HIST127-23S2 (C) Semester Two 2023

American History

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 July 2023
End Date: Sunday, 12 November 2023
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 30 July 2023
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 1 October 2023

Description

The history of British America and the US from 1492 to the present.

This course offers a survey of the history of the United States from its origins as a British colony in the New World through to the end of the twentieth century.  It provides students with a framework for understanding the key themes and problems in the development of what was an unprecedented experiment in modern times of a democratic republic and in its rise to the status of a world power.  It is a history rich in paradox, with episodes of tragedy and violence, feats of human ingenuity and courage, and tensions both productive and destructive. Political, social, economic and cultural threads are woven together in exploring the history of a diverse nation and its people.  HIST127 traces American history from the first settlers to the present day.  It examines major themes and events in American history, with a particular focus on European expansion and the role of the United States, its politics and people, in Atlantic and World contexts.

Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate:
  • A broad overall knowledge of American History in a world-historical context.
  • Some demonstrable increase in creative, communicative and collaborative skills.
  • Ability to analyse the major events explored in the course with a view to answering questions about causation, human agency, and pivotal moments.
  • Some awareness of differences among historians in approaching key topics.
  • Some ability to connect facts and dates and personages to the larger questions about the relation of Americans’ experience to modern history.
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Restrictions

HIST119, HIST120, AMST127

Equivalent Courses

AMST127

Course Coordinator

Peter Field

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Essay One 20%
Essay Two 25%
Tutorials 20%
Final Exam 35% Two Hours


Please check the course Learn page for further details and updates.

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Field, P.S; The Paradox of Freedom ;

Course links

Library portal

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Two lectures a week and one tutorial on the following topics: European expansion into the Atlantic, African slavery in the Americas, the first British empire, American independence, the origins of constitutional democracy, antebellum politics and society, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the rise of industrialisation, American imperialism, Progressivism, the World Wars and the nuclear age, the Vietnam war, and the social crises of the 1960s.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $821.00

International fee $3,750.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Humanities .

All HIST127 Occurrences

  • HIST127-23S2 (C) Semester Two 2023