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American Studies |
Because of the broadly-based four-year Scottish degree structure, students doing American Studies at the University of Edinburgh can take advantage of a wide range of different combinations of subjects, all with relevance to American culture. This allows American Studies to be approached in terms of all the cultures of Americas -- Canadian as well as that of the United States, French or Hispanic as well as Anglophone. Over the four years of the degree, students can concentrate on or develop their own areas of interest in history or literature, as well as take courses in subjects such as sociology or politics which are relevant to understanding American culture.
An important aspect of American Studies at Edinburgh is that students are given a firm grounding in the foundations of whichever is going to be their main discipline. Thus, while American Literature 1 provides students with a strong core of American material, it also shares a significant amount of material with English Literature 1, and allows students a proper grasp of the literary background from which Anglophone American literature developed. Equally, students start their study of American History through British or European history, which is essential to the understanding of the development of American history. This also means, within the flexible structure of the Scottish degree, that students have the opportunity to change their minds about their degree and opt for an alternative degree in literature or history or a language, should they decide to do so.
Typical examples of the structure of the first two years’ of a student’s programme would be as follows: in each year students take three courses:
| A | B | C |
| 1. Canadian Studies 1 | 1. Canadian Studies 1 | 1. Canadian Studies 1 |
| 2. American Literature 1 | 2. European History 1 | 2. American Literature 1 |
| 3. British History 1 | 3. Spanish 1 | 3. French 1 |
In second year a student’s course choices must develop from the first year choices, and might be:
| A | B | C |
| 1. American History 2 | 1. American History 2 | 1. American Literature 2 |
| 2. American Literature 2 | 2. European History 2 | 2. French 2 |
| 3. Politics 1 | 3. Portuguese 2 | 3. Sociology 1 |
Thus students can choose to focus
At the same time, each programme is able to accommodate ‘outside’ subjects relevant to subjects that may be studied in the third year at an American University.
In the third year, students study at an American university. Edinburgh has established relationships with a wide variety of different North American campuses that give students both a geographical and a cultural choice about the kind of environment and the kind of emphasis they want their studies to have. Possible destinations are the University of California, with nine campuses including Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego; the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Miami, and Queens University in Toronto. For further details see Third Year of Study Abroad.
In the fourth year students return to complete their degree at Edinburgh by taking courses in literature, history or any other discipline for which they are qualified by their outside subjects and their American courses.
(This information does not supercede that contained in the University Calendar or Faculty of Arts Programme)
| 1st Year | 1. | Canadian Studies 1 | |
| 2-3. | Any TWO from: | (a) American Literature 1 | |
| (b) British History 1 or European History 1 | |||
| (c) Spanish 1A or 1B or French 1 |
| 2nd Year | 1-2 | Any TWO of the following, depending on courses taken in first year: | |
| (a) American Literature 2 | |||
| (b) American History 2 | |||
| (c) Spanish 2 or French 2 or Portugal and the Portuguese Speaking World 2. | |||
| 3 | Outside subject. | Any course qualifying for graduation in Arts may be taken. The attention of students is however drawn to the prerequisites for certain Honours options (e.g. in Politics or Scottish Ethnology). | |
Normal requirements for entry to 3 and 4 Hons: passes in all six qualifying courses taken in the first and second years by June of the second year, with a mark of 55% or better in two appropriate second level courses.
| 3rd Year | American Studies 3 Hons |
Students follow courses at an approved North American University or college. This will normally consist of 8 semester or 9 quarter-long courses on relevant areas of American Studies. Courses must be approved by the Director of the American Studies programme in Edinburgh.
| 4th Year | American Studies 4 Hons |
Students should select courses totalling 120 credit points from the following list. At least two subject groups must be represented, with courses totalling at least 40 credit points from each of two subject groups (i.e. distribution of credit points among subject groups may be 80+40, or 60+40+20, or 40+40+40, or 40+40+20+20). Students should select courses so as to create a balanced workload between Autumn and Spring terms. In consultation with the Director of the Programme, students may choose to write a long essay instead of one 20-credit course. The essay (5,000-6,000 words) must be submitted by Tuesday of the third week of Spring term of Fourth Year. Not all courses will be available in any given year, and admission to specific courses is subject to the procedures of the departments concerned:
+ a pass at 55% or above in American Literature 2
Black American Fiction (20)
Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century American Women Writers (20)
The Short Story in America (20)
Literature of the American South (20)
Contemporary American Fiction (20)
Western Fictions (20)
Transatlantic Comparisons (20)
See English Literature Fourth Year Honours Course Descriptions and Reading Lists for further details.
