. What they agree on is that there is indeed an American crisis underway.

We take our point of departure from an observation made by Margaret Thatcher on one of her visits to Washington DC. Europe, Thatcher claimed, was the creation of its history; America was created by philosophy. Thatcher's observation is borne out by looking at the faces of American coins, which are thick with ideas about America: "Liberty," "e pluribus unum," "In God we trust." Even the name of the nation - The United States of America - expresses a complex thought, incorporating ideas about federalism, divided self-governance, unity in plurality.

This module will also try to assess the current crisis. To what extent is it a crisis internal to the American Idea itself and to what extent is it a failure of implementation of that idea? To what extent can this crisis also be traced the US' foreign relations and domestic policies to those defined as its cultural and political "others"?

This module will be delivered via:

• One 1-hour lecture per week.
• One 1-hour class/seminar per week.

There will also be a Reading Week when no teaching will take place, exact week to be confirmed. As some of the teaching material includes films, some sessions may vary in length and content.