Campus tours
Join a campus tour this summer and get a feel for life at Sussex. With award-winning campus food, a National Park setting and buzzing Brighton on our doorstep, our location and facilities are hard to beat.
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On campus - in person
You’ll study for this degree on our campus, joining our academics and fellow students. With in-person contact time, digitally supported educational resources, library collections and independent study, this course is designed to give you an inclusive education. Your learning experience may also include work placements, field trips, studying abroad and internationalisation experiences.
Find out about our beautiful campus
Virtual tour
Want to learn more about life at Sussex?
Our 360° virtual tour has been designed to introduce you to life in our diverse, supportive and inclusive community. Join our students for an immersive experience as they reveal why Sussex offers a space to follow your passions, find your voice, and discover people and places that will inspire you.
Begin your tour
As a founding partner of ResearchPlus, a collaboration of research-focused universities, we engage with government, industry and civil society to support economic growth, prosperity and wellbeing across the whole of the UK.
Find out more
Modules
This is a joint-honours course, offering you a combinations of subjects, each taking up 50% of your time. Find out more from our guide to undergraduate study
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Silver
The student experience and student outcomes are typically very high quality.
This rating was awarded in 2023, for four years. (Teaching Excellence Framework 2023)
Find out more about our approach to teaching and supporting you to thrive
We’re planning to run the modules listed below in the academic year 2026/27. We’ve made some changes to keep the course fresh and future-facing.
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What’s changed on this course?
Year 1
- The core module Early American History, Literature and Culture (2026/27) is new and replaces Introduction to American Studies (2025/26).
- The core module Modern American History, Literature and Culture (2026/27) used to be titled Modern America (2025/26).
Year 2
- The core module Theoretical Concepts in American Studies (2026/27) is 30 credits. In 2025/26, it was 15 credits.
Year 3
- The core module American Studies Dissertation and Research Communication (2026/27) used to be an option titled American Studies Dissertation (2025/26).
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Year 1 at Sussex
Your modules
Core modules
Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.
Autumn teaching
- British Political History
- Early American History, Literature and Culture
- Explaining Political Systems
Spring teaching
- Freedom, Power, Justice: Foundations of Political Theory
- Modern American History, Literature and Culture
- Research Skills and Methods in Political Science
Your degree
Teaching
Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.
40%: Lecture
50%: Seminar
5%: Practical
5%: One-to-oneAssessment
Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.
Contact hours and workload
This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.
Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.
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Year 2 at Sussex
Your modules
Core modules
Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.
Autumn teaching
Spring teaching
Options
Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.
While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.
Spring teaching
- 1661: Slavery in English America
- 1959 Havana: Revolution in Latin America
- Capitalism and Democracy
- Communicating Politics
- Divided Island? Irish Politics from Partition to the Present
- Feminism and the Politics of Gender
- Governing India: Institutions, Actors and Challenges Amidst Social Diversity
- Italy Between Political Crisis and Social Change
- Latin American Cinema: Contemporary Trends and Movements
- Picasso to Kahlo: Transatlantic Dialogues
- Pop Life: After Modern Art
- States of Disunion: Power, Polarisation and Protest in US Politics
- The Challenge of Being a Reluctant Hegemon; German Politics Today
- The EU Between Integration and Disintegration
- The Making of Modern Turkey: The Struggle Between Authoritarianism and Democracy
Your degree
Teaching
Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.
40%: Lecture
50%: Seminar
5%: Practical
5%: One-to-oneAssessment
Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.
Contact hours and workload
This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.
Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.
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Study abroad
You spend your third year studying at one of our US or Canadian partners’ campuses. Our range of partner institutions represents every facet of the American experience, and includes:
- UC Berkeley and UCLA
- Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of North Carolina
- Georgetown University and George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Whether you are interested in Native American culture, the Civil Rights movement, or American modernist poetry, Sussex offers you a unique experience while studying in North America.
