North American Culture

Code:

MEAAM004

Acronym:

CNA

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	North American Studies

Instance: 2022/2023 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Anglo-American Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MEAA	13	MEAA - Study Plan	1	-	6	45	162

Teaching language

English

Objectives

The aim of this programme is to study the myths, themes, the historical moments and happenings which are most representative of American culture and history. Students should be aware of the importance of decisive American cultural and regional myths as well as they should understand and problematize both themes of the American culture and the daily life as well as the place of some minorities in the history and the life of the United States aiming, thus, a better understanding of the way the idea of "America" as well as regionalists visions have been built and ideologically maintained through times. 

Learning outcomes and competences

Students should be aware of the importance of decisive American cultural and regional myths as well as of the minorities history for a better understanding of the way the idea of "America" has been daily built and mantained.

Working method

Presencial

Program

To lead students to a reflection and questioning about central aspects inherent in American cultural and historical plurality, it will be made references to occurrences, texts and concrete moments of the past and the present of the United States.  ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN by Mark Twain and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD by Richard Yates will be also problematized with the aim of questioning myths, behaviors and dominant themes in the context of American culture. Thus, this programme will focus on the following aspects:The invention of “America” and "the civil religion in America"; the journey; the utopian vision;cultural myths in the history and in the daily and cultural life of the United States; Regions and Regionalism; the South as " Other Land"; the Civil War and the nation; the living experiences of the new modern industrial nation-state towards the "American Century" and the "Pax Americana";the "Civil Rights Movement" and the cultural minorities in The United States.

Mandatory literature

Mark Twain; Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Richard Yates; Revolutionary Road

Comments from the literature

Bibliography will be advised during the course

Teaching methods and learning activities

The first five sessions will integrate active teaching contributions from the seminar leader aiming to develop important theoretical and historical fields which are most representative of American culture and history. These sessions also aim to refer and problematize theses and readings of canonical conceptions on the deep roots of an American identity and character. Students will be required to contribute actively and regularly to the seminar in the next sessions. They will be expected to make presentations on distributed and oriented themes, which will be also discussed by all students under the teacher's guidance. Students will be evaluated through their active participations and through their presentations.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	50,00
Prova oral	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	120,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Trabalho de investigação	12,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Students are expected to attend at least 2/3 of the seminar sessions

Calculation formula of final grade

Weighted average of the results : a) Active participation in seminar sessions 50% b) Oral work 50%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable

Classification improvement

Not applicable

Observations

Language of instruction: English