Curricular Unit:Code:
Introduction to Cultural Studies150IECL
Year:Level:Course:Credits:
1UndergraduateCultural Studies6 ects
Learning Period:Language of Instruction:Total Hours:
Winter SemesterPortuguese/English78
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
Upon completing the course, students should:
• Understand key approaches to the study of culture and their application to understanding social and cultural change
• In order to develop fluency in Cultural Studies terminology, students will become familiar with the vocabulary of the field of Cultural Studies, including its basic terminology: for instance, power& agency, identity & subjectivity, Marxism & ideology, modernity & post-modernity, hegemony & resistance, theory & praxis, colonialism & post-colonialism, myth/symbol & semiotics.
• Appreciate the diversity of ways cultural production, consumption, and meaning shape everyday life
• Be able to identify and describe key theorists, theories, and subject areas in the field of cultural studies
• Draw a connection between the study of culture and other spheres of anthropological and sociological inquiry .
Syllabus:
1st Unit – Making Culture.
1.1. Introductory considerations. Presentation of the syllabus. Methodologies of work and evaluation. 1.1. What is cultural studies? 1.2. "Questions of Culture and Ideology". 1.3. The Influence of Marxism and the Critical Approach. 1.4. Reading, Interpreting, and Producing Culture.
2rst Unit – The Popular.
2.1. Cultural Commodifications. 2.2. Popular cultures and there expressions. 2.3. Mass Media consumers; 2.4. Popular productions and Market.
3rst Unit – Theoretical criticism
3.1. Marxism; 3.2. Post- structuralism; 3.3. Feminism; 3.4. Postmodernism and postmodernist criticism.
4rst Unit. – Space, Time, Cities
4.1. Modernity and globalization. 4.2. Space, power and Knowledge. 4.3. The production of Space. 4.5. Violence, power and city.
5rst Unit – Politics of Identity and Power
5.1. Identity. 5.2. Subjectivity and Representation. 5.3. Race and Multiculturalism. 5.4. Digital Humanities. 5.5. Literature and Arts; 5.6. Subcultures.
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
Provide definition of the field of study concerned and foundation process (point 2)
Ability to promote an understanding of the complexity of the concept of culture in its various dimensions (point 1 and 2)
Develop ability to identify the main themes of the EC and its practical instantiation in specific social issues and their analysis (point 3)
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Lectures of expositive nature
Practical analytical work of a current social themes (points 2 and 3 of the program)
Written test (program point 2)
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
The nature of the program is mainly theoretical which is consistent with the type of classes; evaluation through practical work (points 1 and 3 of the program) aims at producing capabilities of practical application referred to in Goals.
Reading:
Barker, Chris (2008), Cultural Studies. Theory & Proctice, London, Sage.
Bennett, Tony (2015). Cultural Studies and The Cultural Concept. In Cultural Studies, nº 4: 546-568.
Gary, Ann (2008), Research Practice for Cultural Studies, London, Sage Publications
Martins, M.L. (2015). Estudos Culturais como Novas Humanidades. Revista Lusófona de Estudos Culturais, vol.3 (1): 363-382.
Moraes,A.L. (2011). Epistemologia dos Estudos culturais. In: www.compos.org.br/data/biblioteca_1660.pdf
Stokes, Jane (2021). How to do Media Cultural Studies. London: Sage.
Surber, J. P. (2018). Culture and Critique: An Introduction to the Critical discourses Of Cultural Studies. New York, London: Routledge.
Morley, David and Robins, Kevin (2005), Cultural Studies, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Lecturer (* Responsible):
Vítor Teixeira (vrteixeira@ufp.edu.pt)