University of Sydney Handbooks - 2014 Archive

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American Studies

American Studies

AMST1001 Global America

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Brendon O'Connor and Paul Giles Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2-hr lecture/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Assessment: 2x1000wd essays (2x30%), tutorial participation (10%) and 1x1.5 hr exam (30%)
Note: Students intending to do a major in American Studies must complete AMST1001 and either HSTY1023 or HSTY1076
This unit will investigate the global connectedness of the United States and how this relates to the core values and interests that define America. The primary focus will be on the United States in the 21st global century. The pedagogical aim of this unit is to provide students with analytical frames to understand the most important issues in contemporary American literature, culture, politics, society and the economy, and how they are affected by and affect the world outside the US.
AMST2601 American Foundations

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Rodney Taveria Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: AMST1001 and (HSTY1076 or HSTY1023) Assessment: 3x1500wd essays (3x30%) and tutorial participation (10%)
This unit introduces students to the contradictory richness of 'Americanness' from an interdisciplinary standpoint and prepares them for the Major in American Studies. It is divided into different modules, each addressing a core national myth. We will approach each module from a variety of angles: historiographical, literary and visual, opening lines of interrelation between historical and imaginary forms in the construction and ongoing redefinition of the United States.
AMST3601 American Perspectives

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rodney Taveria Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week and 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Senior Credit Points of AMST including AMST2601 Assessment: 2x 200wd Online reading response (20%) and Essay 900wd proposal with annotated bibliography (20%) 3000wd Research Essay (50%) and Tutorial Participation (10%)
This capstone unit will discuss key texts from Politics, History, English, Film Studies, and Music to critically examine the ways the United States has been idealised as exceptional - as democracy, utopia, and empire. Students will study works ranging from de Tocqueville's Democracy in America to the film Birth of a Nation with the aim of developing a critical appreciation of both classic and contemporary debates about American society. The unit will conclude with a discussion of the ways American Studies as a field deals with these long standing debates in innovative and challenging ways.
AMST4011 American Studies Honours A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2x2-hr seminars Prerequisites: A credit average or better in 48 senior credit points of American Studies, including AMST2601 Assessment: A thesis of 18,000-20,000 words and 6000-8000 words of written work or its equivalent for each semester.
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
The Honours program in American Studies consists of: 1. A thesis written under the supervision of one member of the academic staff of the American Studies program 2. Two seminars that meet weekly for two hours for one semester, one offered by the American Studies program, one chosen, in consultation with the coordinator of American Studies, from the Honours seminars offered by the departments of English, History and Film Studies. The thesis should be 18,000-20,000 words in length. Each seminar requires 6000-8000 words of work. The thesis is worth 60% of the final Honours seminar and each of the seminars is worth 20%.
AMST4012 American Studies Honours B

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Prerequisites: Please refer to AMST4011 Corequisites: AMST4011
Refer to AMST4011
AMST4013 American Studies Honours C

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Prerequisites: Please refer to AMST4011 Corequisites: AMST4012
Refer to AMST4011
AMST4014 American Studies Honours D

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Prerequisites: Please refer to AMST1001 Corequisites: AMST4013
Refer to AMST4011