Cultural Studies

Though the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS, 1964-2002) — otherwise known as the ‘Birmingham School’ — is among the formative influences of many current programmes and research projects in the Humanities, their work is no longer prominent on the syllabi of many courses. This course revisits some of the methodological and political issues of, let’s say, ‘old-school’ Cultural Studies, touches on subsequent developments, and attempts to reassess both in light of the volatile present. Topics of interest include the conjuncture, identity, material and symbolic realities, interdisciplinarity, and popular culture. For Stuart Hall, the critical question for the practice of cultural studies was as straightforward as it was far-reaching: ‘What’s going on?’ In a time of accelerating and deepening crises, that question may be hard to answer — or, from another angle, perhaps too easy. How can we, from our situatedness in the present, reassess the legacies of Cultural Studies, and how may Cultural Studies help us to gain perspective on the present?
With readings by Stuart Hall, Mieke Bal, Paul Smith, Lawrence Grossberg, Nancy Fraser, Jim McGuigan, Angela McRobbie, Miriyan Aouragh, and others.

Fridays, 15:00-17:00. Through Canvas/Zoom;
Dates: October 9, October 16, October 30, November 6, November 13, November 20, December 4;
Enrolment: contact Eloe Kingma at nica-fgw@uva.nl before September 26. Be sure to specify your research-master programme and university.