BA English Literature and American Studies

This course unit introduces students to a number of concepts from cultural studies and social theory, using these concepts as a lens to examine contemporary American politics, culture, and society. Organized into ten themes, it explores cultural, sociological, political, and historical writings and popular cultural texts to develop our understanding of recent and contemporary America. At the heart of this exploration is the complex interplay between the discursive (the stories people tell about US society, for instance, in political statements, films, television shows, press articles) and the material (social and economic conditions in the contemporary US). Students will develop the ability to construct interdisciplinary arguments, primarily by learning cultural studies keywords, methods, and interpretive frameworks.

• To introduce students to key themes and issues in contemporary American culture and society
• To introduce students to key terms and concepts in the field of cultural studies
• To encourage critical and analytical skills through the close, interdisciplinary study of a variety of contemporary American issues, texts and practices
• To develop skills in oral and written communication.

• A knowledge and understanding of key issues and themes in recent American life
• A general grasp of the approaches involved in cultural studies

• The ability to analyse a variety of contemporary American cultural texts using key cultural studies terms
• The ability to use cultural texts to test out, critique, and compare different theoretical frameworks

• Skills of independent research and written expression about contemporary topics.
• The ability to generate productive discussion questions about scholarly readings

• The capacity to take responsibility for learning and intellectual development
• The capacity for active, critical reading, listening and viewing
• The capacity to apply cultural studies concepts in everyday situations.

Melinda Cooper, Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2017)

Lisa Duggan, The Twilight of Equality? Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy (Boston: Beacon Press, 2004)

Annie McClanahan, Dead Pledges: Debt, Crisis, and 21st Century Culture (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016)

Stuart Hall, “Notes on Deconstructing the Popular”

Kathi Weeks, The Problem with Work: Feminist, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries (excerpt)

Lisa Marie Cacho, Social Death: Racialized Rightlessness and the Criminalization of the Unprotected

David Harvey, “Accumulation by Dispossession”

Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (excerpt)

Jasbir Puar and Amit Rai, “Monster, Terrorist, Fag”

John Storey, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction

Tuition fees for home students will be £10,050 for the 2027/28 academic year. In England and Wales, tuition fees for home undergraduate students are subject to the Government fee cap, which the Government has announced will be £10,050 for the 2027/28 academic year.

Government policy is to increase the fee cap on an annual basis to reflect inflation (i.e. increasing costs), and the tuition fee home students pay in subsequent academic years will reflect any increases in the Government fee cap (which we will communicate to you as soon as we can in advance of the relevant academic year).

Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 for the 2027/28 academic year. For subsequent academic years, the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fee by up to 7% each year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our education and wider student experience.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about student finance options for UK students .

Learn more about f ees and finance for international students .

As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.