AMERICA|HOLLYWOOD|FILM|AMERICAN REVOLUTION|CIVIL WAR|NATIVE AMERICAN|MCCARTHYISM|CIVIL RIGHTS

In recent years, historians of the United States have come to pay increasing attention to feature films as a means of commenting on and interpreting the...

American History in Hollywood Film (HIST0067)

In recent years, historians of the United States have come to pay increasing attention to feature films as a means of commenting on and interpreting the American past. This course will analyse the representation of American historical themes and periods in a selection of Hollywood films. It will involve the close analysis of a number of film texts and the study of critical commentary on the films themselves. Emphasis will be placed on answering the following questions: what is the interpretation of history presented in the film? Does that presentation grow out of or differ from prior historical scholarship? How does critical commentary on the film, both at the time of its release and later, illuminate contemporary historical debates? Does the film itself have any historical consequences? What particular factors, both internal and external to Hollywood itself, contributed to the view of history offered in the film? Does the representation of history in the film accord with traditional or current historical scholarship? Themes and issues to be dealt with in the course include the American Revolution, slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction, Native Americans, immigration and urbanization, problems of the 1920s and 1930s, HUAC and McCarthyism, the civil rights and women’s movements, the war in Vietnam, and the Watergate scandal.

This module is an introduction to comparative politics: the study of domestic politics in different countries. Comparative politics emphasises the similarities...

This module is an introduction to comparative politics: the study of domestic politics in different countries. Comparative politics emphasises the similarities and differences between states' political systems, both as important content about how politics is conducted around the world, and as a method for understanding general political processes. The module will cover formal political institutions and aspects of civil society, public attitudes and political culture, and how they interact to produce political and policy outcomes. Institutional topics include the nature of states and their development, democracy and dictatorship, and variation in democratic institutions and decision-making processes.

The primary objectives of this module are: to introduce students to the variety of political systems around the world, including both in-depth attention to one specific country, and larger scale global trends and cross-national comparisons. The module will also introduce students to core questions in comparative politics, and to the comparative method and subfield within the discipline of political science.

By the end of this module students will:

have an in-depth understanding of the politics of a country other than their own;
	have a broad understanding of the variation in political systems found in different countries worldwide, including regime types, policy-making institutions, and the organisation of political competition;
	understand variation in political culture, attitudes and preferences of individual citizens, and how these affect political outcomes;
	understand how comparison and comparative methods help answer descriptive and causal questions about political phenomena.