School of Comparative American Studies

Comparative American Studies encompasses the pan-American experience, enabling you to explore the history, peoples and cultures of the Americas.

Why Study Comparative American Studies At Warwick?

We are consistently ranked in national newspapers as one of the top departments in the UK.

While most other American Studies degrees in Britain restrict themselves to the United States, or the US and Canada, we take the pan-American experience as our subject.

Our aim is a wider vision in which students will come to recognise the transatlantic experience as a whole, with its patterns of political frontiers and larger divisions based on language, religion or industrial development.

The School of Comparative American Studies is closely associated with the Department of History, but also has links with the English, Film and Politics Departments, enabling CAS students to work in fields as diverse as the Hollywood cinema, the history of the ancient Aztecs and Incas, US social history, the history of slavery, the politics of contemporary Latin America, and contemporary Latin American and US culture.

As well as cultivating your knowledge and analytic ability, this course also aims to develop your written and oral skills, and give you proficiency in Spanish. We teach Spanish to all levels. Many of our students arrive without any Spanish qualification, so we teach ab initio. We also have appropriate classes for those with A/S or A/L Spanish. You will be required to take options in Spanish in the first three years of your degree, and those wishing to gain the highest proficiency in the language can spend their year abroad at a South American university.

Margaux Kline

Student Profile: Margaux Kline,

4th year, Comparative American Studies

'I believe Warwick looks for distinctive personalities, people who have more to offer than their grades. Their confidence in my capacities has enabled me to develop intellectually.

CAS is a stimulating degree thanks to its interdisciplinary nature, passionate academics and the year broad. I spent a year in Buenos Aires where I polished my Spanish and interned at a Ministry. It was a fantastically memorable experience. I came to Warwick straight after finishing high school in France. Coming to England was a bit of a challenge. My biggest fear was that my English wouldn’t be good enough but I managed to overcome that fear with time and practice – and the vibrant social life helped me feel more confident'.

How Will I Be Taught?

The degree is taught via lectures, seminars and tutorials.

How Will I Be Assessed?

You will be assessed by a combination of unseen examinations and assessed written work.

What Opportunities Are There To Study Abroad?

The third year of this four-year degree is spent studying abroad in the USA, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, Chile or Argentina. Current exchange partners include the Universities of Connecticut, California, South Carolina, Columbia, Vanderbilt (Nashville) and Wisconsin in the USA; the University of Toronto and Queen’s University in Canada; the University of the West Indies and Puerto Rico University in the Caribbean; the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and La Catolica in Santiago, Chile.

What Careers Can A Warwick Degree In History, Literature and Cultures Of The Americas Lead To?

Our graduates leave with a variety of transferable skills, including Spanish, and have enjoyed success in a wide range of fields, including the professions, business, politics, the media and public service.