This course explores the main characteristics of American culture and society, with special focus on issues that perpetually arise in the United States such as freedom of speech, separation of church and state, civil rights, economic interest as a societal and developmental drive, and others. The main questions of the course center around the notion of the ‘American identity’. By inquiring into the existence and development of this notion throughout US history, the students will develop a more informed and critical point of view on the United States past and present.