Admission requirements
The course American Identities, 1850 to the present is intended for students from a limited number of programmes. In case the course is full, students in the MA program in North American Studies (NAS) will have priority. The definite admission will be made according to the position on the waiting list and the number of places that will be available after the North American Studies students have been placed. In total there is room for 25 students in the seminar; the estimated number of NAS students who will follow the course is 18-20.
Description
In this election year, we will more carefully examine how our ideas about political and social identity shape the interactions between citizens in the American context. Is identity a social location where a metaphysical expression of self interacts with society? Or is identity determined demographically and legislatively by the market and the state? What are the intersectional demands on identity? This seminar will explore a cache of literary, filmic, and artistic expressions that center this concept, landmark cases in the legal history of how Americans experience identity, and place contemporary evolutions and debates around the concept of identity in historical context.
Course objectives
This course explores the concept of identity in literary fiction, nonfictional essay, visual and performance art, and media. Our objectives:
To understand how these cultural products have shaped our concept of political and social identity, in the U.S. American context;
To develop students’ analytical skills through in-depth reading of texts, films, visual culture and political discourse, and communicating these ideas in discussion, oral and written presentations, and collaborative team-work;
To recognize the key pillars of ongoing critical and theoretical debates in the field of American Studies about cultural responses to identity politics, particularly how these discourses position (trans)national, cultural, racialized, and gendered identities;
To develop students’ independent research skills, by formulating clear research questions and evaluating sources in a contemporary, multimedia environment, through the investigation and research into specific case studies currently under debate;
To recognize cultural and social differences in the U.S. American context, and to understand historical developments and disadvantages in this community from global and comparative perspectives;
To open space for discussion and reflection around students’ own identities, with an eye toward building networks of connection and inclusion.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Participation in discussion online and in weekly seminar (10%)
Oral group presentation (15% group grade + 10% individual grade)
Short written assignments (reading response papers) (15%)
Essay proposal and 4000-4500 word research essay (50%)
Weighing
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
If the final grade is insufficient, only the research essay can be rewritten.
Inspection and feedback
How and when a research review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the grade results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
To be announced.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
All other information.