Instructor: Kristin Scott
Office Hours: By Appointment
E-Mail: or
Class Blog: http://culturalstudies08.wordpress.com/
Reading and Assignment Schedule
Course Description:
Required Texts:
- Nealon, J. & Searls Giroux, S. (2003) Theory Toolbox. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
- Solomon, J. & Maasik, S. (2006) Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Cultures for Writers, Second Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
- Other Assigned Readings/Viewings will be made available in class or online.
Course Description and Rationale: This course introduces students to the terms, analytical techniques, and interpretive strategies commonly employed in cultural studies. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary approaches to exploring how cultural processes and artifacts are produced, shaped, distributed, consumed and responded to in diverse ways. Through discussion, research and writing, class members investigate these varied dimensions of culture; learn to understand them in their broader social, aesthetic, ethical, and political contexts; and thereby prepare for more advanced course work in cultural studies.
Within this course, we will explore how cultures are shaped, as well as the diversity of human responses to cultural events, products, and communities. We will ask questions about how power informs or reflects various cultural practices, images, and their accompanying narratives (or the stories these items tell). We will also consider and examine how cultural artifacts such as advertisements, television, public spaces and places, icons, propaganda, artistic expressions, literary texts, and architecture are produced, consumed, and appropriated.
Course Objectives: Introduction to Cultural Studies is designed as a gateway course to the cultural studies major and as a general education option for students in other majors who would like an introduction to cultural studies. The following learning outcomes have been established to fulfill these purposes.
- Students will become familiar with basic concepts of cultural studies: for instance, power, agency, identity, ideology, and representation.
- Students will learn to use interdisciplinary critical perspectives to examine the diverse and sometimes contested meanings of cultural objects and processes.
- Students will learn strategies to connect cultural knowledge to everyday life and practices.
- Students will learn to develop their analyses of culture through oral and written modes of communication.
Prerequisites: None
Credits: this course provides a general education credit for humanities (HU). By taking this course you will complete three of the 48 semester hours of general education credits required for graduation from ColumbiaCollege. In addition, the course will assist you in achieving one of the fifteen outcomes that are the basis of the general education program. The specific outcome to be realized through completion of the course is "becoming familiar with various forms of creative expression in the arts through analysis and comparison of their components."
Introduction to Cultural Studies can be used for either general education credit or cultural studies credit. It cannot be used for both.
Grades and course requirements:
A |
94-100 |
A- |
90-93 |
B+ |
87-89 |
B |
84-86 |
B- |
80-83 |
C+ |
77-79 |
C |
74-76 |
C- |
70-73 |
D |
60-69 |
F |
59 And Below |
Grade Distribution:
Online Weekly Responses – 30%
Case Study Proposal – 10%
Case Study Essay – 30%
Group Case Study Presentations – 10%
Final Take-Home Examination – 20%
Online Weekly Responses:
Each week, with the exception of weeks in which other major assignments are due, students will be required to post a thoughtful and critical response to readings and/or class discussions via questions posed by the professor in an online class blog discussion forum. Students are expected to not only engage with the topic and/or question, but also with one another, so that it truly becomes a discussion forum. Emphasis will be placed on quality of writing (over quantity) and one’s ability to contextualize readings (making responses relevant to the broader concepts being studied).
If, for some reason, the blog server (Wordpress) is down, you must still turn in your response on time, in class. I recommend that everyone copy and paste the assignment into a word document and keep a copy of their responses on their computers, just in case the blog server or your internet provider encounters a problem in the middle of your posting. There is nothing worse than spending an hour or more writing a response on the blog and losing it to “technical difficulties” before you hit the send button. If you have a copy of your response on word prior to posting, all you need to do is copy and paste it into the comments section on the blog. Your blog responses will count as 30% of your final grade.
Be warned early on: if you skip more than two blog responses, your overall final grade will suffer. You have to keep in mind that we will only have about ten blog responses during the entire semester, so missing two or more will automatically lower your response grade by quite a bit, which will, in turn, significantly impact your overall final grade, since these assignments are cumulatively worth 30% of your total grade.