+ A pass at 55% in Spanish 2 or Portugal and the Portuguese Speaking World 2
Reality and Fantasy in Latin-American Fiction (20)
History and the Writer in Latin America (20)
Spanish 3: Latin American Module (20)
+ A pass at 55% or above in French 2
Le Roman contemporain au Quebec (40)
Department of History
+ Normally a pass at 55% or above in American History 2
American Secret Intelligence, 1898-2000 (60)
North American Literature and Society, 1830-1930 (60)
Revolutionary America, 1763-1815 (60)
The Republican Party in the United States, 1929-1989 (60)
Red, White and Black: The Mingling of Peoples in Seventeenth-Century America (60)
The Rise of American Slavery, 1619-1790 (20)
‘The Peculiar Institution’: Slaves and Slavery in the American South, 1790-1835 (20)
America and the Vietnam War (20)
The Frontier in American History, 1763-1890 (20)
Britain and the American Revolution, c.1760-c.1785 (20)
The United States, 1846-1877: The Union in Crisis (20)
American Labour and Society, 1866-1920 (20)
The American Supreme Court and the Rights Revolution (20)
Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal (20)
Department of History Home Page
Department of Economic and Social History
+ Normally a pass at 55% or above in American History 2
The U.S. Economy since 1918 (20)
Latin America and the World Economy, 1492-1914 (20)
Latin America and the World Economy since 1914 (20)
Colonies and Commerce: the Economy and Society of British America (40)
Trade, Plunder and Planters in Jamaica, 1655-1713 (40)
Economic and Social History Home Page
Department of Scottish History
+ Normally a pass at 55% or above in American History 2
[Scottish Settlement in the American South, 1680-1812 (60) ] - NB This course has now been withdrawn but a new course is planned for session 2003-04.
Centre for Canadian Studies
+ Normally a pass at 55% or above in American History 2
New World Encounters: Canadian Social History to 1870 (20)
OR Contact and Conflict: Canadian Social History to 1870 (40)
Modern Canadian Politics (20)
Canada and Britain, 1856-1878 (20)
+ (entry requirement yet to be determined)
Minorities in a Multicultural Society (40)
(Due to pressure of numbers, and the strong desire to keep option sizes limited to that which is compatible with the appropriate style of teaching at this level, there is a cap on numbers admitted to this course, with preference to geography single honours and geography joint degree students.)
+ normally a pass in Politics 1
Government and Politics of the United States (40)
OR U.S. Government (20)
American Foreign Policy (20)
+ Normally a pass in Scottish Ethnology 1
Scottish Emigrant Traditions (20)
Traditions of Appalachia (20)
There will be 12 Units of Assessment, equally weighted. Six units will relate to courses taken abroad in third year. Each fourth year Unit of assessment will correspond to twenty credit points (i.e. a 60-credit course will be worth three percentage marks out of the total twelve, and a 40-credit course will be worth two percentage marks).
The regulations for assessment of English Literature courses are set out in the ‘Information Booklet’ for Third and Fourth year students under Assessment, headed ‘How Marks are Calculated’
http://www.ed.ac.uk/englit/studying/undergrd/honours/infobk2001-2002.htm#MarksCalculated
The section on how marks are calculated for 3rd and 4th year students indicates that in both years the only component of Finals assessment based on coursework is a single unit derived from a composite of the four term essays taken in English Literature courses by English Literature single honours students. All other marks are based on the final examination only. Because American Studies students may take anything between 0 and 4 Honours courses from the English Literature curriculum, and because the American Studies Exam Board requires a single mark to be entered against each course, it has not been possible to include a coursework component in the final mark awarded to a student on any single course, which is therefore currently based on the exam or exam essay alone. English Literature students on the same courses also receive a single mark based on the final examination; the only difference is that in their case there is an additional coursework mark arrived at by averaging all their essay marks across four courses.
The current assessment arrangements stand for courses already taken and those being taken in Spring Term 2002. With the agreement of the External Examiner for the American Studies Degree and the Vice Dean of Faculty, from next academic year (2002 – 2003), new regulations will allow the single mark for each course returned to the American Studies Exam Board for American Studies students taking English Literature courses to reflect a coursework component, on the basis of calculating the total as 75% exam + 25% term essay. This arrangement will be (in the context of English Literature courses) particular to American Studies students, and will apply to all Honours courses taken in English Literature by American Studies students. The basis of calculation may differ for courses taken in other subject areas.
American Literature 1 consists of
Weeks 1-12
Weeks 13 to 24
(c) a twelve week course in literature of the English Renaissance, taken in common with English Literature 1 students (3 lectures per week) but with supplementary American Literature material (drawn from the Norton Anthology of American Literature) for tutorial discussion (1 hour per week).
For full details of the American Literature 1 course, see the course website.
Return to Honours Curriculum
This new course is currently under development. A full course outline will be posted during academic session 2001-2002.
American Literature 2 may consist of a study of American Literature in the periods of Romanticism (1770-1850) and Modernism (1880-1940).
The course is studied in conjunction with courses in English and Scottish Literature, so that students not only get a detailed perspective on American writing in the periods concerned, but are able to set those writings in the context of the general developments of writing in English.
Return to Honours Curriculum
Canadian Studies 1 and American History 2
Canadian Studies 1 is both an introduction to the study of Canada itself and an introduction to the methods of inter-disciplinary study which are required for the American Studies degree as a whole. It covers the following topics:
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Further information is available at the Canadian Studies courses website.
American History 2 follows from Canadian Studies 1 by providing a survey of the period since 1607, with the emphasis on the history of the United States. For further information see the course website.
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Page last updated 25 September 2002