American Studies
Course title: American Civilization 2
Code:
NBB_AN110G2
Credits: 2
Type (lecture/seminar/practice/consultation) and number of contact hours: Seminar
Evaluation method (end-term exam mark/ term mark / other): Written exam
Suggested semester:
Frequency of availability:
Language: English
Prerequisites (if any): Description
Aims:
The course takes a close look at the history and evolution of a cultural phenomenon called
American exceptionalism. From the colonial days, throughout the history of the United
States, students will be introduced to the major ideas underlying this concept, its various
meanings and implications. The approach will be that of text study, that is, students will read
a large amount of historical text and will analyze it in the framework of the above mentioned
concept.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: high-level reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course aims to expand
students’ knowledge related to American history, culture, and related areas.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: following information-loaded
presentation, taking notes, summarizing information.
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, historical understanding, comparative
views
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge, enhanced historical understanding of a
different culture, intercultural perspective
Students completing the course will be familiar with a basic aspect of US culture, they will
understand the dynamics of US history, foreign policy, and its related issues.
Course content and schedule:
Week 1: Introduction and Orientation
Week 2: The Puritans
Week 3: The Founding Fathers
Week 4: Manifest Destiny
Week 5: From the Edge to the Center
Week 6: Building an Empire
Week 7: World War I and Wilson
Week 8: Interwar Years and the Shadow of War
Week 9: Spring Break
Week 10: World War II and the New Challenges
Week 11: From Containment to Crusade
Week 12: The Unipolar Moment
Week 13: Summary
Week 14: Exam
Week 15: Evaluation of the course
American Studies
Education management:
Class time: classes are delivered in 90-minute blocs
Venue: B-207
Times
February 2 17:20-18:50
February 9 17:20-18:50
February 16 17:20-18:50
February 23 17:20-18:50
March 1 17:20-18:50
March 8 17:20-18:50
March 15 National Holiday
March 22 17:20-18:50
March 29 Spring Break
April 5 17:20-18:50
April 12 17:20-18:50
April 19 17:20-18:50
April 26 17:20-18:50
May 3 17:20-18:50
May 10 17:20-18:50
Asessment::
Written exam (60% needed to pass the course) without the possibility of a retake exam.
Compulsory reading:
Aside from articles on a weekly basis
Frederick Merk, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History. A Reinterpretation,
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963.
Byron E. Shafer, ed., Is America Different? A New Look at American Exceptionalism,
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.
Deborah L. Madsen, American Exceptionalism, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1998.
Optional reading:
Allen Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, 2006.
Supporting (compulsory/optional) digital materials:
The Internet is rich in material. A preferred site is https://iantyrrell.wordpress.com/papersand-comments/
Person in charge of program:
Person in charge of the course: Zoltán Peterecz, PhD
American Studies
Instructor: Zoltán Peterecz, PhD
Instructor’s office hours: Tuesday 15:30-16:30 (B-213) no appointment needed but
preferred
Preferred contact details: [email protected]
Online communication method: Neptun system
American Studies
Course unit: The history of the United States
1
Code:
NBBAN164K2
Credit points: 2
Type (lecture/seminar/fieldwork/consultation hours) and number of lessons: 13... in the given
semester,
: lecture
Evaluation method (exam/end of course mark/other assessment): oral examination
Suggested semester : 4
Frequency of availability: course is offered on a semester basis
Language: English
Prerequisites (if any):
Description
Aims:
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the most important stages of
the historical development of the United States from the Columbian landfall until the
Reconstruction. (1492-1877). The material to be delivered in a lecture format focuses on
such milestones of American history as the European, African, and Native American strands
of the country’s past, colonial culture and society, the American Revolution, the
Constitutional Convention and the Constitution, the political and economic foundations of
the American Nation, the territorial development of the United States, the causes of the Civil
War, and the Civil War and the Reconstruction.. The course also aims at the formation and
shaping of students’ attitudes to and perspectives of American history. The assessment takes
the form of oral examination.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: advanced reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course will extend student
knowledge related to American history and culture.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: processing presentation material,
note taking, summarizing information.
