Course syllabus

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SOCIOL 105: Cultural Studies and Society

2018 (Semester I)

Course Outline

 

 Lecturer:       Dr Bruce Cohen

Office Hours: Thursdays, 1-3pm

Room: HSB 920, Department of Sociology

Tel: 09-373-7599, extn. 89497

E-mail: b.cohen@auckland.ac.nz

General course information

 This course is taught through two lectures (of 1 hour each) and one tutorial session (1 hour) per week. The University’s general expectation is that each undergraduate course requires an average of ten hours work per week. This includes lecture and tutorial attendance, reading of the required texts, as well as additional study towards reaching the learning outcomes and successfully completing related assignments and exams.

 Lectures:

Tuesdays 9-10am and Thursdays 10-11am

Tutorials:

Please attend one tutorial session per week after completing the related mandatory reading(s) for that week. There are no tutorials in the first week of this course.

Tutors:

Names, contact details and office hours for our tutors will be announced on Canvas during the first week of teaching. Please use your tutor’s office hours rather than email; using email may cause considerable delays in getting a response from your tutor. Please check this course outline for the information you may require, please also use the lecturer’s office hours.     

Course objectives

 A cultural studies approach to social life focuses on the way we experience the world, taking account of what we see, hear, communicate, consume, and produce. This course includes analysis of a wide range of cultural ‘texts’ including (but not limited to) television, film, art, music, adverts, video games, sport, and subcultures. A cultural studies approach to the analysis of these ‘texts’ examines the changing relationships between culture, society, history, politics, and technology in the contemporary world.

Students who successfully complete the course will have: 

  • a familiarity and critical understanding of a range of social and sociological theories relevant to the study of cultural studies and popular culture;
  • the ability to utilise the above theories in analysing a range of cultural ‘texts’;
  • an understanding of how people in western society are influenced by images and objects, including knowledge of the role of power in the production and consumption of such cultural texts.

 Assessments

The assessments for this course are: First Assignment (20%), Project Essay (30%), and final Exam (50%)

(Please note that there is no physical hand-in for the two pieces of course work. Instead, both must be uploaded to Turnitin via the SOCIOL 105 Campus page (no additional coversheets, class IDs, or passwords are required). Once marked, comments and feedback will be available through accessing your assignment on Turnitin). Any hard copies of assignments handed in will not be marked).  

First Assignment (1,000 words) (20%)

Upload by 6pm on Monday 26 March

For this assignment you are required to:

Discuss why the definitions of culture should be considered as contested.

This assignment is based on the first few weeks of the course in which you will learn that concepts of ‘culture’ are far from easy to define, and that there are highly significant reasons for people in western society to attempt to separate the ‘high’ from the ‘low’ and the ‘authentic’ from the ‘inauthentic’ in cultural practices.

Please centre your discussion on the contemplation of the definitions and their implications for further understanding cultural activities in modern society. In making your argument, please draw on the appropriate scholarship giving a minimum of five academic references.

Important notes on the completion of the First Assignment

In line with International Sociological Association policy, the use of sexist, racist or trans/homophobic language will not be tolerated on this course.

In completing the First Assignment you should:

  •  have a clear focus, and a clear structure to your writing;
  • use good English, with appropriate punctuation, avoiding slang and abbreviations;
  • include specific thinkers, theorists, texts, sources and examples.
  • type your assignments using double-spaced, 12-point font;
  • include at least five academic references (e.g. journal articles, academic books, chapters in academic collections, etc.);
  • include a full reference list which contains all the references used in the main text (referencing must comply with APA, Chicago or Harvard referencing styles);
  • include a word count total at the end of your assignment (footnotes will be included in the word count, your reference list will not).

One mark per day will be deducted for lateness.

Please plan your background research and writing appropriately. We will no longer accept coursework for marking if it is over a week late – in these cases the essay will receive no marks.

Please stick to the word limit (no more than 10% under or over the word limit is allowed).

Please check your assignment matching score in advance on Turnitin (you can re-submit your assignment on Turnitin up until the official deadline date/time). Assignments with a match score of 40% or higher on Turnitin will receive no mark.

Project Essay (2,000 words) (30%)

Upload by 6pm on Monday 7 May 

You have three choices for your essay. Whichever you choose, please include and discuss structural and sociological theory that allows for a deeper, critical understanding of the text/topic (see the last page of this course outline for our Project Essay marking guide):

1. Drawing on the work of Henry Jenkins, choose a cultural text and discuss the extent to which it can be considered as an example of ‘authentic’ cultural practice.

 OR

2. Using the ideas of the Frankfurt School, choose and analyse a cultural text which you would argue either affirms or challenges theories about ‘the culture industry’.

