New American Century: History, Culture, and Crisis
| Module title | New American Century: History, Culture, and Crisis |
|---|---|
| Module code | HIC3008 |
| Academic year | 2024/5 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Wendy McMahon (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 10 |
Module description
In 2000 the United States of America was entering a new American Century as a global leader, but the last two decades have been witness to a nation in turmoil and crisis. This module will investigate the historical and cultural roots of crisis from the conflict between a universalising (Americanising) globalisation and an introspective nationalism; the war on terror and the conflicts in Afghanistan Iraq and Syria; environmental crisis and disaster; the conflict surrounding immigration and national identity; the financial crisis; and from the election of Obama to the aftermath of Trump. You will learn how the historical divisions and crises of American society underscores geopolitical, economic, democratic, environment, and cultural diversity, complexity and crisis. You will explore these issues through a variety of sources including literature, film and documentary, political speeches and letters, to pop culture. You will examine the ways in which conflict and crisis has been historically, culturally and politically constructed in US society today.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This interdisciplinary module brings together literary and historical studies with politics, philosophy, law, and cultural studies to explore our understanding of the United States’ global role in the twenty-first cen-tury. By taking a comparative and thematic approach to some of the key crises of the twenty-first centu-ry, we you will consider the ways in which cultural production responds to, critiques, or reinforces politi-cal, social, and cultural discourse. We You will use a number of case studies from the twenty-first centu-ry through which questions about the relationship between historical and contemporary crisis, between crisis and democracy, power, globalized capitalism, and the environment will be examined.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. 1 Show a deepened level of understanding of the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to investigating twenty-first century crises in the US
- 2. Show specialised knowledge and critical understanding of the narrative construction of culture and crisis in modern US history
- 3. Appraise different and competing narratives of events, as well as the competing scholarship from different disciplinary perspectives, such as history, literary studies, law, and environmental studies
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Understand and critically evaluate evidence connected to different case-studies and put them in dia-logue with the wider interdisciplinary scholarship
- 5. Contextualise shifts in discourse, positions, and perspectives over time
- 6. Competently research using a variety of resources such as archives, libraries, electronic sources
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Develop skills of collaboration and team-working skills and build confidence through regular presen-tations and discussion as well as the visual essay task
- 8. Independently digest, select, and synthesise evidence and arguments to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument.
- 9. Respond to directional prompts to set independent tasks and solve problems
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the follow-ing topics:
· Introduction: Historicising the contemporary
· Globalisation and its Discontents
· 9/11: Spectacle, Narrative, Politics
· External Enemies: The War on Terror
· Internal Enemies: Civil Liberties
· Immigration
· Natural Hazards and Social Catastrophe: Hurricane Katrina
· Financial Crisis
· Crisis of Democracy
· Democracy Strikes Back: Global Occupy
· Black Lives Matter
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 270 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 30 | Seminars (11 x 3 hour sessions) |
| Guided independent study | 60 | Completing formative assessments |
| Guided Independent Study | 180 | Completing summative assessments |
| Guided Independent Study | 30 | Weekly reading for seminars (approx. 3 hours per seminar) |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic review | 1500 words | 1-6, 8-9 | Verbal and written |
| Storyboard for visual essay and group presentation | 500 words equivalent | 1-9 | Verbal and written |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Module topic review | 20 | 2000 | 1-6, 8-9 | Written |
| Essay | 40 | 3000 | 1-6, 8-9 | Written |
| Group visual essay | 40 | Individual visual essay (equivalent to 2000 words: each student will be expected to contribute 12-15 visual sources and 800 words of text) | 1-9 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Module topic review (2000 words) | Module topic review (2000 words) | 1-6, 8-9 | Referral/Deferral Period |
| Essay (3000 words) | Essay (3000 words) | 1-6, 8-9 | Referral/Deferral Period |
| Group visual essay (2000 words equivalent) | Individual visual essay (2000 words equivalent: 12-15 visual sources and 800 words of text) | 1-9 | Referral/Deferral Period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Com-mittee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Cornelius, Wayne A. ‘Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy’. Population and Development Review, 27, 4, 2001. Pp 661-685.
Dante Trout, Donald, ed. After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina. New York, The New Press, 2007.
Halliwell, Martin, and Morley, Catherine, eds. Thought and Culture in the Twenty-First Century. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2008.
Hartman, Chester and Squires, Gregory D. There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina. London, Routledge, 2006.
Harvey, David. ‘Space-Time Compression and the Postmodern Condition’, in The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Oxford, Blackwell, 1989.
Moreno, Karina and Price, Byron Eugene. ‘The social and political impact of the new (private) National Security: private actors in the securitization of immigration in the U/S. post 9/11. Crime, Law and Social Change, 67, 2017. Pp 353-376.
Lebron, Christopher J. The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief Histotry of an Idea. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023.
Mondak, Jeffery and Hurwitz, Jon. Examining the Terror Exception: Terrorism and Commitments to Civil Liberties. Public Opinion Quarterly, 76, 2, 2012. Pp 193-213.
Moore, Martin. Democracy Hacked: Political Turmoil and Information Warfare in the Digital Age One World Books, 2018.
Saad-Filho, Alfredo, and Johnston, Deborah, eds.â?¯Neoliberalism : A Critical Reader. London: Pluto Press, 2004.
Spielvogel, Chirstian. ‘You Know Where I Stand: Moral Framing of the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War in the 2004 Presidential Campaign. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 8, 4, 2005. Pp 549-570.
Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalisation and its Discontents. Norton, 2002.
Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. Haymarket Books, 2016.
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
Film resources:
The Matrix
Battle in Seattle
No Logo
This is What Democracy Looks Like
11 '09 "01 September 11
The Dark Knight
The Dixie Chicks: Shut up and Sing
Trouble the Water
When the Levees Broke
The Big Short
Inside Job
The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
Get Out
Literary resources:
William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (2003)
Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007)
Barry Lopez, Resistance (2004)
Sergio Tronscoso, From This Wicked Patch of Dust (2011)
Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones (2011)
Jess Walter, The Financial Life of Poets (2009)
Dave Eggers, The Circle (2013)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006)
Barbara Browning, The Gift (2017)
Attica Locke, Heaven, My Home (2019)
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 02/09/2023 |
