SOCIOL 105

Cultural Studies and Society


Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for SOCIOL 105.

Description

A cultural studies approach to social life focuses on the way we experience the world, taking account of what we see, hear, communicate, consume and produce. This course includes analysis of a wide range of cultural ‘texts’ including (but not limited to) television, film, art, music, advertisements, video games, sport and subcultures. A cultural studies approach to the analysis of these topics examines the changing relationships between culture, society, history, politics and technology in the contemporary world.

Students who successfully complete the course will have:

  • A familiarity and critical understanding of a range of social and sociological theories relevant to the study of cultural studies and popular culture
  • The ability to utilise the above theories in analysing a range of cultural ‘texts’
  • An understanding of how people in western society are influenced by images and objects, including knowledge of the role of power in the production and consumption of such cultural texts

Assessment

Coursework + exam

 

Availability 2021

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Bruce Cohen

Reading/Texts

All mandatory readings for this course can be found in the following textbook: Cohen, BMZ (ed.) (2012) Being Cultural. Auckland: Pearson.

Textbook is freely available to download from: https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/external/ebooks/Cohen_2012_Being_Cultural_CC.pdf

Recommended Reading

Additional readings which are very useful for grounding students in the key issues covered on this course:

Barker, C. and Jane, E. A. (2016) Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice (5th edn). London: Sage.

During, S. (Ed.) (2007) The Cultural Studies Reader (3rd edn). London: Routledge.

 

Storey, J. (2018) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction (8th edn). Abingdon: Routledge.

Storey, J. (Ed.) (2018) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader (4th edn). Abingdon: Routledge.

Assessment

Coursework + exam

Points

SOCIOL 105: 15 points