Undergraduate Course: History of the United States (HIST08045)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers an introduction to the history of the United States, spanning from the revolutionary era of the eighteenth century through to the twenty-first century. From the creation of the American republic, the course explores the nation's development and challenges it faced over time. |
| Course description |
In exploring key themes in the history of the United States, the course examines: how Americans created a new nation that achieved continental expansion, and how sectional crisis - leading to Civil War - emerged; how norms of race, gender, and class attained entrenchment, and how Americans over time undertook fights for racial, social, and gender equality; how the U.S. government interacted with the wider world, and how - and with what consequences - the United States emerged as a world power; and how the U.S. economy underwent transformation, and how Americans responded to the challenges posed by economic crisis.
The course promotes the development of students' skills (both written and non-written) in historical research and analysis, encompassing critical engagement with both historiographical debates and primary sources.
Content note: The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: the forced removal and genocide of Indigenous people, slavery, lynching, white supremacist violence and attitudes, gun violence, imperialism, and discrimination based on race, gender, and/or sexuality. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
The Historian's Toolkit (HIST08032)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass in any first level course achieved no later than August of the previous academic year.
Students on the Economic History (MA Hons) degree do not require the compulsory pre-requisite 'The Historians' Toolkit'
PLEASE NOTE: The pre-requisite is still compulsory for ALL OTHER DEGREE PROGRAMMES |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate command of a substantial body of historical knowledge
- develop and sustain historical arguments in a variety of literary forms, formulating appropriate questions and utilizing evidence
- demonstrate an understanding of the varieties of approaches to understanding, constructing, and interpreting the past; and, where relevant, knowledge of concepts and theories derived from the humanities and social sciences
- address historical problems in depth, involving the use of contemporary sources and advanced secondary literature
- demonstrate clarity, fluency, and coherence in written and oral expression
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Reading List
The American Yawp, open resource (Stanford, CA, 2020): http://www.americanyawp.com/
Jane Dailey, Building the American Republic, vol. 2: A Narrative History from 1877 (Chicago, 2018): http://buildingtheamericanrepublic.org/
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! An American History (New York, 2005-2020)
Harry L. Watson, Building the American Republic, vol. I: A Narrative History to 1877 (Chicago, 2018): http://buildingtheamericanrepublic.org/ |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr David Silkenat
Tel: (0131 6)50 4614
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Lauren Smith
Tel:
Email: |
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