UNIVERSITY OF KENT
Confirmation that this version of the module specification has been approved by the School
Learning and Teaching Committee:
4th February 2015 (date)
MODULE SPECIFICATION
1.
Title of the module
EN665 American Studies: Reputations
2.
School or partner institution which will be responsible for management of the
module
The Centre for American Studies
3.
Start date of the module
September 2011
4.
The number of students expected to take the module
30-35
5.
Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and
consultation with other relevant Schools and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
HI559 Extended Essay
6.
The level of the module (e.g. Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or
Postgraduate [M])
I
7.
The number of credits and the ECTS value which the module represents
30 (ECTS 15)
8.
Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn or Spring
9.
Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
EN303 Introduction to American Studies
10. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
American Studies (History)
American Studies (Literature)
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American Studies (Latin America)
American Studies (3 year)
11. The intended subject specific learning outcomes
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
a. read and respond to selected documents, and critical and creative materials related
to major figures, features, and their reputations in the Americas
b. develop interdisciplinary skills to enable comparative analysis of different types of
material and approaches to historical (or literary, or cinematic, etc) events
c. learn to make meaningful critical connections and cross-references between
documents, literature and other media, between different areas of cultural production,
and between the textual and the visual
d. learn to situate and discuss texts in their historical, cultural, and theoretical contexts
related to reputational studies
e. both apply and interrogate critical and theoretical strategies appropriate to
interdisciplinary study
f. develop their ability to identify various different kinds of texts and to analyse these
texts critically
g. develop their ability to situate critical arguments in historical contexts
h. understand and interrogate various critical approaches, theoretical assumptions, and
paradigms
12. The intended generic learning outcomes
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
a. develop their command of written and spoken English and their ability to articulate
coherent critical arguments that underpin these approaches, and the historical
contexts which enabled them
b. develop their ability to carry out independent research
13. A synopsis of the curriculum
This module will focus upon the historical and cultural reputations of a number of
important figures and concepts in American Studies, from Columbian encounter to the
twenty-first century. As well as locating these figures (or alternative subjects such as
places or ideas) in the context of their own times, the module will also assess the
subsequent significance and meaning attached to their lives through the differing
interpretations of scholars, writers, artists, filmmakers and the public. The module’s focus
is on the construction of reputations, using individual subjects as a prism for isolating
distinctive moments in the evolution of American identities and discourses. It will deploy
a variety of documentary sources, visual representations (including artwork and film),
and electronic resources to convey a sense of past individual, national and cultural
identities. It will expose tensions between regional, national, and transnational
understandings of reputation, and the subjects match up with themes explored in EN303.
By using an assessment pattern that insists on engaging multiple viewpoints and
disciplines, the module inculcates transferable skills and serves to prepare students for
their more substantive undertaking in the final year (the interdisciplinary long essay).
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The module is taught via the traditional 2 hour seminar / 1 hour lecture format, with
additional film screenings. As in EN303, the lectures on discrete “reputations” are provided
by a team that straddles discipline and time period, with the seminars devoted to discussing
and exploring the reputational literature, scholarship, and paradigms. Though the list below
may vary according to staff availability, the following figures are among those considered
(linked to EN303 themes):
Field
The Natural Environment
Colonial America
The Early Republic
Romanticism
Civil War Era
The American West
African Americans
Amerindians
Early 20th c.
Cuba / Latin America
Imagined or Built Places
Great White Men
Fictional Icons
Possible Subject for Reputational Study
The Northwest Passage / The Cumberland Gap / The
Rockies / “The Wilderness”
Columbus / Pocahontas / Benedict Arnold / John Adams
Alexander Hamilton / Davy Crockett
Walt Whitman / Herman Melville
John Brown / “The Lost Cause” / Thaddeus Stevens
Bill Cody / Calamity Jane / Wyatt Earp / Custer
Sojourner Truth / Booker T. Washington / Muhammad Ali
Tecumseh / Red Cloud / Chief Joseph / “The Noble
Savage” / The Ghost Dance
Fatty Arbuckle / John D. Rockefeller / William Randolph
Hearst / Leo Franks
Fidel / Che / Malinche / The Haitian Revolution
New York / California / The Mississippi / The Statue of
Liberty / Tenochtitlan / The Twin Towers
“The Presidency” / Andrew Johnson / Ulysses Grant /
Harry Truman / Barack Obama
“The Lone Ranger” / “The Detective Genre” / “American
Gothic”
14. Indicative Reading List
Cubbit, G and Warren, A. eds., 2000. Heroic Reputations and Exemplary Lives.
Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Fine, G.A., 2001. Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept and
controversial. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
An example of a week’s key text
Biography / Context / History
Literature/Music
Film/Artwork/Architecture
Reynolds, David S., 2006.
John Brown, Abolitionist: The
Man Who Killed Slavery,
Sparked the Civil War, and
Seeded Civil Rights. New
York: Vintage Books.
Benet, Stephen Vincent.
1928. John Brown's Body.
Chicago: Elephant
Paperback.
Santa Fe Trail, 1940. [Film]
Directed by Michael Curtiz.
USA: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Wherever possible extracted and supplementary material will be provided in a course
pack.
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15. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours
and the total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to
achievement of the intended module learning outcomes
The module will be taught by ten weekly two-hour seminars and ten one-hour lectures
(11.c-e), with optional film screenings. Two weeks per term are intended as reading and
writing weeks. There will be the opportunity for individual consultation about essays.
Seminars will include opportunities for small group work, informal presentations and free
discussion (11.a-b, 11.f-h, 12.a).
Contact Hours: 30
Total Study Hours: 300
16. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended
module learning outcomes
Assessment will be by coursework and exam (12.a-b). The main assignment is an essay
of 4,000 words on one of the reputational subjects addressed in the course (11.f-h). This
will constitute 45% of the overall module grade and constitute a rounded discussion of
the historical and cultural reputation of its target across different time periods and
among different groups. Two short essays (1,000 words apiece, each worth 10%) on
discrete figures or subjects will engage specifically with particular media and types of
‘text’ (a novel and a film, say), testing students’ disciplinary breadth (11.b-e). Students
will be given a list of questions for all assignments at the start of term (i.e. reputational
questions, and shorter exercises for each on (a) film/artwork/architecture, (b)
literature/music, (c) history/politics/sociology). A two-hour exam in the Summer term will
account for 25% of the module grade, with seminar performance being monitored and
graded for the remaining 10% (11a,c; 12.a).
Both the learning and teaching and the assessment methods relate closely to the
intended learning outcomes, as mapped above. They will encourage student-centred
exploration and discussion of topics through distinct textual and methodological
apparatus, challenging and developing their ability to work across disciplines in both
their essays and exam, and their seminar contributions. Students will develop their
presentation skills (written and spoken) and their capacity for independent research.
17. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Some texts (novels, playscripts, etc) will need to be individually purchased. Other
materials, where possible, will be provided in electronic and/or photocopy form. Films
will be made available through both the Centre and the Library. A printed course reader
might also be offered. The Templeman Library is well supplied with copies of additional
secondary reading.
18. The Centre recognises and has embedded the expectations of current disability
equality legislation, and supports students with a declared disability or special
educational need in its teaching. Within this module we will make reasonable
adjustments wherever necessary, including additional or substitute materials,
teaching modes or assessment methods for students who have declared and
discussed their learning support needs. Arrangements for students with declared
disabilities will be made on an individual basis, in consultation with the University’s
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disability/dyslexia support service, and specialist support will be provided where
needed.
The needs of any students with disabilities will be fully taken into account when planning
the lecture, seminar and screening programmes. As far as can reasonably be
anticipated, the curriculum, learning and teaching methods, and forms of assessment do
not present any non-justifiable disadvantage to students with disabilities.
19. Campus(es) or Centre(s) where module will be delivered:
Canterbury
If the module is part of a programme in a Partner College or Validated Institution, please
complete sections 20 and 21. If the module is not part of a programme in a Partner
College or Validated Institution these sections can be deleted.
20. Partner College/Validated Institution:
21. University School responsible for the programme:
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