Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3048: US Field Course

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Aims

This module is intended to familiarise you with the complexities of ethnographic fieldwork within a safe and controlled setting, and under the supervision of Exeter University staff. The course highlights the interconnections between space and politics through an exploration of various social and geographical spaces that form the background of political activity in North American society. It does so by enabling you to visit symbolic spaces of commemoration, negotiation, learning and debate, while taking you on fieldwork in New York. You will visit media headquarters, United Nations Buildings, 9/11 memorial sites, Universities and so on. You will approach these sites through various lenses, working in groups studying migration, human rights, electoral processes and media politics in the United States of America.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. demonstrate knowledge of major political processes affecting the State of New York in the various subfields we examine in oral and written work;
2. evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in oral and written work;
3. apply a range of theories about politics and change to historical and contemporary issues in oral and written work;
Discipline-Specific Skills4. use key concepts pertaining to New York and North American politics in oral and written work;
5. synthesize a variety of theories and arguments in the field in your written work;
6. demonstrate understanding of the implications of new evidence for a given political perspective in your oral and written work;
7. demonstrate that you understand different methods of research in the field and their implications for findings in your oral and written work;
Personal and Key Skills8. work independently and in groups, including presentations for class discussion, and in spontaneous discussion and defence of arguments in class, and to manage conflict;
9. demonstrate oral and written analytical and organizational skills in essays, group presentations and group discussion;
10. write essays to a deadline.