Syllabus
Course Outline (Tentative – subject to change):
1. Orientation/Introduction
2. Media Landscape
3. Foreign Policy
4. Minorities in the United States
5. Class in the United States
6. Racial Relations: BlackLivesMatter, Police Violence, Incarceration, War Against Drugs
7. Polarization
8. Gun Rights: Major legislation, 2nd rights amendment debates, lobbying.
9. HealthCare/ ObamaCare Meaning of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act
10. Policy of Homeland Security Defending the U.S. from the inside, U.S. and terrorism, domestic terrorism, terrorism v. hate crimes.
11. Role of Religion, religious nationalism + other topics of interest
Annotation
This course focuses on current issues and developments in the United States. It discusses wide range of political, economic, cultural, and social problems with particular focus on the current administration of 46th president Joe Biden.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the most important discourses in the current U.S. Throughout the semester, we will analyze and debate various essential challenges the U.S. society is facing today. Multiple media sources will be used for the analyses, which should also provide students with advanced orientation in U.S. media landscape.
The course is taught in English and ends with a graded exam.