MA in Comparative American Studies
Overview
The aim of this MA offered by the Institute for the Study of the Americas is for students to develop an understanding of the development of the western hemisphere in the modern era (1750-2000) founded on a multidisciplinary approach and from a comparative perspective. By the end of the programme they should be able to demonstrate a broad empirical knowledge of North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. They should possess an awareness of the general patterns of difference and similarity as well as of the theories that seek to explain those patterns. Students will simultaneously acquire a more specialised discipline-based knowledge of three distinct regions of the hemisphere.
Alongside the development of techniques, skills and knowledge relevant to the interests and research needs of individual students, the programme aims to equip students for both independent research and analysis in primary and secondary material, and writing at an advanced level, thus fostering students’ intellectual development and the independent learning ability required for continuing professional and personal development.
Structure
This programme offers courses in the disciplines of Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Literature, Economics, Geography and Environmental Issues, History, Politics and International Relations, Sociology. The range of course options is made possible by the concentration of academic expertise on the region in the Colleges and Institutes of the University of London .
United States courses:
- Cold War US Foreign Policy
- Politics of US Foreign Policy
- The Rise of the Sunbelt since 1945
- American History on Film
- Cinema and the Conduct of Conduct
- US Presidents and the Presidency
- Post-Cold War US Foreign Policy
- US Economic Policy from the New Deal to Obama
- NeoConservatism: Case Study in US Foreign Policy
- Music of the Americas: Politics, Indigeneity & Performance
- Violence in the American South
- Hollywood Genres
- Poetry, Place and Perception
- Explaining America: Themes in the Histography of the United States
Latin American courses:
- Indian and Peasant Politics in Latin America: Amazonia
- Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
- The Politics of Human Rights in Latin America: Transitional Justice
- The Caribbean from the Haitian Revolution to the Cuban Revolution
- Text, Image and Texture: History and Archaeology in Sixteenth Century Mexico
- Culture and Identity in Brazil Part 1: The Post-Colonial Nation, Slavery and the Indian
- Culture and Identity in Brazil Part 2: Contradictions of Modernity
- Development in Latin America
- Brazil from Independence to the Present
- Democratization in Latin America
- The Politics of Human Rights in Latin America: Challenges of Democratization
- Music of the Americas: Politics, Indigeneity & Performance
- Brazilian Populisum, Culture and the State
- History of Latin America 1880s to 1980s: between Liberalism and Neo-Liberalism
- Brazilian Popular Music Studies
- Latin American Cultural Studies
- Nationalism and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Latin America
Carribean courses:
- Nationalism and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Latin America
- Imagining the Modern Caribbean
- Social Anthropology of the Caribbean
- Politics, Society and Development in the Modern Caribbean
Students select a total of 3 course units (a total of 1.5 c.u. in each of the Autumn and Spring terms) from a group of Latin American, US and Caribbean courses, with at least one course unit from each group. Students write a dissertation of 12,000 words on a topic within the field of the courses.
Assessment
Assessment is both formative and summative and consists of some or all of the following learning strategies: essays, term papers, group and individual seminar presentations, analytical exercises, closed book examinations and a final, 12,000-word dissertation. Assignments are submitted at fixed dates towards the end of November, January, March and May. The examinations are held in May. The dissertation is submitted in early September.
Mode of study
12 months full-time or 24 months part-time.
Part-time students take four term-long courses (or equivalent) in year 1, and the remaining two term-long (or equivalent) courses and the dissertation in year 2.
Fees
2011–12 (subject to uplift in 2012–13):
Full-time Home and EU Master’s students: £4,620
Part-time Home and EU Master’s students: £2,310
Full-time Overseas Master’s students: £12,584
Careers
The hemispheric approach of this degree to the study of the Americas in their totality equips graduates with a skill set and career prospects like no other programme. Graduates will gain an appreciation of not just one nation or region but of a whole hemisphere of the globe, and will able to employ their written and verbal skills in creating and defending arguments and viewpoints to convince and persuade others through engaging intellectual discourse. Such skills are vital to employers in government, international organisations and charities, multi-national companies, policy exchange networks and development organisations. They are equally applicable to further research on the Americas at MPhil/PhD level, or in order to pursue a career in teaching in both the Americas and beyond.
What students say
"I chose to study the MA in Comparative American Studies at the Institute for the Study of the Americas because it is one of the best-regarded places to study the US, Latin America and the Caribbean in the UK, and it’s the only university that offers a Master’s combining all three. The breadth of courses available – covering history, politics, economics and culture throughout the Americas – and the access to such a wide range of resources through the University of London were very attractive.
The multidisciplinary and multi-region approach really encourages a rounded perspective. I took a variety of courses in my first year, researching topics as diverse as defence spending in California, tourism in the Caribbean and Latin American rock music, but I’ve been surprised by how interconnected these subjects can often be! With such diversity, the programme has not only given me the chance to study the issues that first motivated me to do my Master’s, but it has also introduced me to some entirely new, and equally interesting, areas.
I work full-time alongside my studies. It’s challenging, but also very rewarding. The Institute supports part-time students and the tutors are flexible and willing to help. The size of the Institute is another real advantage. Being small, it’s easy to build relationships with fellow students and staff and to feel part of a community.”
Euan Mackay (UK)
