The 2016 Election: A Seismic Shift to the Right
09/11/2016
The stunning upset victory of Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election signifies a seismic shift to the right in American politics. After January, when the family of Barack Obama cedes the White House to the Republican billionaire, Republicans will also control both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court. It …
Alexandra Depledge, MBE, reflects on how an American and Canadian Studies degree shaped her future success
14/09/2016
Alexandra Depledge graduated with a degree in American Studies and History (with International Study) from Nottingham in 2003. Alex has since gone on to be the founder-CEO of Hassle.com, was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by TechCity Insider for 2014, and has recently been interviewed in a series on “Trailblazing Women” at the Huffington Post. …
Ending Slavery free online course starts 17 October
11/08/2016
The world’s first ever massive open online course (MOOC) about contemporary slavery is open for registration now. Ending Slavery is a free four-week course starting on 17 October 2016. You’ll learn from experts at the cutting edge of human rights research, and you’ll investigate the complex systems that sustain slavery today. Professor Kevin Bales, one of the …
Donald Trump and American Democracy
20/05/2016
American politics is very much in the global spotlight as candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties vie to become nominees in the presidential election in November. With the polarizing and extremist Donald Trump now the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, many commentators, are asking what this means for American democracy. Christopher Phelps, Associate …
American Studies in Another Culture and Climate: Experiences from the Year Abroad
03/02/2016
When applying for courses at the University of Nottingham, I saw that the Cultures, Languages and Area Studies departments offered many students the chance to do a year abroad. Having decided to undertake a Joint Honours degree in Politics and American Studies, and having achieved the necessary academic requirements, I was lucky enough to be …
Regime Change in Canada: Trudeau MK2
05/11/2015
While news of North American politics in the UK has lately focused on Donald Trump’s perplexing Republican presidential nomination bid, another campaign was unfolding north of the border, culminating in Canada’s 42nd federal election on 19 October. After nine years of government by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives (two minority governments followed by a majority in 2011), …
An Evening of Print Culture
06/11/2014
Hannah Murray is a PhD student in American & Canadian Studies, where she is writing a thesis on liminal whiteness in nineteenth-century American literature. In this post, she looks forward to welcoming Dr. Hester Blum, a leading scholar in nineteenth-century print culture studies. When we read a novel or short story we may not think …
Nas at Lovebox: 20 years of Illmatic
20/10/2014
To mark Black History Month, Nottingham MRes student Jasmine Gothelf (American & Canadian Studies) reviews a recent performance by the African American artist Nas in Britain, and discusses the ongoing political relevance of hip hop to contemporary African American life. Please join the American & Canadian Studies department for its Black History Events this month: …
People often think they know Martin Luther King Jr, but do they?
17/10/2014
Look at the new statue in Washington, featured on the poster below. Its design was controversial because some felt it made King look too stern and forbidding a figure, but maybe it corrected a false perception of him and his non-violent philosophy as simply conciliatory and passive. The monument also casts an African American in …
Imagining silence: experiencing history as fiction
15/10/2014
By Katie Hamilton, PhD student in the Department of American & Canadian Studies On first consideration, a reading and conversation with a novelist seems an incongruous way to celebrate Black History Month. It begs the question of what a contemporary novel can tell us about the history of the African diaspora that we don’t already …
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