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Module Catalogue

HI111-30 A History of the United States

Department
History
Level
Undergraduate Level 1
Module leader
Lydia Plath
Credit value
30
Module duration
22 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

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Introductory description

When the first British settlers arrived in North America at the turn of the seventeenth century, they could not have imagined that they had taken the first step towards founding a country that would become one of the most powerful nations in the modern world. The United States has forged a path of prosperity and unparalleled global influence but undercutting this narrative of progress is a more complicated story of racial oppression, economic inequality, and political turmoil.

Module web page

Module aims

This 30 CATS first-year module charts the ebbs and flows of the history of the United States by exploring the meanings, conditions and boundaries of American “freedom”. The module uses case studies to examine how race, class, gender, society, culture, and politics have both made freedom a reality and kept it a mythic ideal, and it challenges us to understand the contemporary United States through a historical lens. With an emphasis on social and cultural history, at the heart of the module are those Americans who have continually strived to fulfil the promise of American freedom.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Term 1

  1. Introduction
  2. The Old World
  3. Migration and Colonial Society
  4. Revolution and Constitution
  5. The Early Republic
  6. Reading Week
  7. Manifest Destiny
  8. Slavery
  9. Civil War
  10. Reconstruction and Segregation

Term 2

  1. Roundtable discussion and Q&A
  2. Overseas Expansion
  3. The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era
  4. The Great Depression and the New Deal
  5. World War II at Home and Abroad
  6. Reading Week
  7. An Affluent Society in an Atomic Age
  8. The Long Civil Rights Movement
  9. The Women’s Movement
  10. Liberals, Conservatives and the Unravelling of America

Term 3

  1. Roundtable discussion and Q&A
  2. Tutorials

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate a broad understanding of significant themes in United States history, and of patterns of change and continuity over four centuries, including understanding and engaging with the US in the present.
  • Identify key historiographical debates and contributions of different historical sub-disciplines (including social, cultural, and political history, and the histories of race and gender) to interpretations of this subject matter.
  • Identify and engage with key printed / online primary sources in US history, having gained experience of reading such documents for the meanings and evidence that they contain.
  • Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills through the delivery of a presentation.
  • Devise well-defined essay topics, construct their own bibliographies, collect relevant data from a variety of sources and present results in an effective fashion.

Indicative reading list

Detailed bibliographies will be provided for each week, General texts include:

  • Susan-Mary Grant, A Concise History of the United States (2012)
  • Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty (multiple editions)
  • George Tindall and David Shi, America: A Narrative History (multiple editions)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes.

Transferable skills

See learning outcomes.

Study time

Type Required
Lectures 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Seminars 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Tutorials 2 sessions of 1 hour (1%)
Private study 258 hours (86%)
Total 300 hours

Private study description

History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A2
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
1000 word oral presentation 20% No
Reassessment component
1000 word essay Yes (extension)
Assessment component
2000 word project 30% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
3000 word essay 50% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Written comments and oral feedback will be provided for all assignments.

Courses

This module is Core optional for:

  • Year 1 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics

This module is Optional for:

  • Year 1 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
  • Year 1 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
  • Year 1 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology

This module is Option list G for:

  • Year 1 of UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics