In this essay, I will examine the field of American Studies and attempt to explain its ever changing definition. I will take the reader through the origins of American Studies and describe the events that led to changes in the discipline.
The scholars in American Studies are constantly seeking to understand the practices by individuals and groups and their history of origin. Scholars struggle to understand how values and beliefs shape social and political realities within the U.S. and other countries. American Studies is an interdisciplinary study that explores cultures of the United States as well as their transnational exchanges and impact.
In the words of Staurt Hall, he “finds in American culture and in America’s capacity to live with difference the best illustration of a continuous dialect between the local and the global, between the insular and the transnational. He defines culture as an embodiment of the best that has been thought and said in a society. It is the sum of the great ideas as represented in the classic works of painting, music, and philosophy that represent culture. (Hall, 9)” Hall also has observed U.S. dominance in communication and described America as the common factor of globalization.
The field of American Studies began in what may be called a single beginning with multiple origins. The beginning of the American Studies Association in late 1951 and early 1952 and the beginning of the journal, American Quarterly at the University of Minnesota in
Also, the variety of viewpoints presented in this book help to expand the reader’s knowledge. The editors provide a well-rounded collection of additional works that show the reader some of the major theories on a historical event. Basically, a reader is able to see historical issues through the eyes of professional historians. Interpretations of American History does not merely state the facts, it allows the reader to decide where they stand on the historical event in question. This can lead to a deeper, more profound study of history.
Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.
Since its inception, America as a nation has developed and progressed according to trends of change that collectively define an era. Like all other eras, the time period of 1875-1925 experienced growth, changes, movements, and new ideals. It is the way that these changes came about that defines this era. Americans started to push for changes in many arenas of life that were previously unchallenged. New experiences and opportunities were also presented to America that caused tributaries in the former American ideal. These pressures for change could not be ignored and thus America continued its maturity in a new and unique manner. The changes in the American sphere of life and the development of greater
The world is full of rich culture, diversity and experiences unique to each individual. When determining the validity of historic accounts we must factor in that particular historian’s point of view, which should be characterized by ethnicity, idealogy, theoretical or methodological preference. With these factors views of the past often vary from person to person. In this essay I will be discussing the four different stages that shaped the writing of American history over the last 400 years.
Throughout the study of American history, scholars and students alike are quick to paint certain people, institutions and events as uniformly bad or good. These claims are most commonly made with the substantial benefit of hindsight, and while some of these descriptions are accurate and well-founded in fact, many exhibit a clear bias and ignore the nuances of the events they are describing. To avoid characterization in such a binary system, numerous sources and viewpoints must be consulted in the study of American history.
Throughout the course of United States history, there have been multiple occurrences in which influenced and impacted the United States as it is today. Since the colonization of the colonies, the United States has proven to have improved its nation through many acts, movements, political persons, and governmental theories. However; the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the creation of the Erie Canal, Henry Clay’s “American System”, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the Emancipation Proclamation were all specific occurrences and events that impacted the development of the United States politically and economically.
The documentary America the Story of Us: Bust summarizes the transition from the prosperous and roaring 20s to the struggling Depression. Focusing on events and causes leading to the Depression as well as its effect on the American population during the time, the film gives an overlook of one of the most unfortunate times in American history. Beginning with the public’s distress during the stock market crash the depression began to spiral as people lost jobs from layoffs, lost homes due to foreclosure, and lost many of life’s basic necessities. The prosperous 1920’s was behind them and the publics high consumerism and production rates of the time reached an all-time low. After summarizing the causes of the Depression the documentary continues bringing attention to the building of the Hoover Dam and how its completion boosted American moral and started the slow and hard fight out of the Depression.
Any serious examination of American history between the years 1877 and 1930 will show completely different experiences among a wide range of distinct groups. Our coursework has given us just a glimpse into the lives of some of these groups. They, among others really deserve a closer look
The author of this book is a professor of history at Columbia University and is one of the country’s most noticeable historians. He graduated from Columbia with his doctoral degree under Richard Hofstadter. Foner is one of only two people to be president of three major professional organizations. They are the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society of American Historians.
This essay will examine the rise of “modern America”, there were economic, religious, and aspect of life changes took place and it was greatly changed the Americans society’s perceptions, specifically, the north and the south. The rise of “modern America” was greatly motivated immigrants to come to the United States for economic opportunity, industrialization in the North after the civil war created new businesses and job regulations, and the demand for social changes; all of these factors shaped America socially, politically, and economically.
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1837 address to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard, called “The American Scholar”, he makes clear his thoughts and ideas on the European cultural and cerebral influence on America. Emerson wanted to get across that American scholars needed to create their own independent American literature and academic world, separate from European history.
In truth, its history dates back as far as the sixteenth century, following the first great expansion of European capitalism, which resulted in slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism (Ezema, 2009). Throughout history, world powers have continually sought to perpetuate their way of life: from the philosophy and mythology of the Greeks, the political ideologies and linguistics of the Romans, and the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance (Daghrir, 2013). Thus, it comes as no surprise that the aftermath of the post-war era, which saw the collapse of Soviet communism and the emergence of the United States as the sole hegemon, saw the aggressive spread of American ideals, values, and beliefs. Indeed, just as American goods flooded world markets in the post-World War II era; American culture now penetrates every continent through the aggressive development of mass communications, trade expansion and information technology.
American society is known for having the highest standard of living across the globe; this is solely due to the consumerist culture that is brought forth by capitalism. Americans in the U.S. take pride in these standards and in the freedoms that this democratic nation has established. The 20th century will always be remembered in American history as a century of radical changes on the social and political fronts of the nation. Literature, too, evolved quickly from specific, compartmentalized fields which fit into categories, to works which had no set definition—nobody knew what to do with them. These changes also took place in poetry; artistic expression began to change across the arts and so did the mediums. Poets across the nation
Bowles, M. (2011). American history 1865–present: End of isolation. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Culture is a behavior that consists of several critical elements, such as language, religion, race and ethnicity, clothing and politics. Culture is what one does in his/her daily life. In order to understand others, we must first keep in mind that every culture carries its own set of values and assumptions. Culture is an evolving, ever changing civilization, which includes several different groups people. For immigrants, America is a land of opportunity; for others it is just the best country in the world because of its economic success and/or its democratic political system. Americans usually value independence a lot, believe in equal opportunity, and have a direct communication