Syllabus
1/ The concept of identity and its sources. 2/ The sources of American national identity I. (agrarianism, individualism, frontier thesis,optimism, flexibility, the factor of motion). 3/ The sources of American national identity II.(religion, protestantism,social darwinism,Manifest Destiny, messianism, expansionism vs. isolationism). 4/ The sources of Amarican national identity III. (the theory of plenty, melting pot, patriotism. 5/ The idea of the American nation by the beginning of the Union and afterwards; Civil War and the development of American nationalism. 6/ Sixties of the 20th century: the beginnings of the identity politics. Multiculturalism - the challenge to the American national identity. 7/ American values as a "religion" and as a part of political program 8/ Immigration and its waves.
Assimilation and integration. 9/ The government´s immigration policies. The political parties´ platforms on immígration. 10/ Americanization and its alternatives. 11/ Hispanization. Bilingual and bicultural USA? 12/ Current discussion on the phenomenon of American national identity.
Annotation
The students will get acquinted with the problems of the specific collective identity, namely American national identity. Its sources,components, developments, and those tendencies iddentified as a threat for the society will be examined.
The attention will be paid to immigration and its political consequences.