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; culture and gender; 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.

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.

This seminar explores foundational themes in cultural studies through constructive discussion of different types of "signifying practice". Emphasis is placed on contemporary European identities, modern nationhood, gender, and memory. The guiding question throughout the semester is: in what ways do different products of culture (de)construct narratives of identity and belonging?

Participants will become familiarized with key theories of social and cultural identity while learning to work with a range of different media, from the written word to museum displays and music videos.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• perform in-depth critical analysis of a variety of cultural media, including literary texts, films, visual artworks, museums, rituals, etc., studying them as cultural artefacts embedded in national, European and global societies;
• engage in theoretically informed discussions about the differences between cultural media as products of (European) culture;
• demonstrate knowledge of key theories of culture, including critical social theory, nationalism theory, postcolonial theory, etc.