HACETTEPE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LETTERS
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Title of the Course: IED 261 (01) (02) Introduction to Cultural Studies
Instructor: Res. Assist. Papatya Alkan Genca
Year and Term: 2010-2011 Fall
Class Hours and Classroom: Friday 9:00-11:45 ZNG (Section 01)
Wednesday 10:00-12:45 (Section 02)
Office Hours: To be Announced
I.
II.
Aim and Content: The aim of this course is to present students an overview of the
methods and strategies used in cultural studies, and to lay foundations for more
advanced studies in the field. It is a history and theory course, which means that
the focus of the course is on providing (1) a historical understanding of the field(s)
of cultural studies, (2) introductory knowledge of a wide range of theoretical
concepts, approaches, and schools of thought, (3) an exposure to the idea of
methodology of cultural studies, in other words, an idea of how to “do” cultural
studies, (4) a knowledge of major cultural debates, particularly those around
gender, class, race/ethnicity, technology, and the relationship between critical
theory and cultural studies. Although the theoretical discussion is by no means
limited to any culture or society, the course will specifically focus on
contemporary British culture through discussions of a selection of articles and
texts. Since culture is manifest not only in literary but also in non-literary texts, the
course will cover examples from music, film, advertisements, comics, television,
and fashion, too.
Course Outline: (FOR SECTION 02)
Week I:
Week II:
Week III:
General Introduction. What is Culture/culture? Challenging the concept
of culture. History of culture and cultural studies. Birmingham Center
for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CSSS).
Reading Material:
Turner, Graeme. “The Idea of Cultural Studies.” British Cultural
Studies: An Introduction. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990, 2000.
Turner, Graeme. “The British Tradition: A Short History.” British
Cultural Studies: An Introduction. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990, 2000.
During, Simon. Introduction. The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon
During. London: Routledge, 1999: 1-28.
Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Studies and its Theoretical Legacies.” The
Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999:
97-109.
Listen:
“Another Brick in the Wall” Pink Floyd.
Continued.
Representation, Hegemony, Ideology.
Reading Material:
Adorno, Theodore and Max Horkheimer. “The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed.
Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 31-41
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.”
Week IV:
Week V:
Week VI:
Week VII:
Week VIII:
Week IX:
Week X:
Week XI:
Week XII:
Week XIII:
Week XIV:
III.
Listen: “Working Class Hero” Green Day
Watch: Hair, Billy Eliot.
Continued.
MIDTERM I (03.11.2010)
Discourse, Power/Knowledge
Reading Material:
Foucault, Michel. “Space, Power and Knowledge.” The Cultural
Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 134-41.
Barthes, Roland. “Myth Today.” A Roland Barthes Reader. Ed. Susan
Sontag. London: Routledge, 1993: 93-149.
Watch:“Ali G in Northern Ireland.” “Born Free” M.I.A.
Continued.
Postcolonial/Racial/Gender Issues.
Reading Material:
Said, Edward. Introduction. Orientalism.
West, Cornel. “The New Cultural Politics of Difference.” The Cultural
Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 257-67.
Agger, Ben. “Feminist Cultural Studies.” Cultural Studies as Critical
Theory. London: The Falmer: 114-132.
Watch: “Ali G and Feminism” and Hotel Rwanda
Continued.
MIDTERM II (08.12.2010)
Postmodernism and Cultural Studies. The take-over of theory:
semiotics, post-structuralism, feminism, post-colonialism …)
Reading Material:
Agger, Ben. “Poststructuralism and Postmodernism on Culture.”
Cultural Studies as Critical Theory. London: The Falmer: 93-113.
Watch: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.
Continued.
Cyberculture.
Reading Material:
Harraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” The Cultural Studies Reader.
Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 271-91.
Gunkel, David J. “Virtual Dialectic: Rethinking The Matrix and its
Significance.” www.gunkelweb.com/articles/virtual_dialectic.pdf
Watch: The Matrix
Wrap-up session.
Course Outline: (FOR SECTION 01)
Week I:
General Introduction. What is Culture/culture? Challenging the concept
of culture. History of culture and cultural studies. Birmingham Center
for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CSSS).
Reading Material:
Turner, Graeme. “The Idea of Cultural Studies.” British Cultural
Studies: An Introduction. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990, 2000.
Turner, Graeme. “The British Tradition: A Short History.” British
Cultural Studies: An Introduction. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1990, 2000.
Week II:
Week III:
Week IV:
Week V:
Week VI:
Week VII:
Week VIII:
Week IX:
Week X:
Week XI:
Week XII:
Week XIII:
Week XIV:
During, Simon. Introduction. The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon
During. London: Routledge, 1999: 1-28.
Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Studies and its Theoretical Legacies.” The
Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999:
97-109.
Listen: “Another Brick in the Wall” Pink Floyd.
Continued.
Representation, Hegemony, Ideology.
Reading Material:
Adorno, Theodore and Max Horkheimer. “The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed.
Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 31-41
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.”
Listen: “Working Class Hero” Green Day
Watch: Hair, Billy Eliot.
Continued.
NO CLASS (Cumhuriyet Bayramı)
MIDTERM I (12.11.2010)
NO CLASS (Kurban Bayramı)
Discourse, Power/Knowledge
Reading Material:
Foucault, Michel. “Space, Power and Knowledge.” The Cultural
Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 134-41.
Barthes, Roland. “Myth Today.” A Roland Barthes Reader. Ed. Susan
Sontag. London: Routledge, 1993: 93-149.
Watch:“Ali G in Northern Ireland.” “Born Free” M.I.A.
Postcolonial/Racial/Gender Issues.
Reading Material:
Said, Edward. Introduction. Orientalism.
West, Cornel. “The New Cultural Politics of Difference.” The Cultural
Studies Reader. Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 257-67.
Agger, Ben. “Feminist Cultural Studies.” Cultural Studies as Critical
Theory. London: The Falmer: 114-132.
Watch: “Ali G and Feminism” and Hotel Rwanda
Continued.
MIDTERM II (03.12.2010)
Postmodernism and Cultural Studies. The take-over of theory:
semiotics, post-structuralism, feminism, post-colonialism …)
Reading Material:
Agger, Ben. “Poststructuralism and Postmodernism on Culture.”
Cultural Studies as Critical Theory. London: The Falmer: 93-113.
Watch: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.
Continued
Cyberculture.
Reading Material:
Harraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” The Cultural Studies Reader.
Ed. Simon During. London: Routledge, 1999: 271-91.
Gunkel, David J. “Virtual Dialectic: Rethinking The Matrix and its
Significance.” www.gunkelweb.com/articles/virtual_dialectic.pdf
Watch: The Matrix
Week XV:
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Wrap-up Session
Text Book: There will be a course pack which the instructor will provide. The
audio-visual material will also be provided by the instructor.
Method of Instruction: This course will be conducted through lecturing and
discussion of the assigned materials.
Course Requirements: The students are expected to come to class having read
the assigned materials. Class participation is essential, and will have a serious
weight in the overall evaluation of your performance. Since the course is designed
to be an interactive one, attendance is obligatory. More than 11 (eleven) hours of
absence will result in F1.
Assessment: There will be two midterms and a final. In the grading of the final
mark, 25% of the total grade will be taken off for grammatical mistakes. Also note
that students who get less than 50/100 in the final exam will automatically fail the
course no matter how high their midterm results are. The evaluation will be as
follows:
15% class participation
20% Midterm I
25% Midterm II
40% Final