Course Catalogue

Globalising US History HIST5166

  • Academic Session: 2026-27
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

From its fledgling 18th century beginnings to the present, the United States has been shaped by global forces and, in turn, has shaped the wider world in profound ways. This course explores the United States as a terrain and generator of global encounters. Eschewing the traditional inside / outside binary of domestic and foreign relations histories, the course instead considers border-crossing circulations and situates US history within the composite creation that is the modern world. Students will address these larger thematic concerns through case studies that emphasis interconnected issues of empire, race, labour, consumption, violence, gender, and culture.

Timetable

10 x weekly 2-hour seminars

Requirements of Entry

Standard entry to Masters at College level

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Seminar Presentation (15 min, c. 1,000 words) - 20%

■ Primary Source Analysis (1,000 words) - 20%

■ Case Study (3,000 words) - 60%

 

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

■ Recorded presentation; a PowerPoint with substantial notes; as alternative to oral presentation.

■ There are no alternatives to the analysis or case study, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

 

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

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ Analyse the global history of the United States across modern history

■ Assess diverse methodological approaches to US history

■ Evaluate and critique primary and secondary source documentation, so honing their abilities as historians

■ Compose nuanced written and oral arguments about the global dimensions of US history

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

■ Assess and compare the different globalising influences that shaped the United States, and the globalising influences the United States produced

■ Analyse in-depth analysis of a primary sources connected to course themes

■ Identify and evaluate key debates relating to intersections of US and global history

■ interpret current research and communicate it both orally and in writing.

■ Present research findings to peers

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

No exceptions