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US and the World: Rise of a Superpower (HIST30065)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
Overview
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This subject examines the relationship between the United States and the world from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to September 11, 2001. It explores how the United States went from being a third-rate global power with a small military that was notionally wedded to non-interventionism and isolationism at the turn of the twentieth century to being a global superpower with vast military, economic, and cultural reach by the century’s end. Throughout the course we consider whether the United States should be considered an “empire” by examining different facets of American power, including politics, jazz, high culture, Hollywood, consumerism, capitalism, technology, media, sport, and militarism. We cover key events including colonisation and Native dispossession; how the United States was shaped by war from the world wars to Vietnam; the Cold War; CIA interventions in Latin America and the Middle East; economic expansionism; immigration and nativism.
The course emphasises the wide range of people that have influenced US relations with the world from presidents and diplomats to bankers and artists as well as the role of ordinary people including immigrants, activists, and radicals in exile have played. In accounting for the rise of a global superpower, we also trace how US engagement with the world has shaped American vulnerabilities, both real and perceived.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Analyse the principal figures and significant events and developments in US foreign relations
- Engage with the major historiographical debates concerning U.S. foreign relations and with major interpretive perspectives and approaches to the subject
- Locate and analyse primary and secondary sources in constructing and evaluating historical arguments
- Evaluate the global impact of U.S. foreign policy decisions from the late 19th century to the present, including their effects on international relations and global power dynamics
- Critically assess the role of economic, political, and ideological factors in shaping the United States' emergence as a global superpower
- Compare the U.S. approach to foreign policy across different administrations, identifying continuities and shifts in strategy and objectives.
Generic skills
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Communicate effectively (written and oral)
- Construct an evidence-based argument or narrative through competent use of the library and other information sources
- Develop problem-solving and analytical skills
- Engage with new ideas and perspectives
- Improve research skills using printed and electronic sources, both primary and secondary, in preparing a substantial research essay
- Apply critical thinking and oral expression and argumentation through group discussion.
Last updated: 6 February 2025