American Studies with a Foundation Year

On this fascinating four-year BA (Hons) degree program, you will have the chance to explore the culture, history and politics of the United States of America, one of the most influential countries in the world.

Tailor this varied and flexible course to suit your interests, whether in American film, music, race, gender, migration and urbanization, social, economic, and military history, terrorism, or civil rights and political protest. This degree program covers the period from colonization through to the recent Trump presidency.

The first year of the course will give you an exciting introduction to higher education and will enable you to explore a range of humanities and social sciences topics including what it means to be human, and history, memory and the creation of identity.

This Foundation Year is ideal if you need a little more support after further education or if you are returning to education after a gap in your studies. You will progress to the three-year degree program in American Studies.

Teaching on this course is informed by our world-leading research and you can attend seminars organised through our guest speaker program. Visiting American professors also offer modules as part of the degree, and with more than 150 American students studying at Swansea each year, you will have access to a ready-made network of contacts with links stretching across the USA.

You will develop a wide range of transferable skills, which are highly valued by employers, including oral, writing and presentation skills, along with expertise across research and problem-solving. Our graduates enter careers in a wide range of sectors ranging from education, marketing and events management to government and research.

Study at Swansea and you’ll be based on our Singleton Campus in parkland overlooking Swansea Bay on the edge of the Gower Peninsular, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Outside of your lectures, you’ll be able to join our student societies including the American Studies Society.

Please visit our course page for more information.
https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/american-studies/ba-american-studies-foundation-year/

During your Foundation Year, you will learn the key skills you’ll need to make your degree a success while developing knowledge of your subject area and how it relates to the humanities and social sciences.

Your first year will include a mixture of compulsory and optional modules, with examples of compulsory modules from recent years including:
• The American Experience 1492-2000
• American Politics and Society
• Introduction to American Literature and Culture

Your second and third years will comprise entirely optional modules from an expansive range of subject areas. Examples of optional modules in recent years have included:
• Race and Ethnicity: American Perspectives
• America in Crisis: Political Culture and Society from the Tet Offensive to Trump
• The Story of the USA on Film and Television, 1865-2008
• Contemporary American Fiction
• The American Civil War in History and Memory

Your final year will include an compulsory independent dissertation project.

For the full programme structure and module breakdown, please visit our webpage at https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/american-studies/ba-american-studies/

We offer a variety of assessment methods within our programmes. In addition to traditional examinations and essays, examples of alternative assessment include:
• Presentations
• Group Work
• Personal Reflection

Throughout your undergraduate American Studies degree, you will develop excellent research and analytical skills and learn to present your ideas effectively both verbally and in writing. For full breakdown of course structure and assessment please visit our course page https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/culture-communication/american-studies/ba-american-studies/ or get in touch with us at study@swansea.ac.uk