ENG2534 – American Politics – Contemporary and Historical Perspectives
Course description
Course content
This course focuses on both contemporary and historical?national politics, including ideological conflicts and political ideas within the institutional framework and practices of the American system, including - the federal structure, the presidency, election procedures, political parties, Congress and the courts..
The course is topical in character, but regardless of the specific topic, broader institutional patterns as well as moments of fracture, dislocation and change will be considered. Explanatory paradigms include the role of ideas and ideologies, the influences of the media sphere, changing or clashing definitions of American identity(ies), the politics of symbolism, as well as the impact of geographical divergence (regionalism), social change and economic stress.
?
Semester topic, Spring 2026:
"Studying with the $10 Founding Father": Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of American Independence
Course content
Set against the broad framework of the Transatlantic Enlightenment of the 18th and early 19th century, this seminar will introduce students to the ideological origins, philosophical principles, and socio-cultural peculiarities of the defining period in U.S. national culture: the American Revolution and the Early Republic.
Since the founding fathers and their founding (con)texts have been mythologized into a ‘national religion’, which enjoys the highest levels of sanctity in the collective memory of Americans, it will be the students’ task to dispel the dominant myths about this period. Students will do so by contextualizing the historio-cultural discourses of the Revolution and the Early Republic along with the discourses of myth and cultural memory as they have been (re)shaping the cultural memory and popular representations of the American national genesis.
As the 250th anniversary of American independence is framed and policed by reactionary political powers as well as ideologically motivated whitewashing that is aimed at glorifying and simplifying the founding period again, this seminar will instead embrace the American Revolution as inherently complex, diverse, and, crucially, incomplete/unfinished.
To that end, students will access, critically read and contextualize key primary sources as well as secondary sources that have charted the changing historiography of the American Revolution via the cult phenomenon that is Hamilton: An American Musical (2015) and the socio-didactic labors it marshalled.
?
Learning outcome semester topic spring 2026
Upon having a) regularly attended and actively co-created the seminar, b) contributed 1-2 obligatory in-class "performances", and c) successfully compiled the examination portfolio, students will have developed a synoptic and critical understanding of the American Revolution as a historical process whose effects continue to register in the present.
Students will be knowledgeable in and conversant with intersectional historiography while also having gained first-hand, practical experience at critically reading and contextualizing cultural artifacts/texts.
Learning outcome
After completing this course, you:
- will have developed a critical and synoptic understanding of American political processes and political history;
- will be able to demonstrate firm command in identifying and discussing the principal elements that constitute the American federal system, the power structures that undergird them, and pertinent historical as well as historiographic developments/changes;
- will know how to access and appropriately dissect media reports about political events/developments in both historical and contemporary contexts;
- will have intimately engaged with specific historical eras/issues/themes/fault lines in American politics by way of primary sources/artifacts and/or representational media forms;
- will have practiced interpersonal communication and presentation skills by way of serving as peer co-creators of the seminar;
- will have acquired first-hand experience at applying the tools of Critical Discourse Analysis to specific cultural "texts"/artifacts, refining their media literacy skills in the process;
- will have developed intermediate reading/viewing/listening, conceptualizing, and writing skills to conduct self-directed research within specific historical and/or thematic contexts;
- will be able to appropriately dissect and assess primary as well as secondary sources with a view to making use of them for developing thesis/observation-driven written work.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
It is recommended that you have taken ENG1506 - American History and Society: An Introduction or similar courses - or to acquire such knowledge during the course of the semester through background reading. The course assumes good reading and writing skills in English.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with NORAM2580 – American Intellectual and Political History (discontinued).
- 10 credits overlap with ENG4534 – American Politics.
Teaching
Seminars, 2 hours per week for 12 weeks. 24 hours in all.
Obligatory activities and duties:
- Students will be required to contribute 1-2 obligatory in-class "performances" (e.g. explicator talks, guided readings/viewings, student-led text dissections, flipped classroom activities, peer-expert talks, peer-led class takeovers, or similar) which may be tackled individually, in pairs and/or in small groups.?Read more here about rules concerning valid excuses and how to apply for postponements. Information about?guidelines for obligatory activities.
- The in-class "performances" are, in part, tied to written deliverables (e.g. bibliographic work, an annotated bibliography, a text-/artifact-based reflection paper, a video essay, a podcast episode, a written research guide, a companion handout/one sheet, a poster, etc.) which, taken together, constitute the examination portfolio.
- Students are required to attend a minimum of 60% of the teaching, i.e., in this course they have to be present in 7 of 12 seminars. The requirement is absolute.
The allowed absence limit will cover all absences, including illness. You will not be granted valid absences with documentation, even when the absence is due to something beyond your control.
In certain circumstances, i.e. serious or chronic illness, you could apply for special needs accommodations.
All obligatory activities must be approved for you to sit the exam. Approved obligatory activities are only valid the semester you attend the course.
Examination
The exam form is a multi-part portfolio of approx. 12-14 pages (+/- 10%; note: a standard page consists of 2,300 characters). Any extant references and bibliography do not count toward the overall page count of the portfolio.
The specific topics/scope of the deliverables that make up the examination portfolio are to be developed by students themselves in consultation with the course lecturer. The course lecturer may also provide a range of pre-defined topic areas within which students will then develop and complete specific tasks.
Students are required to successfully complete the obligatory in-class performances in order to qualify for the final written component of the portfolio (e.g. a research report, a reflection paper, a text-based review essay, or similar).
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
For those who want to retake their exam: Since the form of assessment in this course is a portfolio, you must follow the seminars and write a new paper in order to qualify. Admission depends on capacity.
A portfolio or equivalent that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.