If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student
Please note that courses with a study abroad year are not eligible for USA federal Direct Loan funds. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid
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Year 3 at Sussex
Your modules
Options
You choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.
While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.
Autumn and spring teaching
Autumn teaching
- Authoritarianism and its Critics
- City on a Hill: Faith and the American Project
- Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene
- Freedom Now! The African-American Freedom Struggle After 1945
- Global Crisis and European Political Economy
- Indian Politics Since Independence: Between Dominance and Fragmentation
- Parties and Party Systems
- Political Psychology
- Race and Ethnicity in Popular Cinema
- The Politics of Euroscepticism
- The Rise of Anti-politics
- Topics in African American Literature
- Visualising War: Image, Media, and Culture
Spring teaching
- America in the 21st Century
- American Empire
- American Studies in Practice
- American Teen Cinema: Coming of Age on Screen
- Hollywood Industry and Imaginary
- Immigration and the Liberal State
- Independent Study/Internship Option
- Parties and Voters in the UK
- Political Corruption
- Populism and Politics
- Queer Fictions
- Race, Photography, Archives
- The Neoliberal Age? Understanding Modern Britain
- The Politics of (Post-)Truth
- The Politics of Feeling
Your degree
Teaching
Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.
40%: Lecture
50%: Seminar
5%: Practical
5%: One-to-oneAssessment
Assessment methods typically include critical responses, essays, reports, presentations and professional-facing tasks.
Contact hours and workload
This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 250 hours of contact time and about 950 hours of independent study.
Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.
Spirit of Sussex Award
Feel involved in life at the University, make friends and enrich your experience with us – the Spirit of Sussex Award is our way of recognising your extracurricular and voluntary achievements.
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Video transcript
Hi everyone! As I'm sure you've all heard by now, the Spirit of Sussex Award is now live.
Students across the Sussex community are already earning their points
What will you do to earn yours?
There's so many ways to get involved.
Head over to the website to start your Spirit of Sussex journey.
Text: The Spirit of Sussex Award is an exciting new programme designed to recognise and celebrate the things you do outside your course.
Participating in the Award makes it easy and fun for you to get involved and make the most of university life.
We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.
We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.
Find out about American Studies at the University of Sussex
Writer-in-Residence Scheme
Aubrey Allegretti, experienced political journalist and current Chief Political Correspondent at The Times, is our Political Writer in Residence.
In this role, Sussex alumni Aubrey will deliver a number of writing workshops as well as a guest lecture for Politics students. He will also judge a political blog writing competition, contribute to our student-run Sussex Politics blog, and organise work shadowing days in London. This experience will give you the opportunity to develop your skills as a political writer and to become an outstanding political communicator.
Sussex gave me more opportunities than I could have hoped for, and I’m delighted to be returning to help pass on knowledge and skills to today’s students.”Aubrey Allegretti
Chief Political Correspondent, The Times
Our experts
American Studies
Dr Natalia Cecire
Associate Professor in English & American Literature
Dr Charlie Jeffries
Assistant Professor in American and Media Studies
Politics
Careers
- 86% of Sussex undergraduates have completed work experience by the end of their course (University of Sussex Career Readiness data at point of graduation 2023/24)
By thinking critically across disciplines, you learn a broad range of analytical and communication skills. These will be enhanced on your year abroad where you’ll gain invaluable cultural and social perspectives. As a result, you will be in demand in fields such as:
- journalism and marketing
- TV and film production
- policy research.
Where do our graduates work now?
Surveyed 15 months after finishing their courses, our recent American Studies graduates worked for employers including:
- Brighton Chamber
- Connect Communications
- Wasserman
- Kingston Upon Thames Council
- LBC Radio
- Left Bank Pictures
- SAE Media Group
- Sage
- St. John’s College
- The UCL Academy
- University of Kent.
And our recent graduates from the Department of Politics worked for employers including:
- ADCB
- American Express
- BBC
- Department for Business & Trade
- Government Legal Department
- UK Parliament
- Metropolitan Police
- NHS
- The Electoral Commission
- Civil Service.
(Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017-2022)
Working while you study
Our Careers and Entrepreneurship team can help you find part-time work while you study. Find out more about career development and part-time work
Design your future at Sussex
Taking the next step in your career can feel daunting, but we’ll help you to explore, connect and flourish throughout your studies and beyond.
As a Sussex student, you’ll learn how to tackle real-world challenges and have access to tailored programmes of careers support:
- our Career Lab helps you to explore your options, build key skills and connect with employers. Take part in internships, community consultancy projects and insight visits, where you can learn about life at organisations such as Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, the Knepp Rewilding Project, and fashion brand Puig
- one-to-one appointments with your Faculty Careers Consultant can enable you to identify your career goals, write an effective CV and prepare for future interviews
- entrepreneurship initiatives like StartUp Sussex and Ideas Lab can empower you to turn your concepts into reality.
Explore how our Careers and Entrepreneurship team can support you
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Winner
Entrepreneurship Catalyst Award
National Enterprise Educator Awards 2024
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Winner
Supporting Student and Graduate Employability Award
AGCAS Awards for Excellence 2024
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Top 50
Best Universities for Work Experience in the UK
2025 Higherin Awards
Entry requirements
Find your place in Clearing
This course will be available in Clearing. Explore your options at Sussex – right here, right now.
Fees
Note that your fees, once they’re set, may be subject to an increase on an annual basis. Find details on our Tuition fees page.
Home students
£9,790 per year
Channel Islands and Isle of Man students
£9,790 per year
On 19 March 2026 the UK Parliament set out that the tuition fee cap for 2026 entry will be £9,790. As the University of Sussex keeps fees for Home students and Channel Islands and Isle of Man students in line with UK Government-approved levels, fees will be £9,790 in 2026. In line with our terms and conditions, the University charges fees at the maximum levels set by the UK Government.
International students
£23,500 per year
Study abroad
Find out about grants and funding, tuition fees and insurance costs for studying abroad
Additional costs
Note about additional costs
Additional costs to your tuition fees may include field trips, equipment, materials, bench fees or studio hire. These costs are best estimates based on current market values which we review each year. These costs may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances where the University has limited control such as a change in a service provider or government guidance. We will let you know at the earliest opportunity if there is any change to these costs. We will also tell you if these costs are mandatory for passing your course or optional. Find out how to budget for student life.
Study Abroad
This course includes a study abroad year. Find out about additional costs - such as visas, flights and insurance - at Study abroad fees and costs. Any questions? Contact the Study abroad team
Living costs
We know the rising cost of living is on everyone’s mind, and affects us all in different ways. Our guide to living costs has been designed to help you plan and budget for life as a Sussex student.
Learn more about typical living costs
Scholarships
Our goal is to ensure that every student who wants to study with us is able to regardless of financial barriers, so that we continue to attract talented and unique people.
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Chancellor's International Scholarships
£5,000 in the first year of full-time study
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Climate Leaders Scholarship
£3,000 cash per year of full time study.
Scholarships recipients will be supported to develop a high level project plan and provided with mentoring support.
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Sanctuary Scholarship (Undergraduate)
- Full 'Overseas' tuition fee waiver
- £16,440 per year of undergraduate study (up to 4 years)
- Sussexsport membership
- Guaranteed continuation of housing
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Sussex Bursary
£1,000 in your first year of study (either Year 1 or Foundation Year).
£500 in your subsequent years of study.
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Sussex Pakistan Scholarship (Undergraduate)
£4,000 discount on the first year of tuition fees
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Sussex Türkiye Scholarship (Undergraduate)
£4,000 discount on the first year of tuition fees
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Undergraduate Enrichment Award
£6,000 over 3 years of study
Contact us
Ask a student
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Prospectus
What do you want to do next?
Legal information
We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities described in this prospectus. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to government or regulatory requirements, or unanticipated staff changes, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.