Anti-Americanism in Contemporary World

General data

Course ID:	4219-SF035-OG
Erasmus code / ISCED:	14.0 Kod klasyfikacyjny przedmiotu składa się z trzech do pięciu cyfr, przy czym trzy pierwsze oznaczają klasyfikację dziedziny wg. Listy kodów dziedzin obowiązującej w programie Socrates/Erasmus, czwarta (dotąd na ogół 0) – ewentualne uszczegółowienie informacji o dyscyplinie, piąta – stopień zaawansowania przedmiotu ustalony na podstawie roku studiów, dla którego przedmiot jest przeznaczony. / (0310) Social and behavioural sciences, not further defined The ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) code has been designed by UNESCO.
Course title:	Anti-Americanism in Contemporary World
Name in Polish:	Anti-Americanism in Contemporary World (Antyamerykanizm we współczesnym świecie)
Organizational unit:	American Studies Center
Course groups:	Courses in foreign languages General university courses General university courses in American Studies Center General university courses in the social sciences
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	(not available) Basic information on ECTS credits allocation principles: the annual hourly workload of the student’s work required to achieve the expected learning outcomes for a given stage is 1500-1800h, corresponding to 60 ECTS; the student’s weekly hourly workload is 45 h; 1 ECTS point corresponds to 25-30 hours of student work needed to achieve the assumed learning outcomes; weekly student workload necessary to achieve the assumed learning outcomes allows to obtain 1.5 ECTS; work required to pass the course, which has been assigned 3 ECTS, constitutes 10% of the semester student load. view allocation of credits
Language:	English
Type of course:	foreign languages general courses
Prerequisites (description):	the goal of the course is to analyze the manifestations of anti-Americanism in modern world in the context of soft power and practice designing scenarios for public diplomacy campaigns to deal with negative perceptions of USA in the international arena
Mode:	Classroom and field classes
Short description:	America has always aroused passionate reactions. This course focuses on the negative perceptions of the USA in the 21st century. It will be a discussion of various forms of Anti-Americanism as well as a search for explanations of its sources. Is it policies? Is it values? Is it people? Is it power? Is it culture? We will try to capture the complexity of the phenomenon in various areas of the world. Are Arab, European and Asian sentiments similar or not?. We shall also examine how the negativity towards America plays in America: whether it reinforces isolationism? produces a backlash in the form of feelings of superiority? Contributes to perceptions of vulnerability? Finally, we shall look at a very indigenous variation of anti-Americanism, namely its domestic variation.
Full description:	Before we start analyzing the nature and sources of anti-Americanism in the 21st century in various cultures, it is worth looking at the nature of American nationalism and at American self-definitions. We might start from Winthrop, Washington or T. Roosevelt. Then we will briefly examine the sources of Manifest Destiny as the tendency which puts America on natural collision course with others. We will look at its contemporary representations. American foreign policy will not be the only object of our analysis. Soft power elements from Hollywood to Harley Davidson motorcycles are as much a source of criticism as are drones, coups d’etat, and interventions. In search for the answers to the questions about the forms and sources of anti-Americanism we will travel all over the world to: Latin America, Middle East, Asia, Europe. Then we shall compare these types of anti-Americanism in order to see whether it is a universal phenomenon or a culture specific one. Poland will not be by-passed in this journey. Students will also talk about American public diplomacy and design scenarios for promoting the image of America in the world
Bibliography:	Katznelson and Keohane, Anti-Americanism Leroy Dorsey, We are all Americans, Alabama Paul Hollander, Understanding Anti-Americanism Michael Kazin, Joseph McCartin, Americanism, North Carolina Alexander Ross, Kirstin Ross, Anti-Americanism, New York University Alexander Stephen, Americanization of Europe, Berghahn Books
Learning outcomes:	Knowledge: students will find out about the nature of American nationalism, they will learn how political and cultural identity is constructed and how it affects public perceptions and behavior; they will be come familiar with the role of stereotypes Skills students will construct indices of Americanism and anti-Americanism; analyze statistical data; learn how to measure and compare cultural phenomena; will prepare public diplomacy schemes Competence: build team work habits; become skilled in confrontational discussions, practice presentation of research findings. public speaking,
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	term paper (50%), In-class presentation or field research may be a teamwork (30%), participation in class discussions (20%). By field research I mean preparation and execution of a survey of people outside of the UW in search of actual anti-American sentiments or a potential for such sentiments. This field research may be one of the elements upon which the final paper will be based.

This course is not currently offered.

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Copyright by University of Warsaw.