 OR

3. Choose a cultural text which can be argued to ‘resist’ dominant codes and ideologies, and, utilising appropriate theory, explain how this resistance is demonstrated and practised in the text.

Important notes on the completion of the Project Essay

In line with International Sociological Association policy, the use of sexist, racist or homophobic language will not be tolerated on this course.

In completing your assignments you should:

  • have a clear focus, and a clear structure to your writing;
  • use good English, with appropriate punctuation, avoiding slang and abbreviations;
  • include specific thinkers, theorists, texts, sources and examples.
  • type your assignments using double-spaced, 12-point font;
  • include at least ten academic references (e.g. journal articles, academic books, chapters in academic collections, etc.);
  • include a full reference list which contains all the references used in the main text (referencing must comply with APA, Chicago or Harvard referencing styles);
  • include a word count total at the end of your assignment (footnotes will be included in the word count, your reference list will not);
  • you are also welcome to add an Appendix which clarifies the cultural text you are discussing in your essay (e.g. song text, photo, etc.).

One mark per day will be deducted for lateness.

Please plan your background research and writing appropriately. We will no longer accept coursework for marking if it is over a week late – in these cases the essay will receive no marks.

Please stick to the word limit (no more than 10% under or over the word limit is allowed)

Please check your assignment matching score in advance on Turnitin (you can re-submit your assignment on Turnitin up until the official deadline date/time). Assignments with a match score of 40% or higher on Turnitin will receive no mark.

Prescribed course text

All assigned readings for the course are collected in this book:

Cohen B M Z (ed.) (2012) Being Cultural. Auckland: Pearson.

New copies can be purchased from the University Book Shop for around $69, and they usually have a pile of second-hand copies selling for at least 20$ less. An eText version is available direct from the publishers for around $48, see http://www.pearsoned.co.nz/9781486008827 There are also a number of copies of the book available at the General Library.

Lectures, required reading(s), and additional readings

Week 1

Tuesday 27 February

1.Introduction and course overview

Thursday 29 February

2.Sociology and the study of ‘culture’

Required Reading

John Storey, ‘‘Culture’ in Cultural Studies’ (chapter2) 

Additional Reading

Barker C (2008) Cultural Studies: Theory and practice (3rd edn). London: Sage. (see pp. 39-54)

Giddens A (2006) Sociology (5th edn). Cambridge: Polity. (see pp. 3-28)

Long E (2007) ‘Cultural Studies’, in Ritzer G (ed.) Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Malden: Blackwell.

Matthewman S (2004) ‘Introduction’, in Bell C and Matthewman S (eds) Cultural studies in Aotearoa New Zealand: Identity, space and place (pp. vii-xiv). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Spillman L (2007) ‘Culture’, in Ritzer G (ed.) Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Malden: Blackwell.

Week 2

Tuesday 6 March

3.Arnold and Leavis: ‘High’ and ‘low’ culture

Thursday 8 March

4.Applying Arnold and Leavis: European ‘civilisation’ and the rise of popular culture

Required Reading

Bruce Cohen, ‘Cultural Studies and Sociology: Early developments and keywords’ (chapter 1)

Additional Reading

Inglis D (2012) ‘Sociology of Art and Culture’, in Cohen B M Z (ed.) Being Cultural. Auckland: Pearson.

King M J (1991) ‘The Theme Park Experience: What museums can learn from Mickey Mouse’, The Futurist, 25(6): 24-31.

Leavis F R (1998) ‘Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture’, in Storey, J. (ed.) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (2nd edn) (pp. 13-21). Athens: University of Georgia Press.

Week 3

Tuesday 13 March

5.Adorno: Mass production and ‘the culture industry’

Thursday 15 March

6.Applying Adorno: Jazz and popular music

Required Reading

Douglas Kellner, ‘The Frankfurt School and the Culture Industry’ (chapter 4)

Additional Reading

Adorno T And Horkheimer M (2007) ‘The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as mass deception’, in During S (ed.) The Cultural Studies Reader (3rd edn) (pp. 405-415). Abingdon: Routledge.

Hutnyk J (2000) Critique of Exotica: Music, politics and the culture industry. London: Pluto Press. (see pp. 19-49)

Louw P E (2001) The Media and Cultural Production. London: Sage. (see pp. 37-68)

Week 4

Tuesday 20 March

7.Williams and Hall: Folk and working class culture

Thursday 22 March

8.Applying Williams and Hall: Television

Required Reading

Jeff Lewis and Belinda Lewis, ‘British Cultural Studies: Culturalism and beyond’ (chapter 5)

Additional Reading

Hall S (1998) ‘Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’’, in Storey J (ed.) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (2nd edn) (pp. 442-453). Athens: University of Georgia Press.

Leach E E (2001) ‘Vicars of ‘Wannabe’: Authenticity and the Spice Girls’, Popular Music, 20(2): 143-167.

