Course Catalogue

People of plenty: The politics of consumption in the United States since 1890 HIST4214

  • Academic Session: 2026-27
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

This course examines the place of consumption in American political and cultural life since 1890. You will focus on major themes such as imperial expansion, immigration, Prohibition, the Civil Rights Movement, and globalisation in order to investigate the rapid, jarring, and contested process by which the American people adjusted to the new world of mass consumption that emerged in the twentieth century.

Timetable

1 x 1 hour lectures each week over 12 weeks and 1 x 1 hour seminars over 8 weeks, as timetabled on MyCampus

Requirements of Entry

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes.

Excluded Courses

None

Assessment

The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Essay (2,000 words) (20%)

■ Seminar presentation (10%)

■ Seminar contribution (10%)

■ Examination - 120 minutes duration (60%)

 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the essay or exam, but flexible deadlines/extra time can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

■ 1:1 presentation / Q&A with course convenor or recorded presentation as alternative to seminar presentation.

■ Written response to seminar material in advance or after seminar as alternative to contribution.

 

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

This course aims to:

 

■ Inspire you to learn and think critically about the relationship between citizenship and consumption in US history

■ Develop your knowledge of how historians and social scientists have understood consumer society and introduce you to relevant primary sources

■ Give you the opportunity to present your ideas - supported by evidence -- in oral and written form

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

 

1. Explain the relationship between citizenship and consumption in modern US history and how the history of consumption is connected to other major themes in US history including war, empire, immigration, Prohibition, civil rights, and suburbanisation.

2. Engage critically with historiography and a variety of primary source materials.

3. Express persuasive arguments in oral and written forms with substantive evidence and accurate, verifiable referencing

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course’s summative assessment.