MODULE SPECIFICATION

Code: UPHPKW-30-3 Title: From Cold War to Crime War: U.S. History, 1945-the present

Version: 5

Level: 3 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15

Module type: Standard

Owning Faculty: Social Sciences and Humanities Field: History

Faculty Committee approval: QSC, Chair’s Action Date: 16th July 2009

Approved for Delivery by:

(indicate name of affiliated institution if module will only be delivered by them)

Valid from: September 2009 Discontinued from:

Contributes towards: Awards up to BA(Hons)

Pre-requisites: None

Co-requisites: None

Entry requirements:

(if the module is offered as CPD or stand alone, indicate the entry requirements)

Excluded combinations: None

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate:

1. an understanding of the nature of modern U.S. domestic policy (assessed through all components of assessment);

2. an understanding of the nature of key U.S. institutions, such as the presidency and congress in the Cold War era (assessed through all components of assessment);

3. a familiarity with changes in the nature of American liberalism and conservatism during the Cold War era (assessed through all components of assessment);

4. the ability to use appropriate evidence to support conclusions and to communicate thinking on the issues raised during the course in a variety of ways:

    a) orally during assessed seminars (assessment Component B, Element 1)

    b) in writing under controlled conditions (assessment Component A, Element 1)

    c) In writing under uncontrolled conditions (assessment Component B, Element 2)

Syllabus outline:

From the Second World War American priorities were reorganised around issues of national and international security. This module aims to analyse major problems in United States history from the early post-Second World War period to the present. It focuses on three main themes:

1) the role of the federal government in issues of class, race and gender;

2) the changing nature of American liberalism and conservatism ;

3) political scandal and the growth of presidential power.

Teaching and learning methods:

This module will be delivered through Informal lectures and assessed seminars. Emphasis will be placed upon historiography and the analysis of documentary material.

Indicative Reading List:

H. Brogan,

The Penguin History of the USA (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1999).

D. Caute,

The Great Fear: The Anti-Communist Purge under Truman and Eisenhower (London: Secker and Warburg, 1978).

T. Draper,

A Very Thin Line: The Iran-Contra Affair, (New York: Touchstone, 1991).

R. Fried,

Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective (London: Oxford University Press, 1991).

R. Griffith,

Major Problems in American History Since 1945, (Lexington, D.C. Heath, 2000).

M. Harrington,

The Other America (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1971).

R. Kennedy,

Thirteen Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis (London: Macmillan, 1969).

J. Lukas,

Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years (New York: Viking, 1974).

J.T. Patterson,

Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974, (London: Oxford University Press, 1996).

A. Theoharis

J. Edgar Hoover and the Great Amercan Inquisition (New York: Bantam Books, 1990).

Assessment

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules at levels 0-3 only) A: 60% B: 40%

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 60%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Assessed seminar and written report (1,500 words) 15%

2. Essay (2,500 words) 25%

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 60%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay ( 2000 words) 20%

2. Essay (2000 words) 20%

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT Attendance at taught classes is required.

Specification confirmed by …………………………………………………Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)

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