Inhalt
What is culture and how can we study it? This introductory lecture examines Anglophone cultures through cultural studies methodologies and theories. We will explore culture as a contested site where meanings are continually mediated, negotiated, and resisted, dealing with cultural concepts such as hegemony, ideology, representation, intersectionality, identities, the nation, and cultural politics. The lecture introduces analytical approaches to advertizing, film, music, short fiction, political speeches, audiovisual clips, and social media artifacts, examining how such texts are produced, circulated, and consumed, and how meanings are encoded and decoded to create an "image of the world" (Storey, 2024, p. 3). This lecture will enable students to identify power relations across a variety of media forms and provide a space for reflecting on how cultural studies approaches can be linked to the ELT classroom. We will explore how imaginaries about ethnicities, class, age, gender and sexuality, are constructed through popular culture and everyday life, focusing on topics such as exceptionalism, myths, civil rights, feminism, immigration, subcultures, youth identities, diversity, and climate change, to name but a few.
Inhaltliche Voraussetzungen
siehe Lehrplan
Ziel
By the end of the term, students will be able to
- identify and explain relevant cultural studies concepts and apply them to concrete case studies
- analyze the complex interrelationships between various categories of identity (e.g. 'race' and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class, age)
- interpret various (pop)cultural artifacts using theoretical approaches from cultural studies and reflect on this knowledge with regard to English language teaching
Lehr- und Lernmethode
Interaktion Lehrende und Lernende
Methodologically, the lecture draws on cultural studies analysis with close reading and critical media analysis, enabling students to identify power relations across cultural and media production, circulation, and reception. It builds a shared vocabulary and a practical critical toolkit for studying Anglophone cultures. Weekly readings, listenings, and viewings.
Teilnahmekriterien und Anmeldung
siehe Stellung im Lehrplan
Zusatzinformationen
Empfohlene Fachliteratur
All texts will be supplied via MOODLE (incl. primary and secondary sources), drawing in parts on chapters from these books below.
-Campbell, Neil et al. (2025). American Cultural Studies: An Introduction to American Culture (5th ed.). Routledge.
-Kellner, Douglas (2020). Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity, and Politics in the Contemporary Moment (2nd ed.). Routledge.
- Trainer/in: Radler Helena Sonali