American studies
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American studies
Essentials
Courses
BA (Hons) in American Studies
BA (Hons) in American Studies and English
BA (Hons) in American Studies and Film Studies
BA (Hons) in American Studies and History
BA (Hons) in American Studies and Politics
LLB (Hons) in Law with American Studies (p102)
A levels and IB scores
(For other qualifications information, refer to pages
144-146)
Typical A level offer range: AAB-ABB
For American Studies and English, A levels (or
equivalent) must include English Literature or
the combined A level in English Language and
Literature or the A level in Creative Writing,
normally at grade A
Typical IB diploma offer: at least 34 points
For American Studies and English, 34 points
including 6 in Higher Level English
Scholarships, fees and living costs
Refer to pages 151-154 and visit
www.sussex.ac.uk/study/money
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with not less than 6.0 in each
section. Pearson’s Test of English (Academic) with
62 overall with at least 56 in all four skills. For
alternative English language requirements, refer
to page 146
Contact us
American Studies, Arts A7,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9QN, UK
E [email protected]
T +44 (0)1273 678001
F +44 (0)1273 678434
www.sussex.ac.uk/americanstudies
Open Days
Our Open Day dates for 2015 are 27 June,
5 September and 3 October. We also run regular
campus tours. Call 01273 876787 or book
online at www.sussex.ac.uk/visitors
Why American studies?
The United States (US) remains a superpower
in the 21st century. Its political, economic and
cultural power affects us all, from the way we
dress, to the music we listen to, to the way we
understand our increasingly interconnected
world. To understand fully how pervasive and
important the influence of the US is, American
studies offers you the opportunity to think across
disciplines and genres – from politics to history,
literature to film studies, and beyond.
Career paths
Recent graduates have taken up a wide range
of posts with employers including: account
executive, Bottle PR • search engine consultant,
GO Optimisation • international reporter,
Newsweek Magazine • student recruitment
assistant, University of Sussex • intern,
Jacqui Small Imprint, Aurum Press • market
researcher, Synovate • television production
assistant, Edit Store • public programmes
assistant, Towner, the contemporary art
museum • foreign rights assistant, A P Watt.
Why American studies at Sussex?
• In The Times and Sunday Times Good
University Guide 2015 American studies at
Sussex was ranked 3rd in the UK. We were
also ranked 3rd in the UK in The Complete
University Guide 2015, and 5th in the UK in
The Guardian University Guide 2015. In the
2014 National Student Survey (NSS), our
students rated American studies at Sussex
4th among comparable UK institutions for
satisfaction with personal development.
Specific employer destinations listed are taken
from recent Destinations of Leavers from Higher
Education surveys, which are produced annually
by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
•Y
ou are taught by an international faculty and
the interdisciplinary nature of our courses
means our graduates find work in a range of
fields including media, politics and publishing.
•W
e have one of the best Study Abroad
programmes in the UK. With over 40 exchange
partners across the US and Canada, you can
spend your year abroad in Brooklyn, New York;
Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Washington, DC;
Miami, Florida; Vancouver, British Columbia;
Fairbanks, Alaska; and many other exciting
places.
Courses
How will I learn?
• you participate in lectures and seminars on
American history, literature and culture from the
colonial era through to the present day
• during your year abroad, you live and study in an
American or Canadian university or college, and
adapt to the teaching and test methods used in
your chosen institution
• you participate in small seminar groups
and work one-on-one with faculty on your
specialised dissertation topic.
Also refer to pages 32-36.
What will I achieve?
• t he ability to think across disciplinary fields –
from African-American history to avant-garde
film, from colonial-era politics to hip hop – in
order to understand how American culture,
history, literature and society resonate across
the world
• t he skills to communicate independently and
clearly
• t he independence and invaluable educational,
cultural and social perspectives gained through
a year abroad in the US or Canada.
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Our courses prepare you for employment in
fields such as political administration, teaching,
television and film production, finance and
industry, public relations, and broadcast and
print media journalism.
Sophie’s
student perspective
‘When I was applying to universities I was most
drawn to Sussex’s American Studies and English
joint-honours course. The course particularly stood
out because it guaranteed a year abroad in North
America for all students.
‘The diverse nature of the course allowed me to study
English literature, American literature, and American
history and culture. Through a mixture of lectures
and seminars you’re able not only to read and listen
but also to actively participate in your learning.
There’s a wide range of choice within your studies
and in my second year I chose to focus on modernist
writing and art, and women’s rights in America.
‘During my year abroad at the University of California,
Berkeley, there was still more flexibility. The privilege
of studying at one of the best universities in the
world encouraged me to make the most of every
opportunity, taking some fantastic courses, joining
several societies, and becoming an editor for The
Berkeley Undergraduate Journal.
‘I really believe that Sussex was the right choice
for me. I’ve been able to learn from inspiring
lectures at both Sussex and Berkeley and
believe that my experiences over the last four
years have allowed me to broaden my views and
opinions and develop my plans for the future.’
