Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

Opened to all students of humanities -especially English literature, philosophy, media, fine art, history, history of art, aesthetics.

Co Requisite Comment

None.

Aims

In consonance with the overall aims of the degrees offered in the School of Modern Languages, this module aims to introduce students to the systematic study of culture and cultural production, familiarising them with a range of theoretical approaches that will prepare them for the study of culture throughout their degree programmes. Working across the whole range of language areas taught in the SML and adopting an interdisciplinary approach based on Sociology, Anthropology and Cultural Studies, the module seeks to show students how the key theoretical notions facilitate the study of everyday life.

In addition, this module aims to make aspects of the above available to students from outside the degree.

Outline Of Syllabus

Lecture materials and synchronous teaching activities (both present-in-person and online) introduce students to the knowledge and skills required for the comparative analysis and study of culture in context.
The course covers the following units:

Culture and identity
Race, ethnicity and representation
Gender and performance
Memory and group identity
Hegemony
Discourse
Representation
Orientalism

Case studies are drawn from a wide range of countries (e.g. East Asia, Europe, Latin America) and are be used to exemplify the problems attendant on the study of conceptual categories studied.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

- Show knowledge of the key terms and ideas in cultural studies.
- Display a basic knowledge of the development of cultural studies and its relationship to other fields of cultural analysis such as sociology, anthropology and literary analysis.
- Show more detailed knowledge of key concepts (cultural identity/gender/"race”/ethnicity/representation/hegemony/discourse).
- Show an in-depth knowledge of a limited number of case studies taken from the countries whose languages we study in the SML.

Intended Skill Outcomes

- Taking notes effectively from recorded lecture materials, seminar discussions, journals and secondary material.
- Finding secondary material in bibliographies devoted to cultural studies, being able to critically engage with these materials in order to assess their relevance and use for assignments.
- Operating effectively as part of teamwork discussion.
- Analysing closely a range of cultural products- e.g. adverts, music videos, excerpts from films, traditional cultural practices.
- Carry out effective analysis of a specific cultural product in relation to at least two of the key concepts covered during the course (culture/cultural identity/gender/”race”/ethnicity/hegemony/discourse/representation/orientalism).
- Develop the necessary skill set for writing a competent essay that is able to structure and present a clear argument.
- Develop increasing autonomy in independent study.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures, supported by non-synchronous online teaching, will adopt flexible, blended learning methods and strategies to introduce students to Cultural Studies as a scholarly field. They will outline general principles, illustrated by specific examples, and be supplemented by structured independent reading and guided online learning activities.. Seminars will allow students to examine cultural products, allowing for detailed discussion and analysis as well as revisiting and reinforcing knowledge from the lecture materials and online guided activities will provide the students with the opportunity to lead discussion on a topic through interactive activities that develop their independent thinking and critical analysis. Both types of learning activities will include advice on how to prepare for assessment. Surgery hours allow students to consult the module leader with any particular difficulties in understanding concepts, tasks, etc. Independent learning includes preparation for small group work, further reading and assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The semester 1 summative assessment allows students to demonstrate their grasp of the foundational concepts. The semester 2 summative assessment allows students to build on the feedback gained from the formative assessment and the knowledge and skills developed over both semesters to plan and execute an assessed essay that asks them to apply their conceptual knowledge to a specific context, in the same way that the seminars exemplify the concepts discussed in the rest of the course.

General Notes

N/A