Case Study Work:
Each student is required to engage in the process of conducting a culturally significant case study. We will spend a good part of the semester working on just one case study, but in phases, so that you can hone your critical thinking, research, writing, and presentation skills – all of which are imperative to the cultural studies major, but are also highly significant to any other field of study. Early on in the semester, you will choose an issue, phenomenon, or cultural artifact within contemporary culture to study. The following outlines the basic process, though more detailed instructions will be provided to you when assigned in class:
- Case Study Proposal: 10% of final grade
Following guidelines that I will provide later, you will propose your case study to me in no less than one full page. You will pose a specific set of questions to ask about a particular cultural artifact, phenomenon, or text that you intend to study and analyze and describe your intended process of research, observation, and analysis. This gives me a chance to make sure that your proposed case study is both specific and doable. I will provide feedback that will then assist you in your analysis process and the writing of your case study essay.
- Case-study Essay (6-8 pgs): 30% of final grade
Once your case study proposal has been approved, you will then conduct your research (field research if applicable, as well as outside research, which incorporates at least two outside sources). Your overall findings will help shape your thesis (or your overall argument), which should directly address the question or set of questions you initially sought to explore. You will write a 4-6 page essay that describes your case study, analyzes its specific elements, and supports your overall thesis or argument. Your outside research should be used to support and/or explain your observations. More detailed information about what is expected in your essay will be provided prior to its due date.
- Group Case Study Presentation: 10% of final grade
Near the middle of the semester, I will divide the class up into four or five small groups to identify, analyze, and present a group case study. You and your group should utilize whatever visual aids possible (video, music, handouts, photos, etc.) to help illustrate or exemplify one or more key points you want to highlight. The goal of the group case study presentations is to demonstrate that you are able to identify and critically discuss some cultural artifact and/or phenomenon that has not been previously discussed or explored, as well as your ability to present your thoughts to your colleagues. Your presentations must be critical and engaging; creativity in presentation is highly encouraged. No written work will be required, other than a summary of what tasks each of you performed and how your group collaborated on the project, as a whole. Further details will be provided to you prior to the group case study presentation dates.
Final Take-Home Examination: You will be assigned a take-home final exam one week prior to its due date, which is the last day of class. The final exam will require you to put into practice what you have learned in this course. In addition to short and long answer sections, you will be expected to do a mini-case study evaluation of an image or text that I will provide to you, utilizing key ideas, concepts, and theories from the course. More information will be made available as the exam date approaches. Your final take-home examination will count as 20% of your final grade.
Participation:
Attendance is required – both physically and mentally. You are expected to take an active role in class discussions and online. Also, please make sure your phone is off or on buzz (and buried deep inside your backpack), so it’s not heard while in class. Save your text messaging for after class or at break. I do not want to see anyone text messaging during class.
Attendance:
You should be in each and every class, though I understand that things sometimes come up. I would appreciate some advanced notice if you know you will be absent, and I expect you to exchange your contact information with a few other classmates so that if you are out, you can contact them for information on what you missed in class. You are responsible for getting the information you missed. Please keep in mind that each time you are absent, you miss a lot of in-class discussion that may affect your overall understanding of the topics being covered and inevitably your performance.
Furthermore, for each time you come to class ten minutes late or more, or leave ten minutes or more early, you will be charged with a ½ absence. Please take into consideration the elevator problem in this building and be prepared to leave earlier than you otherwise would (in other buildings) to get here. There is nothing that perturbs me more than stragglers, as it disrupts the flow of the class and distracts other students.
Only two such instances of being tardy or leaving early will quickly result in one full absence! And more than two absences in this class WILL impact your final grade – not only because I will take your attendance into consideration when issuing your final grade, but because previous experience suggests that those who miss classes are inevitably also those who do less well on assignments because they missed crucial information, instruction, and discussion.
Academic Integrity:
The Columbia College Chicago catalogue states that "the college prohibits the following conduct: all forms of academic dishonesty, including cheating; plagiarism; knowingly furnishing false information to the college; forgery; alteration or fraudulent use of college documents, instruments, or identification." if you misrepresent another's ideas and/or written work as your own, then you will earn an "f" for the course. Academic dishonesty is not worth the penalty it incurs, so don’t do it!
ConawayCenter Statement:
Students with disabilities are requested to present their Columbia accommodation letters to their instructor at the beginning of the semester so that accommodations can be arranged in a timely manner by the college, the department or the faculty member, as appropriate. Students with disabilities who do not have accommodation letters should visit the office of services for students with disabilities in room 520 of the congress building (312.344.8134/v or 312.360.0767/tty). It is incumbent upon the students to know their responsibilities in this regard. |
