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Cultural Studies was widely discussed as one of the "New Humanities" in the 1990s, but a long history of debates about and theories of culture precede the discipline, and the processes of deciding what are the key texts and concepts of Cultural Studies is ongoing. This unit overviews the most frequently referenced critical and theoretical texts of the Cultural Studies "canon". Students will also consider in detail the place of Cultural Studies in the humanities and debates over its institutionalisation.
Do you want to spend six weeks talking about V for Vendetta or Pirates of the Carribean? Well, this is almost the unit for you. Do you feel as if you’re given glimpses or pieces of the same “theory” over and over again but are never given an opportunity to really understand or explore those ideas in their own right? Then this is definitely the unit for you. That might mean this is a unit entirely on Michel Foucault (the little black dress of contemporary critical and cultural theory), but it’s not.
The outline for 2008 is reproduced below.
The aim is to consider the context in which cultural theories emerge, their influence, and also how one might use them. At the same time this is a unit that considers what Cultural Studies is, and how and why it uses the texts and thinkers it prioritises. This unit is recommended for any student considering further research in the field of Cultural Studies or a career in cultural research and analysis. Part I will use the film V for Vendetta as an example to share and compare analytic possibilities, and Part II will use the film Pirates of the Caribbean as an example.
This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit for students who are already enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
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To provide students with a wide understanding of the history of cultural studies as a discipline, and the canon of cultural studies theory that has emerged and changed with the institutionalisation of the discipline;
To develop and extend critical awareness of how culture is understood and how theories about culture, and its constituent forms and practices, are used within the Cultural Studies tradition;
To involve students in close study of two or more areas of cultural theory;
To familiarise students with examples of work in other areas of cultural theory crucial to the Cultural Studies tradition, and thus to provide students with broad knowledge of the key texts referenced and deployed in analysis of culture within the Cultural Studies tradition;
To develop skills in the appropriate selection of theories and models for cultural analysis and modes of presenting cultural analysis;
To extend analytic skills in reading and writing, and skills in critical assessment.
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After completing this unit, students should:
Have an understanding of the history of Cultural Studies as a discipline and debates about the institutionalisation of Cultural Studies.
Have developed a familiarity with the key texts within the canon of Cultural Studies and debates about the formation of a canon for Cultural Studies.
Have read and engaged with a number of key texts and concepts for contemporary Cultural Studies.
Have further developed their skills in comprehension, analysis and application of cultural and social theory.
Have continued to develop their written and oral communication skills through assessed written assignments and tutorial participation.
Have developed an understanding of the way theoretical components of the humanities interact with the public sphere and broader fields of cultural production.
Lectures, Tutorials, Online Learning
one online journal (equivalent 1500 words), three 500 word responses to readings, 1500 word take-home exam, participation
There are three components to your assessment for this unit: your online journal, which is kept every week in relation to the readings; four 500wd written responses to the readings due across the unit; and a choice of either a take home exam or a research essay which covers the unit as a whole.
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Introduction - The 'New' Humanities: Canonising Cultural Studies.
PART I - what's in the readers and on the courses?
2) Inventing 'The Frankfurt School' – Adorno and Horkheimer; Benjamin
3) Before the Birmingham School – Arnold, Baudelaire, Barthes, Williams (I promise they're all short extracts)
4) Once More With Feeling: Power, Popular Culture and Cultural Studies – de Certeau, Morris
5) Why Michel Foucault – Guess Who?
PART II - the philosophy of 'culture'
[optional seminar on "The Enlightenment and Cultural Theory" available here]
6) Culture and Modernity – Nietzsche
8) Culture and Modernism – Heidegger
9) Psychoanalysis as Cultural Studies – Freud; Kristeva
10) MID-SEMESTER BREAK [optional seminar on "Postmodernism?" available here]
11) How the Culture Machine Works: Structuralism-Poststructuralism – Saussure; Deleuze and Guattari
12) Culture, Politics, Subjectivity – Rose; Butler; Butler & Connolly
13) Lines of Inquiry: This week the class will split into groups and students will be able to choose a foundational area of cultural theory that interests them. The options are: Marxism and Cultural Studies; Feminism and Cultural Studies; and Post-colonial Cultural Studies.
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18 junior credit points including at least 6 credit points GCST
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