American Studies and History, BA (Hons)

This course explores the influence of historical events on modern society, examining why empires rise and fall while deepening understanding of societal evolution. It features modules in American Studies and History, including African American History, US foreign policy, American Capitalism, Ancient History, and Environmental History. Students may opt for a year abroad in North America, transferring after their first year, based on academic performance and availability.In the first year, foundational skills in early modern, modern, and American history are developed. The second year offers choices like 'North American Regions' or key texts in social thought, alongside optional modules. Final-year studies include a compulsory History special subject, a dissertation, and electives, with the degree completable in three or four years.

In year one you will gain the core, skills, knowledge and methods needed to work at degree level by taking introductory modules to early modern, modern and American history. Your American history core modules will introduce you to the key themes, debates and events in American history from the colonial period to the present day. The core history module, 'Learning History', develops skills and introduces methodologies. In year two, you can choose from two key modules: 'North American Regions', which draws on literature, film and television to examine regional identities, or 'Key Texts in American Social and Political Thought', which explores debates about religion, race, class, capitalism, gender, sexuality and war in different periods. In History, as well as American studies, you can choose from a wide selection of optional modules covering an extremely broad chronological and geographical range. These options will allow you to focus on certain periods, events, or texts in more depth You can apply to spend your third year studying in North America, transferring to a four-year course and returning to Nottingham for your final year to complete your course. This is not compulsory – if you opt not to study abroad, you will complete your degree in three years. Eligibility for study abroad is dependent on satisfactory performance in your first year and the availability of places. In your final year, you will take 120 credits of modules. The number of core and optional module credit breakdowns can vary, depending on what you choose for your dissertation. Core modules (40-60 credits) History special subject (40 credits) – everyone takes a year-long, compulsory ‘Special Subject’ in history, which is worth 40 credits Dissertation (20-40 credits) – you can do a dissertation in either American studies or history. You have the choice of doing a 20-credit one-semester dissertation, a 40-credit year-long dissertation in American Studies, OR a 20-credit year-long dissertation in history Optional modules (40-60 credits) - choose from a selection of optional modules. You must pass year four, which counts 67% towards your final degree classification.