MO3350 The American Constitution: Past and Present

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 9

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

TBC

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Prof C C Kidd

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Prof Colin Kidd

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This course covers the making of the American Constitution, the institutions and systems of government which it established, and its long turbulent history over the past two centuries. However, the primary focus of the course is upon the difficulties faced in recent decades by modern Americans in reconciling late twentieth- and early twenty-first century social, cultural and political aspirations with institutional forms which were – to a large extent – set in aspic over two hundred years ago. The course examines the interplay of eighteenth-century and twentieth-century concerns and the controversies which have arisen out of the encounter - in the Supreme Court especially – of America’s eighteenth-century constitutional inheritance with modern social and political realities.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE SATISFIED THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR HONOURS HISTORY OR MODERN HISTORY

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 40%, Exam = 60%

Re-assessment

Coursework = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 x 2-hour seminar, plus 1 office hour.

Scheduled learning hours

22

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

278

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • By the end of the module, students will have a better understanding of the main features of the American system of government
  • By the end of the module, students will have knowledge of the making of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
  • By the end of the module, students will have a historically-informed understanding of the constitutional controversies which currently beset the United States
  • By the end of the module, students will be able to construct well-supported historical arguments by way of essays and seminar presentations
  • By the end of the module, students will have acquired certain transferable skills (oral, organisational and interpersonal skills) through participating in and chairing group discussions and making oral presentations to the group