American Studies (with a study abroad year) BA (Hons)

Modules

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.

• What’s changed on this course?

  Year 1

  • The core module Early American History, Literature and Culture (2026/27) is new and replaces Root of America (2025/26).
  • The core module Modern American History, Literature and Culture (2026/27) used to be titled Modern America (2025/26).
  • The core module Sussex and America (2026/27) is new and replaces Radical Theory (2025/26).

  Year 2

  • The core module American Literature in the Long 20th Century (2025/26) has been removed.
  • The core module Genres in American Literature (2026/27) replaces Race and Ethnicity in US History (2025/26).

  Year 3

  • The core module American Studies Dissertation and Research Communication (2026/27) used to be an option titled American Studies Dissertation (2025/26).

• 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

  • Early American History, Literature and Culture
  • Introduction to American Studies

  Spring teaching

  • Modern American History, Literature and Culture
  • Sussex and America

  Your degree

  Your American Studies journey begins! Year 1 introduces you to interdisciplinarity. It helps you develop foundational knowledge of American history, culture and politics. You’ll start to work with different methodological approaches and materials including print, film and music. And you’ll explore the real-world applications of your degree.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  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. 

• 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

  • Genres in American Literature
  • Theoretical Concepts in American Studies

  Spring teaching

  • American City

  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
  • 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

  Your degree

  Year 2 introduces you to analytical tools. You’ll explore the concept of literary genre in American literature and examine American cities through an interdisciplinary lens. Choosing options across history, art history, film studies and politics, you’ll have the opportunity to specialise in what interests you most.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  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. 

• 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

  In the heart of Washington DC – just a 10-minute walk from iconic monuments and museums – I’ve had the chance to continue my Sussex education in a completely new environment, supported by kind and caring professors.”Louis Hubbick
  American Studies (with a study abroad year) BA 
  Studied abroad at George Washington University, 2021-2022
  

  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

• Year 3 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 and spring teaching

  • American Studies Dissertation and Research Communication

  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.

  Autumn teaching

  • City on a Hill: Faith and the American Project
  • Freedom Now! The African-American Freedom Struggle After 1945
  • Race and Ethnicity in Popular Cinema
  • 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
  • Queer Fictions
  • Race, Photography, Archives

  Your degree

  In your final year, you’ll become an independent scholar. You’ll build your knowledge and expertise, and explore your research interests and passions. With our expert guidance and support, you’ll design and deliver a research project.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures, seminars and workshops.

  

  40%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar
  10%: One-to-one

  Assessment

  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. 

Customise your course

• Progressive Futures electives

  Year 1

  Autumn teaching

  • Digital and Data Futures
  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Human Flourishing

  Spring teaching

  • (Re)Imagining Future Worlds through Humour and Play
  • Adapting Literature
  • American Political Culture
  • Art and Artists
  • Black British History
  • Climate Justice: Policy & Activism in a Time of Global Crisis
  • Gender Across Cultures
  • Gendering the Life Course
  • Global Cultures, Local Lives
  • Global Issues
  • Global Migration in a Digital Age
  • Inclusive Practice with Young People
  • Introduction to Human Rights
  • Introduction to the European Union
  • Leading Social Change: Communication and Activism
  • Mental Health and Madness: exploring socio-cultural approaches
  • Music and Society
  • People, Culture and the Global Economy
  • Principles of Cognitive Science
  • Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
  • Society, State and Humanity
  • The Age of Adolescence: Reading 20th Century Youth Culture
  • The Look of America
  • The Meaning of Life
  • Understanding the Criminal Justice System

  Year 2

  Autumn teaching

  • Access, Equity and Gender
  • Analysing Film (E)
  • Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law
  • Biological Psychology
  • Business in World Politics
  • Crime and Criminal Justice
  • Decoding Cultures of Technology and Social Change
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • Forest Food Gardens: The Theory and Practice of Food Growing
  • Global News Cultures
  • Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Education
  • Inter-cultural Encounters
  • Landscapes of Resistance and Social Justice
  • Leading Social Change: Taking Action
  • Migration, Identity and Rights
  • Police and Policing (Elective)
  • Political and Social Change in Contemporary Europe
  • Race and Ethnicity in US History
  • Sleep and Mental Health
  • Sustainability and Climate Justice
  • Video Games: Creative & Critical Writing

