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Cultural Studies
Courses Degree in Humanities
Cod: 51139
Department: DH
ECTS: 6
Scientific area: Culture
Total working hours: 156
Total contact time: 15

The aim of this module is to present and explore Cultural Studies from its foundation, in Birmingham in the 1960s, to the present day as more than just a discipline: a set of theoretical assumptions used to understand culture through social, political, and economic influences. Cultural Studies, in its inter- and post-disciplinary context, examines themes related to the formation of society through the interpretation of identity, representation, gender, race, class, globalization, media, and power relations. The starting point for understanding Cultural Studies is the concept of culture as a product that gains meaning through its common experience and sharing within a specific social collective. The study, deepening, and debate of different branches of thought over the decades will provide the fundamental bases for interpreting culture as a product and process subject to transformations.

Culture

Stuart Hall

Representation

Identity

Language

Meaning

 

By the end of this module, the student is expected to have acquired the following:

  •  Knowledge of the main strands of thought and thinkers in Cultural Studies;
  •  Knowledge of the foundation of Cultural Studies and identify its founders;
  •  Understanding of culture as a process rather than a static form;
  •  Understanding of culture as being shaped by external forces;
  •  Ability to analyse cultural artifacts such as literature, media, and other cultural practices;
  •  Recognition of different cultural, social, and political perspectives;
  • The ability to reflect on culture in its various dimensions;

  • Introduction to Cultural Studies
  • The concept of culture
  • Marxism and Cultural Studies
  • Signifying systems
  • Culture, Power and Resistance
  • Identity and Representation
  • Subcultures e countercultures
  • Globalization and Culture
  • Culture, Technology and the Media
  • Poststructuralism, deconstruction and the evolution of theory

 

Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. Sage, 2012.

Hall, Stuart. Cultural Studies: a Theoretical History. edited Jennifer Daryl Slack and Lawrence Grossberg. Duke University Press, 2016. 

Hall, Stuart, Hobson, Dorothy, Lowe Andrew and Willis, Paul, editores. Culture, Media, Language. Routledge, 1996.

Hall, Stuart, Evans, Jessica and Nixon, Sean, editores. Representation, Second Edition. The Open University, 2013 [1997].  

Pires, Maria Laura Bettencourt. Teorias da Cultura. Lisboa: Universidade Católica Editora, 2004.

The course is taught through an e-learning regime on the learning platform. Learning materials are available in selected folders in different formats. Students are expected to discuss the subject matter, share ideas and make use of the interactive content.  

To be defined.