HI5005 - America in the 1960s

You will learn on this module by attending lectures, film screenings, and seminars. The lectures will present core themes and a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to studying America in the 1960s; they will also present key historiographical debates associated with the subject area and utilize a wide-range of source materials, just as you will be asked to do in your work for the module. You will also attend screenings of important films made in, or about, the 1960s. For the weekly seminars, you will be expected to undertake the required reading and to sample from the recommended readings: you will demonstrate and build on your reading by presenting your ideas and arguments in presentations, debates, and seminar discussions with your peers. Learning materials, tasks and readings will be posted on the eLearning Portal (Blackboard) to enable full participation within the seminars. You will undertake formative assessment activities, receive feedback, and will be responsible for your own guided and independent learning. Summative assessment matches your learning against the learning outcomes for the module.

Your academic development will be supported through engagement with your peers, academic tutors, and programme leaders. Academic support is provided through group/individual tutorials which allow specific issues to be addressed and to promote progress in academic development. The module tutor will be accessible within publicised Feedback and Consultation hours and via email. Your peers will provide you with a collaborative learning environment, and your programme leader will guide you through the requirements and expectations of your degree programme, of which this module is part. You will also be supported through individual engagement with the academic literature, lectures, and resources available on the eLP. Formative feedback will be on-going through seminar activities and assessment tasks.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Knowledge of the major historical, political and cultural themes in the United States in the 1960s.
2. Critical appreciation of conflicting positions in public debates and scholarly controversies concerning the events, meanings, and legacies of the 1960s.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Demonstrate the acquisition of numerous skills including the ability to make independent critical judgments; to critically evaluate a range of sources; to utilize a variety of theoretical concepts and disciplinary approaches when appropriate; and to present conclusions in a coherent and persuasive fashion.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
4. Awareness and sensitivity towards different social groups engaged in struggles for social justice
5. Curiosity about the nature of the evidence on which our knowledge of the past, and therefore our understandings of the present, depend.

The summative assessment will be made up of a portfolio, containing the following components, each designed to assess different skills.

1) Document Commentaries
Locate and select two significant primary sources relating to America in the 1960s, at least one from the electronic collection on The Sixties subscribed to by the library (http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/sixt/). Students must construct a critical commentary on each of the sources, outlining their context, contemporary significance, and historiographical importance by reference to scholarly sources on the topic.

2 x 1,000-word commentaries (40% of final mark) MLO: 1-5

2) Essay
An essay, selected from a list that covers all of the major themes of the module. The essay should be properly referenced and use both primary and secondary sources.

Essay length: 3,000 words (60% of final mark) MLO: 1-3, 5 (potentially 4)

Formative feedback for each assessment will be provided verbally in seminars and in written form for those students who choose to do preparatory exercises before submitting work for summative assessment. Verbal and written feedback will be given on all summative assessed work. Feedback on your first summative assessment will allow you to improve on later ones.

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Please find details of this module in the other sections provided.