SOC571E Cultural Sociology: Introduction

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2013
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 10 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Gábor Oláh, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course presents cultural sociology as a specific analytical perspective or paradigm: as a sociological (sub-)discipline which differs from other analytical perspectives in sociology and social sciences by a particular methodological standpoint rather than by a specific subject of study. Broadly speaking, to approach the world in the perspective of cultural sociology is to take meaning as a basic social fact and to understand the social actor as a homo interpretans. These are the most general parameters that will lead our discussions of the selected topics and texts. And it is exactly the understanding of cultural sociology as a method of inquiry that makes it possible to speak about it as a sociological (sub-)discipline rather than a specific field of study. The method makes us sensitive to the social and historical impact of the relatively autonomous world of meanings, it brings under attention the cultural aspects and background of social practices, material objects, institutional arrangements, behavioral inclinations, etc.
Syllabus
  • In the first part we will discuss the theoretical background of cultural sociology (the structural-hermeneutics, Durkheimian sociology, phenomenology, hermeneutics, structuralism, etc.) and in the second part we will move to particular cases where we will connect theory with everyday life experiences.
  • Class schedule:
  • 1.Introduction to the course
  • 2.Cultural sociology as a new paradigm in social sciences
  • 3.Meaning as the central category of cultural sociology
  • 4.From phenomenology to collective memory and nostalgia
  • 5.Modern imaginaries and their cultural genealogy: cultural explanations of the historical emergence of cultural forms
  • 6.Symbols and rituals as collective representations
  • 7.Reading week, no class
  • 8.Cultural trauma and circulation of meanings
  • 9.Events and cultural sociology
  • 10.Material culture and the analytical re-enchantment of modern experience: iconicity, iconic meaning and iconic experience
  • 11.Cultural sociology and everyday life: food, fashion and the social power of tastes and easthetics
  • 12.Students’ presentations
  • 13.Students’ presentations
Literature
  • See the course sylabus in the IS
  • See the course syllabus in the IS study materials
  • BARTMANSKI, Dominik Maksymilian and Jeffrey ALEXANDER. Materiality and Meaning in Social Life: Toward an Iconic Turn in Cultural Sociology. In Iconic Power: Materiality and Meaning in Social Life. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, p. 1-14. Cultural Sociology Series. ISBN 978-0-230-34005-3. info
  • ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. The meanings of social life : a cultural sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, 296 p. ISBN 9780195306408. info
Teaching methods
Lectures and seminars
Assessment methods
Requirements:
Position papers: for each class students prepare position papers on the assigned literature (each text assigned). In this written preparation they will identify the major argument(s) of the text, questions and dilemmas it opens, possible contradictions and/or most interesting points to discuss. These preparations also serve as a possible ground for the class discussion.
Before the reading week, each student will have chosen a topic for a mini-project from the field of cultural sociology (this topic has to be consulted with one of the teachers) and will be working on this throughout the second half of the course.
Individual presentations: during the last two weeks of the semester (and possibly earlier), each student will present his or her project before the class (a 10 minute presentation).
Final essay: the presentation will then be developed into a final paper of 2000-3000 words and meeting academic standards.
Students will be graded according to their activity in the class, quality of the individual presentation and especially of the final paper.
During the course, students can be absent three times at most. For each absence they elaborate an extended position paper and will send it via e-mail to one of the teachers no later than one week after the missed class.
Otherwise the communication between students and teachers (consultations of the individual projects etc.) will be conducted in person, either during the classes or during the office hours.
Teachers do not consult over e-mail!
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2013, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2013/SOC571E