American and Canadian Studies 2023

Teaching methods vary; most modules combine lectures with seminars, which enable discussion and closer analysis. Our staff/student ratio allows us to keep seminar groups reasonably small and to set aside time for individual sessions to give advice and provide feedback on essays and dissertations.

Assessment

Progress is monitored each semester using a variety of methods including exams and assessed coursework. The exam in any module does not normally comprise more than 50 per cent of the overall assessment. Although you must pass first-year modules, the marks do not count towards the final degree qualification. Your final result is made up of marks from work done in the later stages of the degree to allow for your development. In the final year you will write a dissertation, an independent research project on a specialist topic of your choice.

Our students gain a variety of skills from working across disciplines and studying abroad. American and Canadian studies graduates adapt easily to such professions as management, business, public services, teaching, law, media, postgraduate work and academia. The modules on contemporary culture are very useful to those students who enter media-related work, such as advertising, journalism, radio and television. A number of our graduates go to North America for careers or further study.

The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).

81% of undergraduates from the Department of Cultural, Media and Visual Studies secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual salary for these graduates was £23,938.*

*HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20 data published in 2022. The Graduate Outcomes % is derived using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.

Our full-time degrees last for either three years, with no period of study abroad, or four years, with a year of international study. This is spent at an American or Canadian university and occurs in your third year. We also offer the possibility of spending a semester at one of our partner universities in Europe through the Erasmus scheme,studying the United States from a European viewpoint. Further information can be found on our study abroad web pages.  Nottingham has the highest number of any UK university on outward mobility under Erasmus.* * Erasmus student and staff numbers by institution, Erasmus+ 2014.

Offers are usually made without interview. Students with non-standard entry qualifications, including mature students, are encouraged to apply, and may be invited for an interview. We follow the University's flexible Admissions Policy and take educational personal circumstances into consideration.

Further details are available on our applying pages.

Choosing where to study for the next few years of your life is a difficult decision. By coming to an open day you can see for yourself why Nottingham could be the place for you.

If you make an application to study at the University of Nottingham and are successful in being made an offer, you will receive an invitation to attend an offer-holder event. These events take place between February and April.