From its fledgling 18th century beginnings to the present, the United States has been shaped by global forces and, in turn, has shaped the wider world in profound ways. This course explores the United States as a terrain and generator of global encounters. Eschewing the traditional inside / outside binary of domestic and foreign relations histories, the course instead considers border-crossing circulations and situates US history within the composite creation that is the modern world. Students will address these larger thematic concerns through case studies that emphasis interconnected issues of empire, race, labour, consumption, violence, gender, and culture.

10 x weekly 2-hour seminars

None

None

Seminar Presentation (15 min, c. 1,000 words) - 20%

Primary Source Analysis (1,000 words) - 20%

Case Study (3,000 words) - 60%

This course aims to:

■ Analyse the global history of the United States across modern history

■ Assess diverse methodological approaches to US history

■ Evaluate and critique primary and secondary source documentation, so honing their abilities as historians

■ Compose nuanced written and oral arguments about the global dimensions of US history

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Assess and compare the different globalising influences that shaped the United States, and the globalising influences the United States produced

■ Analyse in-depth analysis of a primary sources connected to course themes

■ Identify and evaluate key debates relating to intersections of US and global history

■ interpret current research and communicate it both orally and in writing.

■ Present research findings to peers

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.