KSCB803 Fieldwork and interview-based research in cultural studies

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2020

The course is not taught in Spring 2020

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Adina Zemanek, Ph.D. (lecturer), Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
TYP_STUDIA ( N )
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
This course will start from mapping cultural studies as a discipline by presenting its key concepts, the main spheres it takes into account and major theoretical frameworks and approaches. Its second part is intended as a practical guide to qualitative fieldwork-based research methods, with special emphasis on conducting research in China and Taiwan.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course, students will be able to:
• choose their own research topics and formulate them according to the main postulates and theoretical frameworks of cultural studies as a discipline
• formulate research questions and claims, design research projects
• choose the appropriate research method from among the presented qualitative approaches
• conduct the various stages of research as described during the course
• code and analyze data, prepare research results for presentation
• appropriately handle fieldwork-related ethical issues
• take into account the characteristics of China and Taiwan as research environments when searching for topics, formulating projects and conducting fieldwork
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to cultural studies as a discipline. Key concepts and central sites: • Culture, ideology, power • Meaning, language, discourse • Postmodernism and popular culture 2. Central sites of cultural studies - 2: • Gender, sex and the body • Economy, globalization and urban spaces • The state, politics and social movements 3. Central sites of cultural studies - 3: • Identity, ethnicity and nation • Subculture, youth, style and resistance • Media texts, producers and audiences 4. Qualitative research methods; practical issues 5. Working with texts; discourse analysis – texts and contexts; observing and collecting texts 6. Doing ethnographic research – introduction 7. Before fieldwork: designing research; problems, cases, samples; initial preparations 8. Gaining access to data; approaching the field 9. Doing fieldwork: qualitative interviewing - introduction 10. Doing fieldwork: interview techniques 11. Doing fieldwork: participant observation 12. After fieldwork: analysis. Transcripts, coding data, presentation of research results 13. Ethical issues
Literature
  • BARKER, Chris. Cultural studies : theory and practice. Edited by Paul E. Willis. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2008, xxiv, 525. ISBN 9781412924160. info
  • The Routledge critical and cultural theory reader. Edited by Neil Badmington - Julia Thomas. London: Routledge, 2008, xii, 452. ISBN 9780415433082. info
  • HAMMERSLEY, Martyn and Paul ATKINSON. Ethnography : principles in practice. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, 2007, xi, 275. ISBN 9780415396042. info
Teaching methods
Lectures will be combined with class discussions based on reading assignments, case studies involving fieldwork and exercises regarding the expounded research methods.
Assessment methods
Course attendance is compulsory – no more than 2 absences are allowed. Final grades will consist of two parts: 40% assignments and class activity during the course, 60% written research project to be handed out one week after completion of the course. The research project should contain the following items: research topic; state of existing research; assessment of feasibility and approximate budget; research method; research plan; list of academic works on similar topics available to the student at present.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2020/KSCB803