The
lecture course surveys the academic discipline of American Studies and provides
an overview of materials, resources, issues, areas of study, and theories in
the interdisciplinary field of American Studies. Individual sessions will give
introductory accounts of North American geography, demographic developments and
U.S. immigration history, major issues and coordinates of North American and
U.S. history, the political system of the U.S., American ideologies and
identity constructions, the religious landscape of the U.S., multilingualism
and language politics in North America.