SOC254 Chapters in Cultural Sociology

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2012
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 12 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Karina Hoření (assistant)
Mgr. Ali Türünz, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 16:00–17:40 U32
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 19 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Course Description:
Arguably, signs, symbols and meanings have always been the province of sociologists but not always their primary concern. Many believe we have finally taken or are in the midst of taking a “cultural turn” in contemporary sociology. Problems of meaning, discourse, aesthetics, value, textuality, and narrativity, topics traditionally within the purview of humanists, have come to the fore as sociologists increasingly emphasize the role of meanings, symbols, cultural frames and cognitive schema in their theorization of social processes and institutions. This course will chart such a move, providing a wide-ranging overview of the ways in which culture has been conceived and utilized in the evolution of contemporary cultural sociological thought, culminating in the Strong Program beginning in the 1990s in the United States.
Syllabus
  • Timetable:
  • Seminar 1: Introduction to course
  • Seminar 2: What is Culture? / Culture in Classical Social Theory
  • Seminar 3: The Durkheimians: Ritual, Classification and the Sacred
  • Seminar 4: Structuralism / Semiotics / The Poststructural Turn.
  • Seminar 5: Culture, Structure, and Agency/ British Cultural Studies
  • Seminar 6: Culture as Text
  • Seminar 7: No class – reading week
  • Seminar 8: Midterm Exam
  • Seminar 9: Strong Program: Social Performance Theory
  • Seminar 10: Strong Program: Classification and Binary Codes
  • Seminar 11: Pressing Issues: Race, Gender and the Body
  • Seminar 12: Pressing Issues: The “Dark Side of Culture”
  • Seminar 13: What to do with Cultural Sociology: Future Prospects
Literature
    required literature
  • ALEXANDER, Jeffrey C. The meanings of social life : a cultural sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, 296 p. ISBN 9780195306408. info
  • Culture and society : contemporary debates. Edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander - Steven Seidman. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, vii, 375 s. ISBN 0-521-35086-7. info
  • Social performance : symbolic action, cultural pragmatics, and ritual. Edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander - Bernhard Giesen - Jason L. Mast. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, xv, 374. ISBN 9780521857956. info
  • EDLES, Laura Desfor. Cultural sociology in practice. 1st pub. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2002, ix, 265 s. ISBN 0-631-21090-3. info
  • INGLIS, David. Culture and everyday life. 1st ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005, x, 159. ISBN 0415319269. info
  • SMITH, Philip and Alexander RILEY. Cultural theory : an introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2009, 307 p. ISBN 9781405169073. URL info
Teaching methods
lectures, tests, essay
Assessment methods
Conditions for passing the course:

1. Written mid-term exam – 50%
2. Written final exam – 50%
OR
Substitute short (4-6 page) essay for either exam (student's choice)

Particular activities of students will be evaluated as follows:

50% - Mid-term Exam
50% - Final Exam

OR:
50% - Choice of Exam
50% - Optional Essay
Language of instruction
English
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2012, recent)
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