  Spring teaching

  • Activist Skills for Global Justice and Sustainable Futures
  • Advertising (E)
  • American City
  • Autism and Education
  • Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
  • Contemporary Issues in Law
  • Creative Coding
  • Creative Production in the Arts
  • Decolonising Education: Knowledge, Power and Sustainable Societies
  • Digital Law Toolkit
  • Education, Peacebuilding and Conflict
  • Everyday Digital: Generation, Life-Course and Expertise
  • Exploring Death and Dying; Cultural, Theoretical and Practice Perspectives
  • Exploring Teaching in Schools
  • Forest Food Gardens: Communities, Ecologies and Collaboration
  • Language, Identity and Nation
  • Language, Mind and Brain
  • Making Sense of Complexity: Tools for Addressing Real World Sustainability Challenges
  • Philosophy of Race
  • Psychology of Cognitive Processes
  • Punishment and Penology
  • The Far Right and the Politics of Immigration
  • The Liberal World Order - in Crisis
• Languages and TESOL electives

  You can choose to study language electives for two or three years. This allows you to add the language to the title of your degree:

  • if you study a language for two years, you could graduate with a title such as Psychology with proficiency in Japanese BSc (Hons)
  • if you study a language for three years, you could graduate with a title such as Psychology with Japanese BSc (Hons).

  Year 1

  Autumn teaching

  • Arabic Beginners A
  • Arabic Intermediate A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2A
  • Chinese Beginners A
  • Chinese Intermediate A
  • French Beginners A
  • French For Professional Purposes 1A
  • French Intermediate A
  • German Beginners A
  • German Intermediate A
  • Introduction to TESOL - Theory and Methodology 1
  • Italian Beginners A
  • Italian Intermediate A
  • Japanese Beginners A
  • Japanese Intermediate A
  • Spanish Beginners A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
  • Spanish Intermediate A

  Spring teaching

  • Arabic Beginners B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2B
  • Chinese Beginners B
  • Chinese Intermediate B
  • French Beginners B
  • French For Professional Purposes 1B
  • French Intermediate B
  • German Beginners B
  • German Intermediate B
  • Italian Beginners B
  • Italian Intermediate B
  • Japanese Beginners B
  • Japanese Intermediate B
  • Spanish Beginners B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
  • Spanish Intermediate B
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 1

  Year 2

  Autumn teaching

  • Arabic Advanced A
  • Arabic Beginners A
  • Arabic Intermediate A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3A
  • Chinese Advanced A
  • Chinese Beginners A
  • Chinese Intermediate A
  • French Advanced A
  • French Beginners A
  • French For Professional Purposes 1A
  • French for Professional Purposes 2A
  • French Intermediate A
  • German Advanced A
  • German Beginners A
  • German Intermediate A
  • Introduction to TESOL - Theory and Methodology 1
  • Italian Advanced A
  • Italian Beginners A
  • Italian Intermediate A
  • Japanese Advanced A
  • Japanese Beginners A
  • Japanese Intermediate A
  • Spanish Advanced A
  • Spanish Beginners A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A
  • Spanish Intermediate A
  • TESOL Theory and Methodology 2

  Spring teaching

  • Arabic Advanced B
  • Arabic Beginners B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3B
  • Chinese Advanced B
  • Chinese Beginners B
  • Chinese Intermediate B
  • French Advanced B
  • French Beginners B
  • French For Professional Purposes 1B
  • French for Professional Purposes 2B
  • French Intermediate B
  • German Advanced B
  • German Beginners B
  • German Intermediate B
  • Italian Advanced B
  • Italian Beginners B
  • Italian Intermediate B
  • Japanese Advanced B
  • Japanese Beginners B
  • Japanese Intermediate B
  • Spanish Advanced B
  • Spanish Beginners B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B
  • Spanish Intermediate B
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 1
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 2

These electives are designed to help you explore key global challenges with world-leading experts from across the University and beyond.

Whichever path you take, you’ll develop key skills to tackle the complexity of contemporary challenges. This will help improve your employment prospects and help you contribute to creating progressive futures for all.

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.