This module will analyse key texts in the history of American political and social thought, from the colonial period to the present. Students will be introduced to debates over such issues as religion, politics, race, gender, nature and the environment, and education, as they arose at different periods in American history. Students will use primary sources to reconstruct and interpret these debates, and show how they continue to shape American society and politics in the present. Students who need to complete one or more components of assessment during the summer, due to extenuating circumstances or for progression purposes, will be required to submit one essay of 2,000 words. This form of assessment has been set in order to accommodate early submission deadlines for candidates undertaking a year of study abroad, who will not be resident in Nottingham during the usual summer examination period. The essay will be due on the third Wednesday in July.