| 08-31-2-M5c-1 | Introduction to Cultural Studies: Definitions, Theories, Approaches (in English) This series of interconnected lectures serves as an introduction to social theory and cultural criticism. Themes include: definitions of culture, theories of identity; (…) This series of interconnected lectures serves as an introduction to social theory and cultural criticism. Themes include: definitions of culture, theories of identity; modernity and postmodernity; language, semiotics and (post)structuralism; cultural memory; psychoanalysis; race, ethnicity and imperial legacies; Marxist critiques; and study of culture in the age of globalization.
This is an interdisciplinary course bridging various fields of inquiry including anthropology, sociology, history, literary studies and linguistics. It is open to students from all departments and is intended to be useful for a wide range of potential academic paths.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- apply a range of theories and methods of analysis to works of literature, film, art, and other cultural phenomena;
- engage in informed discussions on the foundations of cultural theory, including ideas first voiced by Clifford Geertz, Antonio Gramsci, Roland Barthes, Sigmund Freud, Linda Hutcheon, Arjun Appadurai and others;
- critically discuss the concept(s) of culture as applied to terms such as “mass” culture, “high” culture”, “popular” culture and “national” cultures.
Teilnehmende/Participants:
Students taking Integrated European Studies (IES) Module M5c ("Einführung in die Theorien und Methoden der Kulturwissenschaft"; 12CPs) must complete this lecture course and the seminar "08-31-2-M5c-2: Gender Studies: Kultur und Gesellschaft".
Students from all faculties and exchange programmes are also welcome to participate. The lecture course is worth 6CPs/ECTS as a stand-alone course.
Prüfungsleistungen und CP/Assignments and Credits:
This course is normally assessed as part of the Module IES-M5c “Einführung in die Theorien und Methoden der Kulturwissenschaft”, in which second-semester Integrated European Studies (IES) students attend and complete assessments in different but related aspects of cultural theory.
The lecture course and the seminar will be weighted equally in the grading of the module as a whole (12 CPs in total).
Students are also invited to take the course as a stand-alone paper in General Studies and receive a GS-Schein (or e.g. Erasmus Credit Transfer for exchange students). In this case, the course is worth 6 CPs/ECTS. The assessment format for all students is the same, namely:
This course is assessed by written Examination (100%): a 90-minute question-and-answer based examination carried out in Week 14. Answers may be written in German or English (or a mixture).
You can find course dates and further information in Stud.IP. | Simon Lewis |