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge base, transmission of cultural values,
discursive argumentation, intercultural perspective, sensitivity to social and cultural context
Students completing the course will be familiarized with potential methods of resolving
conflicts arising in the multicultural society along with understanding the dynamics of
conflicting historical and social perspectives. At the same time students will improve their
methodological and didactic background for the understanding of American history and
culture.
Course content and schedule
WEEK ONE: The crisis of feudalism, the Reformation and the roots of English colonization
WEEK TWO: The establishment of the colonies
WEEK THREE: Political, economic, ideological, and cultural developments in colonial America
WEEK FOUR: The American Revolution
WEEK FIVE: The Constitutional Convention and the Constitution
WEEK SIX: Challenges of the Early Republic
WEEK SEVEN: The Republican Period and the War of 1812
American Studies
WEEK EIGHT: The National Period
WEEK NINE: The beginning of the Sectional Period
WEEK TEN: The Westward Expansion
WEEK ELEVEN: The slavery crisis
WEEK TWELVE: The Civil War
WEEK THIRTEEN: Course summary
Education management:
Class time: Venue: B-207
Times
Tuesday, 12.45-13.30
Assessment:

oral examination
Compulsory readings:
Bryn O’Callaghan. An Illustrated History of the USA. Longman, 1990.
Mary Beth Norton et al. A People and the Nation. Houghton–Mifflin, Boston, 1996.
George B. Tindall and David E. Shi. America. Norton, New York, 1989.
Optional readings:
Tamás Magyarics and Frank Tibor. Handouts for U.S. History. Panem–McGraw–Hill,
Budapest, 1995.
Melvin I. Urofsky. Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy. USIS, 1994.
Supporting (compulsory/optional) digital materials:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Person in charge of the program: Albert Vermes PhD
Person in charge of the course: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor’s office hours Wednesday 11.00-12.00, Thursday 14.00-15.00 B-215, no
appointment needed
Preferred contact details:[email protected]
On line communication method: Neptun system
American Studies
Course title: Ethnic and minority cultures in
the United States
Code:
NBBAN188G2
Credits : 2
Type: (lecture/seminar/fieldwork/consultation hours) and number of lessons: 26... in the given
semester,
: seminar
Evaluation method (exam/end of course mark/other assessment): end of course mark
Suggested semester (which semester is the course taught in): 5
Frequency of availability: course is offered on a semester basis
Language: English
Prerequisites (if any):
Description
Aims:
The course’s primary objective is the examination of the practical and theoretical aspects of
multiculturalism in the United States. The course focuses on the following topics and issues:
race and ethnicity, stereotyping, theoretical models of multiculturalism, cultural projection,
African-American society and culture, the role of Native Americans in American culture,
Latino cultures, the evolution of the Asian-American community, white ethnic groups from
Central and Eastern Europe. The seminar works with a wide conceptual apparatus while
exploring the central problem: identity formation. The course explores both the scholarly and
human aspects of immigration, the evolution and impact of various stereotypes along with
the dilemma of acculturation and integration.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: advanced reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course will extend student
knowledge related to American history and culture.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: processing presentation material,
note taking, summarizing information. presentations skills
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge base, transmission of cultural values,
discursive argumentation, intercultural perspective, sensitivity to social and cultural context
Students completing the course will be familiarized with potential methods of resolving
conflicts arising in the multicultural society along with understanding the dynamics of
conflicting historical and social perspectives. At the same time students will improve their
methodological and didactic background for the understanding of American culture.