Sophie Kennedy-Cooke
BA in American Studies and English
Single-honours course: you take American
studies core modules and choose
complementary options
Joint-honours courses: in Years 1 and 2, you
take core modules in both your subjects. In
your final year, you choose specialised options
from both subjects for in-depth study
Major/minor course: if American studies is
your minor subject, you take American studies
interdisciplinary modules in the first two years,
so that you are well prepared for your year
abroad
Year 1
You take a range of modules. Introduction
to American Studies provides you with the
methodological framework to think across
disciplines, while related modules introduce
you to the history, politics, visual culture
and literature of the Americas. Historically
speaking, your studies traverse America
from Columbus’s encounter of the ‘New
World’ in 1492 to the counterculture of the
1960s to 9/11. Literary and cultural texts –
including John Winthrop’s Puritan sermons,
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and Harriet
Jacobs’s slave narratives – are essential
documents for enriching your understanding
of the Americas
Lecture series, combined with conversationled and student-centred seminars, provide
a comprehensive introduction to American
studies. You can also choose options in
complementary subjects such as cultural
studies, English, film studies, history, media
and communications or politics
Year 2
You take a number of modules, some focus on
New Orleans, where you explore the roots of
jazz music, Mardi Gras and creole culture and
others focus on New York City, where you can
experience the Big Apple by analysing Frank
Sinatra’s dulcet crooning, Martin Scorsese’s
vicious and beautiful Gangs of New York, or Piri
Thomas’s hard-scrabble memoir Down These
Mean Streets. Literature modules include Pulp
Culture, where you trace how the bestseller
emerged in America by examining 19th-century
hits such as Little Women and Uncle Tom’s
Cabin and the detective novel. History modules
include a survey of the turbulent black freedom
struggle in the US from the end of slavery to
the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and
the election of Barack Obama in 2008, and a
study of how the American Civil War has been
remembered and forgotten since 1865
Year 3
Individual study programme on the year
abroad, chosen in consultation with your
Sussex tutors
American studies
Core content
Sussex Choice
Broaden your studies, develop your interests and gain
a valuable career edge with Sussex Choice. Look out
for the icons:
electives or pathways (details on page 35)
study abroad opportunities (details on page 36)
American Studies
BA (Hons), 4 years UCAS Code: T700
This degree offers you the opportunity to
develop your knowledge of the US, focusing on
American literature, history and culture in a global
context. Beginning with an analysis of Columbus’s
journey to America and the literature and politics
of the colonial era, you move chronologically from
the 18th to the 21st century to determine how
and why America continues to cast its influence
so widely across the world.
Along the way, you learn about the Constitutional
Assembly, the slave trade, the American Civil
War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the
Harlem Renaissance, and the Beat Generation –
even the birth of punk rock in New York City.
Refer to Core content on the left.
American Studies and English
BA (Hons), 4 years UCAS Code: TQ73
This degree offers you the opportunity to study
the literature of the Americas and England. You
learn what the relationship is between British
romanticism and American transcendentalism,
the debts American poets like Allen Ginsberg
owed to British poets like William Blake, and how
American literature more generally was born out
of American writers’ engagements and arguments
with their literary colonial counterparts. You
consider a broad range of genres and forms
including poetry, drama, slave narratives,
autobiography, the novel and the short story.
Refer to Core content on the left; also refer to the
English subject area on page 80.
American Studies and Film Studies
BA (Hons), 4 years UCAS Code: TP73
On this course you gain insight into the history,
literature and culture of the US in the context of
the Americas and, in addition, you learn to read
visual images on film and study the cinematic
experience. You are introduced to crucial films
from D W Griffith’s Birth of a Nation to Andy
Warhol’s Blow Job, stopping along the way to
study popular films by directors including Busby
Berkeley as well as committed avant-gardists like
Stan Brakhage.
You gain a critical understanding of film as an
art form and as a mode of cultural and social
mediation. You learn about Hollywood as an
industry, track the development of the ‘star
system’ and are introduced to a diverse range of
filmmaking contexts from across the globe.
American studies trains you to critically analyse
American literature, history and culture –
you learn about the Beat Generation, the Civil Rights
Movement and the birth of punk rock in New York City
American Studies and History
BA (Hons), 4 years UCAS Code: TV71
This degree combines the study of British,
European and comparative history with
specialised study of the US in the wider context
of the Americas. You work across a range of
disciplines and historical periods. Reaching
back to the historical past to understand our
contemporary moment, you learn about cultural
and political events including the American
Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the
international slave trade, the Allied powers’ efforts
against the Nazi machine, and Senator Joseph
McCarthy’s anti-Communist ‘witch hunts’.
Refer to Core content on the left; also refer to the
history subject area on page 91.
American Studies and Politics
BA (Hons), 4 years UCAS Code: TL7F
This degree focuses on understanding both the
development of key transnational political ideas
including representative democracy, Marxism
and monarchy, and of political institutions and
political change in a comparative context. As
such, this course bridges social science research
approaches and the humanities.
Refer to Core content on the left; also refer to the
politics subject area on page 127.
Refer to Core content on the left; also refer to the
film studies subject area on page 84.
Year 4
An important part of your work in your final
year involves writing a dissertation on a topic
of your choice, with one-to-one supervision
sessions. Dissertations can be as various as
writing a cultural history of the Poetry Slam,
the political influence of the Ku Klux Klan in
present-day Louisiana, labour struggles in
upstate New York, or a study of Buddhism’s
influence on Jack Kerouac’s poetry and
poetics. You also choose options from a
range of specialist modules including Recent
American Writing, Immigrant America, and
Special Author courses on writers such as
Herman Melville, John Ashbery and Henry
James
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