Course Catalogue

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This course explores the twentieth century history of civil rights activism in the United States. It will discuss key civil rights movements in their political and cultural context, including the African American civil rights movement, Indigenous rights movements, LGBTQ activism, the Chicano movement and the Women's Liberation movement. Specific themes such as race, gender, sexuality and nationality will be explored in the context of these claims to American freedom.

8 x 1hr lectures; 4 x 2hr workshops and 4 x 1 hr seminars over ten weeks as scheduled in MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in History and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

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The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Essay proposal - 1,000 words - 30% 

■ Course Essay - 3,500 words - 60% 

■ Oral contribution - 10% 

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

■ There are no alternatives to the Essay proposal, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ There are no alternatives to the Course Essay, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ A written statement in response to the seminar material submitted in advance of the chosen seminar as alternative to oral contribution.

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

This course aims:

■ To introduce students to a broad, transformative period of US history.

■ To provide students with the knowledge of how different groups and individuals have made claims to civil rights in 20th century America.

■ To give students the opportunity to investigate different kinds of activism, and social and political change.

■ To hone students' historical skills by providing them with the skills to analyse a range of political and cultural texts including autobiographies, speeches, newspapers and film.

■ To give students the opportunity to enhance their skills in source criticism with the use of primary materials in seminars and in the assessment.

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

■ Appraise a range of organisations, individuals and political movements associated with civil rights movements in 20th century United States.

■ Analyse the causes, processes and results of social and political upheavals and of cultural conflict connected to civil rights claims.

■ Recognise the relationship between contemporary and past understandings of freedom and civil rights in US society.

■ Critically examine, assess and comment on a variety of key political and cultural sources and make use of them to construct an argument.