Course content and schedule:
WEEK ONE: Introduction, basic concepts (Crevecoeur: Letters from an American Farmer,)
WEEK TWO: The rise of the multicultural society (Positive and negative aspects of
immigration, Benjamin Franklin, The Chinese Exclusion Act, Madison Grant, Edward Bok)
WEEK THREE: African American society and culture (the slave narrative, Olaudah
Equiano, Frederick Douglass,)
WEEK FOUR: African-American society and culture (Plessy v. Ferguson, Langston
Hughes, LeRoi Jones)
WEEK FIVE: Hispanic society and culture- (“Yo Soy Joaquin”)
WEEK SIX: Hispanic society and culture- (Immigration issues)
WEEK SEVEN: Midterm quiz
WEEK EIGHT: Native Americans (What can we learn from Indians? Images of the Noble
Savage from Pocahontas to Chingachgook)
American Studies
WEEK NINE: Native Americans (What is the reason behind the general popularity of
Indians? Gertrude Bonnin)
WEEK TEN: Asian Americans (Compare the reception and image of Chinese in the United
States and in Hungary, Maxine Hong Kingston)
WEEK ELEVEN: Asian Americans (David Henry Hwang)
WEEK TWELVE: Euro-Americans (white ethnics)
WEEK THIRTEEN: Post-ethnic America (Ferguson 2014 August)
WEEK FOURTEEN: Final quiz
Education management:
Class time: Venue: B-207
Times
Thursday 8.00-9.30
Thursday 11.50-13.20
Assessment:
Course grade will be based on two quizzes and a presentation. The quizzes, or in class tests
will be administered on the 7th week, and the 13th week The seminar grade is the average of
the three partial grades.
Attendance is required.
Presentation: The purpose of the presentation is to introduce the main achievements of a
given minority group not treated in detail during the course.
GERMAN AMERICANS
ITALIAN AMERICANS
HUNGARIAN AMERICANS
VIETNAMESE AMERICANS
ARMENIAN AMERICANS
ARAB AMERICANS
RUSSIAN AMERICANS
THE IRISH
ASIAN INDIANS
CANADIAN AMERICANS
THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE
Length: 15 minutes, required content: brief history of the given group’s American
experience, main achievements, leading representatives, level of acculturation
The presentations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
structure, content, delivery
The seminars utilize the following instructional methodology: co-operative learning,
exploring study questions, project work, and presentation. Each class will have a designated
study question to be explored and discussed. The discussion is based on the knowledge of
the previous session. Since the topic is not exclusively related to American culture as similar
issues can be relevant to the European Union as well, the course will explore the feasibility
of the application of the respective ideas in the European context.
Compulsory reading:
American Studies
Roger Daniels. Coming to America. Harper, 1991.
Lawrence H. Fuchs. The American Kaleidoscope: Race, Ethnicity and the Civic Culture.
Wesleyan UP, Hanover, 1990.
Arthur Mann. “From Immigration to Acculturation.” Ed. Luther S. Luedtke. Making
America: The Culture and Society of the United States. 68–80. USIS, 1990.
Optional reading:
Thomas Sowell. Ethnic Americans. New York, 1981.
Ronald Takaki. A Different Mirror. Norton, New York, 1993.
András Tarnóc: The Dynamics of Multiculturalism: A Model-based Study (2005)
Person in charge of the program: Albert Vermes PhD
Person in charge of the course: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor :
Instructor’s office hours Tuesday 11.00-11.45, Thursday 10.00-11.15 B-215, no
appointment needed
Preferred contact details:[email protected]
On line communication method: Neptun system
American Studies
Course title: Ethnic and minority cultures in
the United States
Code:
NBBAN187K1
Credits: 1
Type: (lecture/seminar/fieldwork/consultation hours) and number of lessons: 13.. in the given
semester,
lecture
Evaluation method (exam/end of course mark/other assessment):: oral examination
Suggested semester (which semester is the course taught in)5
Frequency of availability: course is offered on a semester basis
Language: English
Prerequisites (if any):
Description
Aims:
The course focuses on basically the most crucial aspect of American civilization, that is,
multiculturalism and diversity. The understanding of American culture rests on a thorough
familiarity with the main steps of the evolution of the basic aspects of the color multiculture,
namely the African-American, Chicano/Latino, Native American, Asian-American
components.. The course will provide a summary of the latest research results of this
increasingly diverse and challenging discipline in addition to supplying a roadmap to the
conceptual apparatus of multiculturalism.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: advanced reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course will extend student
knowledge related to American history and culture.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: processing presentation material,
note taking, summarizing information.
