NORAM4550 – Theory and Method in North-American-studies

Course content

This course is both theoretical and practical.

The course will give a relatively broad theoretical and methodological introduction to the field of American Studies. The course is concerned with the historical development of the field, its current status and future prospects. We note that American Studies as practiced within the United States differs from that practiced in Norway and Europe generally—and while we will concentrate on its American iterations, the Norwegian context will also be considered. Critical to these differences is the  institutionalization and more recent deinstitutionalization of the field. Studying America in Europe has always been linked to the rising importance of the United States in international affairs, particualrly after the Second World War and has been tied as well to development of English as a global lingua franca, while the current de-emphasis of American Studies reflects a widespread belief in a postnational paradigm, multiculturalism and the rise of “global English.”

Part of the purpose of reviewing the instituional history is to emphasize the extent to which knowledge is made for specific purposes; in this respect American Studies in Europe reflects much about American-European relations and European attitudes toward the United States, while the development and re-iterations of American Studies in the United States says much about what Americans think about themselves.

In other respects the development of the American Studies field parallels recent developments in the humanities. We discuss  the rise of hermeneutics, post-colonialism, race, gender and Cultural Studies, as well as more recent turns in technology-and-culture studies, environmental studies and political theory. We will read both theoretical pieces arguing over what American Studies is or should be, as well as essays or excerpts from books that provide different models and methods for how to do American Studies.

The course serves as an important link to your thesis work because for perhaps the first time you will be entering into a meta-discourse about the way knowledge is created and structured, a process that shapes the sorts of question we ask when conducting research. In short, you will move beyond the particular subject matter of American Studies courses to examine the methods aand theories that lie behind the courses and the field itself.

In addition to two short informal and ungraded papers in the course of the semester, you will produce a 10 page “position paper” describing your research project (master oppgave), analyzing it through the literature of the field you have been introduced to in this course, and spelling out your research questions.

Thi paper may also be presented separately to your thesis director as a thesis prospectus.

Learning outcome

Upon completion of the course you will have:

  • Acquired the following skills necessary for writing your thesis. You will:
  • Understand the differences between research and other forms of text writing;
  • Know the difference between primary and secondary sources, and the ways each can be used in research;
  • Learned how to find and assess the scholarly literature and debates on a topic;
  • Have the ability to critically analyze academic arguments;
  • Understand how to formulate fruitful problem statements and hypotheses;
  • Know how to apply proper scholarly ethics;
  • Acquired the skills to write a project outline for your thesis;
  • Acquire the skills to write a full prospectus for your thesis.
  • Gained an understanding of the field of North American Area Studies. You will have:
  • Acquired the skills necessary for understanding the epistemology of relevant academic models and theories i