TCCS 711 Culture and Transculturation

The term ¿culture¿ is the foundation of many academic fields. It is a term that elicits inquiry on shared thought and practices of people. It invites exploration of what yields harmony and conflict. This graduate seminar will serve as an advanced introduction to contemporary cultural theory. Drawing upon the fields of sociology, anthropology, American and cultural studies, literary criticism, philosophy, and science and technology studies, it will investigate problems of modernity and the limits of our theoretical practices, signs, symbols, discourses, languages, forms of knowledge, or systems of meaning ¿ at multiple levels of analysis. Seminar participants will gain an appreciation of the influence of culture in shaping world-views, life-worlds and identity, the significance of culture in everyday life as well as the importance of culture at more `macro¿ levels. Topics will include but will not be limited to: theoretical approaches to the study of culture, culture as a unit of analysis, as historical relations of power, as well as substantive topics, for example, 1) culture and communication; 2) consumer society; 3) transculturation, 4) material culture; 5) culture production and consumption; 6) visual cultures including are and media among others.

3 Credit(s)