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge base, transmission of cultural values,
discursive argumentation, intercultural perspective, sensitivity to social and cultural context
Students completing the course will be familiarized with potential methods of resolving
conflicts arising in the multicultural society along with understanding the dynamics of
conflicting historical and social perspectives. At the same time students will improve their
methodological and didactic background for the understanding of American culture.
Course content and schedule:
WEEK ONE: Introduction, basic concepts (race, ethnicity, culture, discrimination, stereotype,
assimilation, acculturation)
WEEK TWO: The formation of the multicultural society (milestones, Spanish, French, English
colonization efforts, melting pot, salad bowl)
WEEK THREE: African-American society and culture 1619-1865 (the social, cultural, psychological
aspects of slavery, developments of African-American culture, the importance of the slave narrative)
WEEK FOUR: African-American society and culture 1865-1964 (stereotypes. segregation, the Civil
Rights movement)
American Studies
WEEK FIVE: The Hispanic American community (Cuban-Americans, Puerto Ricans)
WEEK SIX: The Hispanic American community (Chicano culture and history)
WEEK SEVEN: Native Americans (the Noble Savage, 1608-1864)
WEEK EIGHT: Native Americans (1864-1980, the Indian Wars, the Vanishing American, the
Indian today)
WEEK NINE: Asian Americans (Historical overview, the Chinese Experience)
WEEK TEN: Asian-Americans(Japanese Americans)
WEEK ELEVEN: Anti-immigrant feelings, nativism, the crisis of the multicultural society
WEEK TWELVE: Euro-Americans ( the Irish, the Hungarians, the Italians)
WEEK THIRTEEN: A post-ethnic society, multiculturalism today
WEEK FOURTEEN: Course summary
Education management:
Class time: classes are delivered in 2 hour blocks
Venue: B-207
Times
Assessment:

oral examination
Compulsory reading:
Roger Daniels. Coming to America. Harper, 1991.
Lawrence H. Fuchs. The American Caleidoscope: Race, Ethnicity and the Civic Culture.
Wesleyan UP, Hanover, 1990.
Arthur Mann. “From Immigration to Acculturation.” Ed. Luther S. Luedtke. Making
America: The Culture and Society of the United States. 68–80. USIS, 1990.
Optional reading:
Thomas Sowell. Ethnic Americans. New York, 1981.
Ronald Takaki. A Different Mirror. Norton, New York, 1993.
András Tarnóc: The Dynamics of Multiculturalism: A Model-based Study (2005)
Person in charge of the program:Albert Vermes PhD
Person in charge of the course: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor:
Instructor’s office hours: Tuesday 11.00-11.45, Thursday 10.00-11.15 B-215, no
appointment needed
Preferred contact details:[email protected]
On line communication method: Neptun system
American Studies
Course title: The history of the United States
Code:
NBBAN168G2
Credits: 2
Type (lecture/seminar/fieldwork/consultation hours) and number of lessons: 13... in the given
semester,
: seminar
Evaluation method: (exam/end of course mark/other assessment): oral examination
Suggested semester (which semester is the course taught in): 5
Frequency of availability: course is offered on a semester basis
Language:English
Prequisites (if any):
Description
Aims:
This seminar running parallel to the lecture aims to provide students with hands-on
experiences with the basic sources and documents of American history between 1877 and
1945. In addition to the delivery of the related content knowledge, the course emphasizes the
development of critical thinking, the acquisition of the basic skills of historical research, and
the application of the latter in the examination and analysis of related documents. The
seminar plans to focus on the following topics: the Gold Rush, the cowboy culture, the
pioneers of the West, the Indian Wars, the immigration process at the end of the nineteenth
century, the political, ideological, and economic foundations of the American Empire, the
influence of World War One on American foreign and domestic policy, the social and
political shifts in the Roaring 20’s, the social and psychological impact of the Great
Depression, and World War Two or the birth of a nuclear superpower. The course also aims
at the formation and shaping of students’ attitudes to and perspectives of American history.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: advanced reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course will extend student
knowledge related to American history and culture.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: processing presentation material,
note taking, summarizing information.
