Participation in class is required. Classroom material is pensum.
Introductory discussions of theory and purpose of research in AmSt:
Gary B. Nash, Charlotte Crabtree, Ross E. Dunn: History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past., 2000. NY: Vintage Books. (277pp).
T. V. Reed, 'Theory and Method in American/Cultural Studies: A Bibliographic Essay,'http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/tm/bib.html
Websites: Know what is available through these
- http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/
- http://www.hf.uio.no/iba/amciv/
- http://www.loc.gov
- http://www.usa.no
- http://www.firstgov.gov
- www.google.com and other basic web search engines
Library Sources: Know how to use these
- BIBSYS
- Library of Congress
- America: History and Life (cd-rom/bound library index)
- Social Science Citation Index (ISI)
- ERIC and other specific databases
- Book Review Digest
- Book Review Index
- Historical Abstracts
Organizations: Familiarize yourself with these
- ASANOR
- NAAS
- EAAS
- ASA
- OAH
- AHA
Journals: Familiarize yourself with these
- American Quarterly
- American Studies in Scandinavia
- Journal of American History
- American Historical Review
- other subject appropriate journals
Writing: ALL students should own these
- MLA Handbook OR Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
- Strunk & White, The Elements of Style
- Dorothy Burton Sk?rdal, Rules for Writing English. (Available at kopiutsalget, Akademika.)
Compendium NORAM4500 Metodekurs, studieretning Nord-Amerika, program for europeiske og amerikanske studier
Available at Kopiutsalget, Akademika.
- (Optional) Luther S. Luedtke, 'The Search for American Character', in Luther S. Luedtke, ed., Making America: The Society and Culture of the United States, (Washington, D.C.: USIA Forum Series, 1987) 7-34.
- Allen F. Davis, 'American Studies: The View from Europe,' American Quarterly 40:3 (1988) 409-414.
- John Higham, 'Multiculturalism and Universalism: A History and Critique,' AmQ 45:2 (1993) 195-219.
- Gary Gerstle, 'The Limits of American Universalism,' AmQ 45:2 (1993) 230-236.
- Nancy A. Hewitt, 'A response to John Higham,' AmQ 45:2 (1993) 237-248.
- Michael Kammen, 'The Problem of American Exceptionalism: A Reconsideration,' American Quarterly 45:1 (March 1993) 1-43.
- H. V. Nelles, 'American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword,' American Historical Review 102:3 (June 1997) 749-757.
- Ian Tyrrell, 'American Exceptionalism in an Age of International History,' American Historical Review 96:4 (October 1991) 1031-1055.
- Henry Nash Smith, 'Can 'American Studies' Develop a Method?' American Quarterly 9 (1957) 197-208.
- Leo Marx, 'American Studies - A Defense of an Unscientific Method,' Reprint from New Literary History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation (University of Virginia) 1:1 (1969) 75-90.
- Gene Wise, ''Paradigm Dramas' in American Studies: A Cultural and Institutional History of the Movement,' American Quarterly 31:3 (1979) 293-337.
- Brian Attebery, 'American Studies: A Not So Unscientific Method,' American Quarterly 48 (1996) 316-343.
- Allen F. Davis, 'The Politics of American Studies,' American Quarterly 42:3 (1990) 353-374.
- Philip Gleason, 'World War II and the Development of American Studies,' American Quarterly 36:3 (1984) 343-358.
- Laurence Veysey, 'The Autonomy of American History Reconsidered,' AmQ 31:4 (1979)
- Joel Hodson, ''Intercourse in every direction': America as global phenomenon,' Global Networks: A Journal of transnational affairs 1:1 (Jan 2001) 79-87.
- Carl N. Degler, 'Does Land Make a People?' Out of Our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America (NY: Harper Colophon Books, Harper & Row, 1970).