Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas

Culture Theory

Code

722160003

Academic unit

Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas

Department

Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas

Credits

10

Teacher in charge

Fernando Clara

Weekly hours

3 letivas + 1 tutorial

Teaching language

Português e Inglês

Objectives

a) To acquire a global understanding of the evolution of cultural theory in western academic contexts since the eighteenth century;
b) To develop an in depth knowledge of the main typologies of the concept of ‘culture’;
c) To understand the importance of cultural interference, cultural transfer and cultural polyphony in the era of globalization;
d) To develop the critical skills necessary to reflect on the proposed topics;
e) To develop the competence required to develop an autonomous research in the field of Cultural Studies.

Prerequisites

None.

Subject matter

1. Typologies of the concept of ´culture´ in contemporary western academic contexts.
2. Towards a genealogy of the concept of ´culture´ since the late eighteenth century.
3. The late twentieth century ´cultural turn´ and its consequences for the Humanities.

Bibliography

WALLERSTEIN IM (2006) European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power. New York: New Press.
DURING S (2005) Cultural Studies a Critical Introduction. London; New York: Routledge.
ASHCROFT B, GRIFFITHS G and TIFFIN H (2002) The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. London; New York: Routledge
ADORNO TW (2001) The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. London; New York: Routledge.
FISKE J (1989) Reading the Popular. London; New York: Routledge.

Teaching method

Exposition and questioning of theoretical concepts; analysis and discussion of themes and texts; tutorial supervision of thematic and bibliographical research assignments.



Evaluation method

Continuous assessment based on the classroom discussion of texts. One individual oral presentation of a book, essay, author or topic (30%). Final written essay (5000 words) (70%).

Courses