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge base, transmission of cultural values,
discursive argumentation, intercultural perspective, sensitivity to social and cultural context.
Students completing the course will be familiarized with potential methods of resolving
conflicts arising in the multicultural society along with understanding the dynamics of
conflicting historical and social perspectives. At the same time students will improve their
methodological and didactic background for the understanding of American history and
American Studies
culture.
Course content and schedule:
WEEK ONE: The Reconstruction and the beginnings of Modern America
WEEK TWO: The settlement of the Great Plains
WEEK THREE: The New Immigration
WEEK FOUR: The Indian Wars
WEEK FIVE: The American Industrial Revolution
WEEK SIX: The rise of the American Empire
WEEK SEVEN: Midterm quiz
WEEK EIGHT: The Progressive Movement
WEEK NINE: The United States and World War One
WEEK TEN: The United States between the two wars
WEEK ELEVEN: World War Two 1939-1941
WEEK TWELVE: World War Two: 1941-1945
WEEK THIRTEEN: Final quiz
WEEK FOURTEEN: Course summary
Education management:
Class time: classes are delivered in 2 hour blocks
Venue: B-207
Assessment:
Presentation topics:
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Levi Strauss
Madison Grant
George Armstrong Custer
Thomas Edison
Theodore Roosevelt
Leo Frank
John J. Pershing
Warren Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Charles Lindbergh
George C. Patton
Course grade will be based on two quizzes and a presentation. The quizzes, or in class tests
will be administered on the 7th week, (the week of November 2) and the 13th week (the week
of December 14) The seminar grade is the average of the three partial grades.
Attendance is required.
American Studies
Components of presentation:
Biography of the given historical figure
Main achievements
Legacy
Illustrations, teaching materials
Length of presentation: 15 minutes.
The presentation should be more of a teaching exercise, involving the class, providing
opportunities for participation, creativity is welcome
The presentations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
structure, content, delivery.
The seminars utilize the following instructional methodology: co-operative learning,
exploring study questions, project work, presentation evaluation. Each class will have a
designated study question to be explored and discussed. The discussion is based on the
knowledge of the previous session.
Compulsory reading:
Bryn O’Callaghan. An Illustrated History of the USA. Longman, 1990.
Mary Beth Norton et al. A People and the Nation. Houghton–Mifflin, Boston, 1996.
George B. Tindall and David E. Shi. America. Norton, New York, 1989.
Optional reading:
Tamás Magyarics and Frank Tibor. Handouts for U.S. History. Panem–McGraw–Hill,
Budapest, 1995.
Melvin I. Urofsky. Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy. USIS, 1994.
