Undergraduate Prospectus

American Studies

Entry Requirements

• A/AS Levels: Three A levels usually required, two AS levels considered in place of one A Level. General Studies is accepted.
• GCSE: No specific requirements.
• Access to HE: Pass, with at least the requisite credits at level 3.
• European Baccalaureate: Pass with 65% overall.
• International Baccalaureate: Pass Diploma with 32 points.
• BTEC Nationals: Pass Diploma with DMM.
• Leicestershire Progression Accord: T700: 250-310 points plus full Accord credits. T701: 270-330 points plus full Accord credits.
• Other Qualifications: Other national and international qualifications welcomed.
• Mature students welcomed: Alternative qualifications considered.
• Second Year Entry: Possible for those with advanced qualifications strictly comparable with our degree structure.
• Interviews not normally required.
• All applicants receiving an offer will be invited to visit the Centre.
• These degrees are not available on a part-time basis.

American Studies at Leicester

Our degrees offer an exciting multidisciplinary approach to the United States. Introduced to the history, literature, visual culture and politics of America in the early part of the degrees, later on you will be able to specialise in the areas you find most rewarding.

Why Choose Leicester?

Staff expertise is extensive but especially strong in the modern and contemporary periods where current research interests include the Civil Rights Movement, American culture of the 1950s, foreign policy after the Cold War, and Hollywood melodrama. While historic and traditional America features strongly on our degrees, the contemporary moment is a particular focus, whether in fiction, politics or cinema, making our programmes especially lively and relevant.

Study Abroad

Four-year students will also have the opportunity to experience contemporary America firsthand at one of our 21 partner universities across the United States. In your year in the US, the third of the degree, you choose eight courses, exploring your academic enthusiasms further, as well as developing greater independence and experiencing learning and teaching as they are practised in a very different educational system.

A Flexible Approach

Subject to availability of places in our partner institutions in the US and to academic achievement in year one, it is normally possible to transfer onto the four-year from the three-year American Studies degree. During the first two years of the course it is also possible to transfer from the four-year onto the three-year degree.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Our degrees are carefully structured to proceed from the introductory to the advanced in terms of both course content and study skills. The degree culminates in a dissertation conceived, researched and written independently by students under the one-to-one supervision of an expert in American Studies. We believe it is important for students to have personal support from tutors through this system.

Our core modules are taught mainly in traditional lectures and small group seminars. Our major forms of assessment are submitted essays and written examinations. A number of courses, however, are now assessed additionally on oral presentations and group work projects, with Final Year options assessed mainly by essays.

American Studies at Leicester also has a strong reputation for the quality of its teaching as shown by our achievement of 23 points out of a maximum of 24 for teaching quality in the latest Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) subject review and strong position in league tables.

Excellent Facilities

In recent years the Centre for American Studies, and the University of Leicester as a whole, has increased its interest in and commitment to the study of film; and our facilities have improved accordingly. We now have several lecture theatres fully equipped for film screenings from DVD, video and 35 mm as well as a fully operational multi-media lab in which students and staff can study film and manipulate images at their leisure.

Skills Gained

All our degrees foster a wide range of useful skills. The multidisciplinary nature of the degrees promotes flexibility of thought, initiative and the capacity to communicate persuasively both in writing and speech. Our graduates have a thorough knowledge of a different, complex and, on the world stage, very important culture from both domestic and international perspectives. In addition they have developed analytic, organisational and team-working skills that will prove advantageous in their lives and careers beyond university.

Graduate Opportunities

The American Studies BAs at Leicester are well-established and well-respected by employers. Our graduates have gone into a variety of careers, often with an international focus. These have included careers in public sector and private sector management, teaching, publishing, the media, television research, librarianship and information technology, as well as postgraduate study and professional training.