''America is in crisis. In the space of a generation, it has become more than ever a country of winners and losers, as industries have failed, institutions have disappeared and the country’s focus has shifted to idolise celebrity and wealth''.

This is the thesis, put forward by George Packer in his non-fiction book The Unwinding: Thirty Years of American Decline (2013), that will serve as the foundation of this course.

Over the last decades, the United States have seen an unprecedented increase in income inequality. Deregulation policies and the rise of automation have allowed big corporations to maximize profits and minimize costs by outsourcing jobs and laying off low-skilled workers. Thus, the country’s wealth has accumulated in the hands of the few. For numerous other Americans, struggling to make ends meet and living on credit has become the rule rather than the exception. Economic data indicate that social mobility is currently at an all-time low, reinforcing the argument that the American Dream is dead. The socio-economic status quo has sparked a deep frustration with authority figures of both political parties. As a result, anti-establishment sentiments finally peaked in November 2016, when US-American voters left their mark on America and made Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States.

During the course of the semester, we will introduce the learners to various political, economic and social issues US society has recently been struggling with. Topics that will be covered include:

• The rise of Trumpism and the transformation of the political landscape
• Deregulation policies, predatory capitalism, and living on borrowed money
• The power of the pharma industry and the current opioid epidemic
• The concentration of the retail and the food industries and their impact on the local economies
• The concept of the military-industrial complex in connection with the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan since 2001 and Iraq since 2003
• The rise of automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and the ‘end of jobs’
• The transformation of education into privilege due to high costs of college tuition
• The systematic discrimination against ethnic minorities
• The ongoing struggle of civil rights activism (#blacklivesmatter) and feminism (#metoo)

siehe Lehrplan für Englisch

siehe Lehrplan für Englisch

siehe Reifeprüfung

• Neoliberalism vs. protectionism and America first
  

  Discussing income inequality, social mobility and the myth of the American dream; Analyzing the protectionist backlash to neoliberal deregulation policies

• Artificial intelligence and automation as the ‘end of jobs’
  

  Discussing income inequality, social mobility and the myth of the American dream; Analyzing the protectionist backlash to neoliberal deregulation policies

• Social activism
  

  Debating current social activist movements such as #blacklivesmatter and #metoo; Analyzing the systematic discrimination against ethnic minorities with regard to various aspects of life such as education and the real estate market

• I can understand extended speech and lectures and follow even complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar.
• I can read articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints.
• I can take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining my views.
• I can explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

• Lehrervortrag
• Schülervortrag
• Einzelarbeit
• Partnerarbeit
• Gruppenarbeit
• Peer Teaching
• Diskussion
• Medienanalyse
• Recherche
• Brainstorming
• Textstudium

• Mitarbeit
• Referat

A fairly good command of English (B1+)

Costs that will have to be covered by the students:

• A maximum of € 5,- for copies