• Content:
• Describe, analyze and discuss basic political, economic and social affairs – systems, structures and mindsets - in the United States and the U. K. against the backdrop of the literature reviewed and the particular foci developed throughout the course.
• account for current issues of importance to these countries – political, economic, social, and cultural.
• relate these issues to the theories and conceptual frameworks presented and discussed in the course
• Language (The learning objectives for the language component of BAS 1 conforms to the requirements laid down in the Common European Framework for Languages (the Language Portfolio) at a minimum level C1):
• To employ grammatically correct language, including a specialist vocabulary consistent with the material being discussed.
• To present and discuss the above affairs and issues in a coherent, well-structured, academic English.
• To write texts which conform to generally accepted principles of academic composition, including consciousness of style and genre specific requirements.

The course will give the students a chance to work with different types of texts relating to both the US and the UK within the fields of the state, civil society and the market. This implies looking at a number of issues that are of current interest in the two countries.

With respect to the UK, special emphasis will be given to the post war period’s Keynesian welfare state model’s transformation into a neoliberal model, and the ongoing discussions of how to modernize Britain’s systems of governance. This includes a critical look at the results and consequences of the financial and economic crisis in 2007/08 and its effects on discussions of ‘varieties of capitalism’. Another major theme is the ongoing discussion of multiculturalism in the UK. Finally, emphasis is placed on discussions of the nation state and British national identities, national culture and values, regionalism and subsidiarity vis-à-vis the European Union.

With respect to the US, the country’s size and federal construction provides the possibility of looking at how various cultures and subcultures encounter each other and interact. This will be looked at in relationship to the political system and its different components: federal and local government, interest groups, and the media. The course will also examine and analyze changes in American foreign policy at the end of the Cold War as well as reactions to September 11, and the ways in which the United States is both driven by, and drives the globalizing process.

Language competence

As an integrated part of the course, there will be a focus on enhancing students’ oral and writing skills. This will be based on systematic work with English language and composition as well as introductory studies relating to the concept of framing and the field of discourse analysis. As part of this process, students will be required to make one or more presentations in class, participate in class discussions and to submit two voluntary essays.

Integration
The course broadly follows the thematic organization of the parallel CSC lecture series and draws on theories and concepts dealt with here. These conceptual approaches are presented in conjunction with perspectives and concepts rooted in the specific language area, so that students develop an understanding of different theoretical traditions, enhance their nationally specific knowledge as well as their cultural sensitivity. In addition, some of the basic theoretical premises will also relate to the courses in French, German and Spanish Studies.

John Mc. Cormick (2012) Contemporary Britain, Palgrave.

Russell Duncan and Joseph Goddard (2009) Contemporary America, Palgrave.

Edward Ashbee, Kasper Grotle Rasmussen, Ole Helmersen, Paul Richmond (2010): Compendium: British and American Studies 1,