Supporting (compulsory/optional) digital materials:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Instructor responsible for the program:Albert Vermes PhD
Instructor responsible for the course: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor: Zoltán Peterecz PhD
Instructor’s office hours Tuesday 11.00-11.45, Thursday 10.00-11.15 B-215, no
American Studies
appointment needed
Preferred contact details:[email protected]
On line communication method: Neptun system
American Studies
Course title: The history of the United States
Code:
NBBAN167K2
Credits: 2
Type (lecture/seminar/fieldwork/consultation hours) and number of lessons: 13... in the given
semester,
: lecture
Evaluation method: (exam/end of course mark/other assessment): oral examination
Suggested semester (which semester is the course taught in): 5
Frequency of availability: course is offered on a semester basis
Language:English
Prequisites (if any):
Description
Aims:
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the most important stages of
the historical development of the United States from the Reconstruction until World War
Two (1877-1945). The material to be delivered in a lecture format focuses on such
milestones of American history as the economic and political foundations of modern
America, the New West, the New South, the Progressive Movement, the development of the
American Empire, the U.S. and World War One, the U.S. between the two world wars, the
Great Depression, and the U.S. and World War Two. The course also aims at the formation
and shaping of students’ attitudes to and perspectives of American history. The assessment
takes the form of an oral examination.
Competences to develop:
Knowledge and skills to be utilized during instruction: advanced reading comprehension,
summarizing and processing content-related information. The course will extend student
knowledge related to American history and culture.
The course helps students to improve the following skills: processing presentation material,
note taking, summarizing information.
Attitudes, values to be improved: critical thinking, multicultural sensitivity
Learning outcomes: improved subject knowledge base, transmission of cultural values,
discursive argumentation, intercultural perspective, sensitivity to social and cultural context
Students completing the course will be familiarized with potential methods of resolving
conflicts arising in the multicultural society along with understanding the dynamics of
conflicting historical and social perspectives. At the same time students will improve their
methodological and didactic background for the understanding of American history and
culture.
Course content and schedule:
WEEK ONE: The rise of the New South and the New West (the emergence of modern America)
WEEK TWO: Society and politics in the post-Civil War years (City life, social movements, the
Progressive Movement, Theodore Roosevelt)
WEEK THREE: The birth of the American empire (foundations, ideological and political
developments, Spanish-American War)
WEEK FOUR: America and the Great War (European background, causes of American entry,
economic, political impact at the home front, the Paris peace talks)
American Studies
WEEK FIVE: America in the 1920s (The League of Nations, the Red Scare, social and cultural
developments)
WEEK SIX: The road to the Great Depression (the presidencies of Harding, Coolidge, Hoover,
economic developments)
WEEK SEVEN: The Great Depression 1932-1935 (the first 100 days, Alphabet Soup, the Social
Security Act)
WEEK EIGHT: The Great Depression: 1935-1941 (Court Packing, minorities, saving capitalism)
WEEK NINE: The United States and World War Two (political developments between the two wars,
from neutrality to Pearl Harbor
WEEK TEN: The United States and World War Two (entry in the war, the European front, island
hopping, the home front, concluding the war)
WEEK ELEVEN: The post-war years (demobilization, the beginning of the Cold War, the Berlin
Airlift, the Marshall Plan, the Nuremberg Trials)
WEEK TWELVE: The post-war years (social and political developments at home)
WEEK THIRTEEN: Course summary
Education management:
Class time: classes are delivered in 2 hour blocks
Venue: B-207
Assessment:

oral examination
Compulsory reading:
Bryn O’Callaghan. An Illustrated History of the USA. Longman, 1990.
Mary Beth Norton et al. A People and the Nation. Houghton–Mifflin, Boston, 1996.
George B. Tindall and David E. Shi. America. Norton, New York, 1989.
Optional reading:
Tamás Magyarics and Frank Tibor. Handouts for U.S. History. Panem–McGraw–Hill,
Budapest, 1995.
Melvin I. Urofsky. Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy. USIS, 1994.
Supporting (compulsory/optional) digital materials:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
Instructor responsible for the program:Albert Vermes PhD
Instructor responsible for the course: András Tarnóc PhD
Instructor: Zoltán Peterecz PhD
American Studies
Instructor’s office hours Tuesday 11.00-11.45, Thursday 10.00-11.15 B-215, no
appointment needed
Preferred contact details:[email protected]
On line communication method: Neptun system