HR162-4-AU-CO:
The Great American Experiment
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 4
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
30 April 2021
Requisites for this module
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This module offers a survey overview of key developments in United States history from 1900 to the early 1980s. At the heart of this module is the emergence of industrial capitalism in the United States. We will examine not only the various political responses, such as Progressivism and the New Deal, but also its effects on Americans of all backgrounds.
Topics will include the rise of corporate America; the labour movement; the rise of Jim Crow; gender, sexuality, and morality; the Cold War as waged at home and abroad; postwar consumerism; the Civil Rights Movement and other 'rights revolutions'; and the post-1980 triumph of conservative politics.
Like other modules that adopt a 'survey' study of a nation's history, this one cannot encompass every event in US history; rather, on a weekly basis, it offers dedicated attention to crucial transformative events and ideas that helped constitute views of the US as a progressive, prosperous, and democratic republic, but also ones that challenged that view.
The purpose of this module is to provoke novel and exciting debate about the history of the United States. The module covers a large range of topics including a number of key historical events as well as important social movements. The topics studied range from the rise of corporate America, the origins of the Jim Crow order, the New Deal and WWII, the 1950s and 60s civil rights, women's and youth movements. It is hoped that every student will find something that he or she wishes to study in depth.
On successful completion of this module, students will:
1. Obtain a groundwork understanding of the history of US from ca. 1900 to ca. 1980.
2. Gain knowledge of US history through learning about major events and shifting ideologies to help understand how and why the US rose to its prominent global position.
3. Learn how to read primary and secondary sources, and critically evaluate different historical approaches, in US history.
General reading list:
Nell Irvin Painter, Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era (2008).
Edward Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (1993).
Nancy Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism (1988).
David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (1999).
Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (2004).
Manning Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black America (2007).
Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (2001).
Lectures and seminars.
Besides gaining a basic grasp of US history, students will also participate in group discussions, improve their skills in writing essays, and explore the historical resources available in the Albert Sloman Library and online.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
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Additional coursework information
A 1000-word primary source analysis (40%); a 2000-word take home exam (55%); and seminar participation (5%).
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Andrew Priest, email: apriest@essex.ac.uk.
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 50 hours, 50 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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