Program
The first semester will offer you a firm grounding in the field through a range of core courses. The programme is structured along three tracks that interact with each other.
- In the track Theories and Practices you will engage with state-of-the art academic literature to evaluate the theories and methods that are developed in this interdisciplinary field. You will put this academic knowledge into practice in the collaborative research project Mapping the American Century in which you will learn to use a wide range or sources and methods to explore an example of transatlantic cultural transfer.
- In the Culture track you will delve into the cultural dimensions of transatlantic encounters. You will learn to understand the power and appeal of American Culture in a Global Context by exploring popular media, music, and visual culture. You will also study The Red and Black Atlantic to understand the role of Transatlantic constructs of race, culture and identity in the creation of the Atlantic World.
- In the track Politics and History you will explore the Foundations of transatlantic relations by analyzing the fundamental interaction of domestic politics and international relations. You will apply his long-term perspective on the foundations of transatlantic relations to explore a number of Current Issues in Transatlantic Relations such as such as migration and mobility; democracy, human rights and diversity; collective security and terrorism; climate change, sustainability and energy transition; disease prevention and pandemics.
A career seminar will help you to prepare for a future career by exploring your ambitions and training skills such as CV writing, networking and presenting yourself at job interviews. This is valuable preparation for an internship and your later career. You will also meet a number of successful alumni from the programme to learn from their experiences. The thesis seminar is designed to help guide you through the various stages of writing a master’s thesis while you lay the foundations for your project by composing a thesis plan to be handed in by the end of the first semester. In the seminar, you will address questions of how to formulate a research topic, create an overview of the current literature, learn about different types of research, use digital databases and citation software, implement efficient techniques of gathering, interpreting, and documenting information, as well as developing, organizing, and communicating your ideas.
The second semester offers opportunities for in-depth exploration of research topics or an interdisciplinary specialisation in such transatlantic areas as international law, human rights, international relations, border studies, or the way contemporary North American culture reflects the social and political issues of its day. You can also opt for an internship or exchange programme with an American or Canadian university in this semester. An internship option is the Radboud Transatlantic Consultancy Project, in which we work in team projects for governmental institutions, NGO’s and heritage organizations to train you to develop and communicate actionable expertise to understand these issues, for instance in white papers and expertise briefings. You will complete the programme with a master’s thesis, which will offer you the setting to develop and present your own approach to the question of America’s place in transatlantic relations and European engagements with America.