Folklore and Folklife - Courses - Fall 2007 - FOLK 639 401 Issues in Cultural Studies

For more information about Folklore and Folklife,at UPenn, contact Professor Dan Ben-Amos at dbamos@sas.upenn.edu.

For assistance with the Folklore and Folklife website, contact Linda Lee at lindalee@sas.upenn.edu.

FOLK 639 401: Issues in Cultural Studies
Barbie Zelizer
Seminar: Monday 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Cross-listed with: COMM 639
Contact: bzelizer@asc.upenn.edu

This course tracks the different theoretical appropriations of "culture" and examines how the meanings we attach to it depend on the perspectives through which we define it. The course first addresses perspectives on culture suggested by anthropology, sociology, communication, and aesthetics, and then considers the tensions across academic disciplines that have produced what is commonly known as "cultural studies." The course is predicated on the importance of becoming cultural critics versed in alternative ways of naming cultural problems, issues, and texts. The course aims not to lend closure to competing notions of culture but to illustrate the diversity suggested by different approaches.

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