ENG1506 – American History and Society: An Introduction
Course description
Course content
This course provides an overview of American history, culture, politics, and contemporary society. It traces major developments and changes from the pre-Columbian period to the present. It will introduce you to key themes and concepts within American history and society, including: race, class, gender, ethnicity, regionalism, religion, and domestic and foreign policy. Using a question-driven approach, the course will examine key events and major changes in light of the emergence of the modern USA. You will read primary and secondary sources, which will introduce important ideas and arguments on central themes in American Studies. Topics to be covered in the first part of the course include: the contact and conflicts between North American indigenous peoples and European colonizers, the forming of the American government, regional tensions and slavery, westward expansion, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and World War I. The second part of the course will focus on modern social and political developments. This part will cover the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the Cold War, the rise of modern conservatism and contemporary politics, and recent developments in foreign policy.
The course will give you a foundation for 2000-level courses in American Studies at ILOS.
Learning outcome
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of the critical developments in American history, culture, politics, and society
- analyze historical documents and secondary sources
- in response to prompts/questions, write well-structured, essay-length texts that demonstrate reading comprehension, strong source work, good writing, and robust analysis
- demonstrate skills of problem solving, conceptualization, and work independently and in groups
- analyze ideas and arguments in appropriate academic English
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
The course assumes a good proficiency in written and oral English.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with NORAM1506 – American Civilization, an introduction (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with NORAM1520 – Introduction to American Studies (discontinued).
Teaching
Lectures, 2 hours weekly for 12 weeks—on alternating schedule:?groups with academic staff 2 hours bi-weekly for 5 weeks and groups with learning assistants 2 hours bi-weekly for 5 weeks.
Obligatory activities:
A timed, electronic take-home midterm test that consists of a set of different question types (e.g. multiple choice, short answer, etc.) and a prompt-based writing task. This course requires that references and bibliographic entries be in the?Chicago Manual of Style?(available in?full online?through the library).?Read more here about rules concerning valid excuses and how to apply for postponements.?Information about?guidelines for obligatory activities.?Positive completion of the midterm exam is a qualifying requirement for sitting the final exam.
It is obligatory to attend a minimum of 60% of the teaching. In this course, you have to attend 3 of 5 group meetings with acadmic staff and 3 out of 5 group meetings with learning assistants. The requirement is absolute.
The allowed absence limit will cover all absences, including illness. You will not be granted valid absences with documentation, even when the absence is due to something beyond your control.
If the course has in-person teaching, and you are signed up for an in-person seminar group, you are to attend the teaching in the location found in the schedule.
If the course has digital teaching, and you are signed up for a digital seminar group, you must attend via Zoom with your camera on.
In certain circumstances, i.e. serious or chronic illness, you could apply for special needs accommodations.
Once the course requirements have been fulfilled, they remain valid for the current and the next two semesters that the course is taught.
As a full-time student you are expected to spend at least 12 hours a week studying for this course.
In the weeks with tutorials, two of those hours will be spent in groups with your teacher, two hours are spent attending lectures, and eight hours are free for your own studies. In non-tutorial weeks, two hours are spent attending lectures, while the remaining 10 hours are free for your own studies. These hours should be spent reading, making notes on, and reflecting on the syllabus texts; exploring secondary texts, and preparing to contribute your own viewpoints and ideas to class discussions at the tutorial groups. You may also want to spend some of this time discussing the course material with other students.
You are expected to come prepared to each group session. This means that you have completed the assigned reading, and worked on the exercises posted on Canvas by the teacher ahead of the tutorial itself.
ENG1506 consists of lectures, in which we will address the themes covered by the course, and tutorial groups, which consist mainly of student-driven discussions of exercises relating to the lectures. This means that while you may prefer just to listen in, you should nevertheless be prepared to contribute to discussions throughout the term. The more of your week you spend exploring the syllabus texts yourself (or in conversation with classmates), the more you will get out of the tutorials.
Examination
The form of assessment is a 4-hour written examination.
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.