the famous rabbit-duck pictureGregory Eiselein

Antonio Gramsci
Photograph of Antonio Gramsci, Italian cultural theorist

ENGL 705 Theory and Practice of Cultural Studies

Eisenhower Hall 16 | MWF 9:30 | Fall 2006

Theory and Practice of Cultural Studies is an introduction to the theories that have defined the emerging field of cultural studies. First institutionalized in Great Britain in the 1960s, cultural studies devotes itself to the critical analysis of and engagement with "culture," defined as the whole network of meanings and practices in everyday life. Attuned to the importance of context and to issues of power, inequality, and difference, cultural studies does not limit itself to the study of high culture (what Matthew Arnold called "the best that has been thought and said in the world") but instead opens itself to a range of cultural activities, artifacts, and texts, their makers and audiences, and their interconnections. Thus, we will learn various approaches to the analysis and interpretation of cultural activities and texts as they are embedded in social contexts.

 The course begins with attention to key concepts and practice with various ways of reading and interpreting culture. We will then survey, discuss, and ask questions about important theories of identity, postmodernism, and globalization—three themes that should provide us with a perspective on cultural studies right now.

Texts

The following books are available at the K-State Union Bookstore and Varney's Bookstore in Aggieville:

Class Communication

Course Materials

The following class handouts are available here as PDFs.

Online Resources


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