2026/2027
Критические и культурные теории
Статус:
Маго-лего
Кто читает:
Институт медиа
Где читается:
Факультет креативных индустрий
Когда читается:
3 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для своего кампуса
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
3
Контактные часы:
28
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course examines key texts in contemporary critical theory through collective practices of presenting, studying and learning. It encourages deep, analytical, cover-to-cover readings that immerse students in an author’s arguments, theories and methods, reviving the practice of book reading in academic and intellectual contexts: books, unlike journal articles, offer enhanced expressive possibilities to reader and writer alike. The selected books are key contemporary texts in cultural theory, offering concrete yet multilayered concepts applicable across different spheres of social life. Each week a group of students presents a book of their choice from a list suggested by the instructors. The course draws on the legacy of critical and cultural theory (explored in Class 1) and expands it to questions of structure, agency and identity in late modern social contexts, and to globalization, neoliberalism and hyper-mediatization.
Learning Objectives
- To acquaint students with key scholars and theories of cultural studies.
- To acquaint students with the history of cultural studies and the current state of the art in the field.
- To study important and up-to-date works in cultural studies.
- To practise the art of presenting complex theoretical concepts.
- To examine the cultural dimensions of questions related to social class and ethnicity.
- To examine contemporary cultural phenomena through the lens of theory.
- To master the ability to deploy cultural theory in the study of social phenomena.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Determines the history of the development of critical theory and cultural studies
- Uses cultural theories for the analysis of social phenomena and problems
- Assesses major works of cultural theory
- Presents theoretical concepts in class and explains them through relevant examples
- Formulates and directs seminar discussion on the basis of a studied text
Course Contents
- Introduction: Critical and Cultural Theories
- Eva Illouz (2013), Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism
- Angela McRobbie (2016), Be Creative: Making a Living in the New Culture Industries
- Stephanie A. Baker & Chris Rojek (2022), Lifestyle Gurus: Constructing Authority and Influence Online
- Sara Ahmed (2000), Strange Encounters
- Beverley Skeggs (2003/2013), Class, Self, Culture
- Mark Andrejevic (2020), Automated Media
Interim Assessment
- 2026/2027 3rd module0.2 * Participation in seminar discussions + 0.7 * Book presentation + 0.1 * Attendance
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Capitalism : a conversation in critical theory, Fraser, N., 2018
- Critical theory and social media : between emancipation and commodification, Allmer, T., 2016
- Lifestyle gurus : constructing authority and influence online, Baker, S. A., 2020
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Critical theory : selected essays, Horkheimer, M., 1982