B.A. American Studies (Latin America)

The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules that will be available to you and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules, you may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.

Possible modules may include:

• Introduction to American Studies
• Learning Spanish 3 (Post A Level)
• Intensive Learning Spanish 1 (Beginners)
• Introduction to Hispanic Culture
• Introduction to Hispanic Culture
• International History and International Relations
• Introduction to Comparative Politics
• The Shock of the Now: Themes in Contemporary Art
• The Shock of the Now: Themes in Contemporary Art
• Now That Is Art! Aesthetics and the Visual Arts
• The Emergence of America:From European Settlement to 1880
• The Rise of the United States Since 1880
• Making History: Theory and Practice
• The Modern Spanish-American Short-Story (in translation)
• Introduction to Literature and Science
• Critical Practice
• Romanticism and Critical Theor

You have the opportunity to select wild modules in this stage

• Students on the four-year programmes spend a year between Stages 2 and 3 at one of our partner universities in South America taking specialist courses.
• Modules are usually taught by lectures and seminars or by seminars alone. You usually have around ten hours of contact with staff each week. Depending on the modules you select, assessment varies from 100% coursework (extended essay or dissertation) to a combination of examination and coursework.

The programme aims to:

• provide teaching informed by research and scholarship
• encourage flexibility and multidisciplinarity in the study of the Americas
• build on close ties within Europe with the United States and Latin America through its year abroad of study
• provide learning opportunities that involve realistic workloads within a research-led framework and offer appropriate support for students from a diverse range of backgrounds
• introduce students to the history, culture and politics of the Americas, and encourage them to identify and develop their own interests and expertise in fields of the humanities
• develop independent critical thinking and judgement in its students
• enable students to develop their capacity to learn, be prepared for employment or further study
• introduce students to Area Studies, in an era of globalisation and multiculturalism
• provide the opportunity to experience higher education in another culture.

Note on nomenclature: following current American Studies custom, any references to ‘America’ refers to North and South America and not simply the United States of America. Similarly ‘the Americas’ refers to both continents.

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

• the culture of the US and Latin America from colonial times to the 20th century
• methodical practices associated with research and study of American Studies
• the study of American Studies in relation to other disciplines
• terminology used in work in American Studies
• the similarities and differences between areas, thus fostering cross-cultural and international perspectives
• the cultural diversity of the Americas
• the problems inherent in the cultural record itself, and the limits within which interpretation is possible
• the Spanish language in all its aspects, by extensive reading in Spanish and the use of Spanish as a spoken and written medium.

You gain the following intellectual abilities:

• the skills needed for academic study and inquiry
• how to evaluate research findings
• the ability to synthesise information from a number of sources to gain a coherent understanding of critical theory and general methodology
• the ability to discriminate and select relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge
• problem-solving skills
• how to communicate effectively in Spanish and another Iberian language for a range of purposes and audiences
• develop language skills in three related areas: reception (listening and reading), production (speaking and writing) and mediation between at least two languages (translation and interpreting)
• the ability to mediate and display qualities of empathy in an intercultural context.

You gain specific skills in the following:

• the close critical analysis of documents of American culture
• an informed understanding of the variety of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of history
• the ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of texts, concepts and theories relating to historical studies
• appropriate scholarly practice in the presentation of formal written work
• the ability to understand a multi-disciplinary academic subject, with its array of literature, history and other discourses
• the ability to combine various academic discourses such as literature and history to forge an inter-disciplinary understanding
• how to construct an independent, research-led argument
• to read texts and other source materials critically and empathetically while addressing questions of genre, content, perspective and purpose.

You gain transferable skills in the following:

• communication: how to organise information clearly, respond to written sources, present information orally,adapt style for different audiences and the use of images as a communication tool
• the ability to assimilate and organise substantial quantities of complex information
• IT skills such as how to produce written documents, undertake online research and process information using databases
• work co-operatively on group tasks and understand how groups function
• explore personal strengths and weaknesses, time management, review working environment, develop specialist learning skills and autonomy in learning
• problem solving, explore alternative solutions and discriminate between them
• communication skills in the Spanish language.