Negus K (1999) ‘The Music Business and Rap: Between the street and the executive suite’, Cultural Studies, 13(3): 488-508.

Week 5

[First Assignment due by 6pm on Monday 26 March]

Tuesday 27 March

9.CCCS: Youth cultural studies and subcultures

Thursday 29 March

10.Applying CCCS: ‘Bodgies’ and ‘Widgies’

Required Reading

Andy Bennett, ‘From Subculture to Post Subculture: A critical overview of contemporary youth cultural studies’ (chapter 6)

Additional Reading

Bennett A (1999) ‘Subcultures or Neo-Tribes? Rethinking the relationship between youth, style and musical taste’, Sociology, 33(3): 599-617.

Clarke J, Hall S, Jefferson T, and Roberts B. (2005) ‘Subcultures, Cultures and Class’, in Gelder, K. (ed.) The Subcultures Reader (2nd edn) (pp. 94-104). New York: Routledge.

Hill A (2002) ‘Acid House and Thatcherism: Noise, the mob, and the English countryside’, British Journal of Sociology, 53(1): 89-105.

Yska R (1993) All Shook Up: The flash Bodgie and the rise of the New Zealand teenager in the fifties. Auckland: Penguin. (see pp. 171-194)

[Mid-Semester Break: 30 March to 15 April]

Week 6

Tuesday 17 April

11.Jenkins: Fan culture and the active audience

Thursday 19 April

12.Reality TV

Required Reading

Henry Jenkins, ‘Democratizing Television? The politics of participation’ (chapter 20)

Additional Reading

Baldwin E, Longhurst B, McCracken S, Ogborn M and Smith G (eds.) (2004) Introducing Cultural Studies (1st rev. edn). Harlow: Pearson. (see pp. 358-362)

Holmes S (2004) ‘‘But this Time you Choose!’: Approaching the ‘interactive’ audience in reality TV’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7(2): 213-231.

Livingstone S (2003) ‘The changing nature of Audiences: From the mass audience to the interactive media user’, in Valdivia A N (ed.) A Companion to Media Studies. Malden: Blackwell.

Nightingale V and Dwyer T (2006) ‘The Audience Politics of ‘Enhanced’ Television Formats’, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 2(1): 25-42.

West A (2012) ‘Reality Television: Actuality, authenticity, artifice’, in Cohen B M Z (ed.) Being Cultural. Auckland: Pearson.

Week 7

Tuesday 24 April

13.Gender

Thursday 26 April

14.Ethnicity

Required Reading

Tracey Jensen, ‘Gender, Popular Culture and Postfeminism’ (chapter 10)

Nabeel Zuberi, ‘The Racialisation of Culture’ (chapter 11)

Additional Reading

Geraghty C (1991) Women and Soap Opera: A study of prime time soaps. Cambridge: Polity Press. (see pp. 39-59)

Hann S (2001) ‘Acting on Impulse, Claiming Sexuality and Kicking Ass: New women’s heterosexualities in New Zealand popular culture’, Women’s Studies Journal, 17(1): 49-65.

Hess M (2005) ‘Hip-Hop Realness and the White Performer’, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 22(5): 372-389.

Radway J (1991) Reading the Romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature. Chapel Hill: University of North Caroline Press. (see pp. 86-118)

Week 8

Tuesday 1 May

15.Assignment Preparation Session (APS) towards the completion of your Project Essay

-this session runs between 10am-11.30am in the Arts Students' Centre study space on Level 4 of the HSB. [NOT in the lecture theatre].

-APS is an assignment ‘one-stop drop-in’ opportunity for you to talk with the subject librarian, library writing tutors, your lecturer and tutors to help you improve your SOCIOL 105 essay grade.

You can get help with:

  • Understanding the question
  • Finding and evaluating sources
  • How to start writing
  • Referencing and bibliography
  • Assignment structure
  • Content and ideas

-Bring your ideas, questions, and essay plans to the session. You can ask ANYTHING! From not knowing which question to choose through to polishing your introduction or conclusion.

-The APS team are happy to help so get ready to ask anything you want about researching, writing and referencing your essay.

Thursday 3 May

16.Celebrity

Required Reading

Chris Rojek, ‘Celebrity’ (chapter 16)

Additional Reading

Debord, Guy (1994) The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books.

Ferris, Kerry O. (2007) ‘The Sociology of Celebrity’, Sociology Compass, 1(1) 371-384.

Lasch, Christopher (1979) The Culture Of Narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. New York: Norton.

Rojek, Chris (2004) Celebrity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Week 9

[Project Essay due by 6pm on Monday 7 May]

Tuesday 8 May

17.Consumption and identity

Thursday 10 May

18.Advertising

Required Reading

Catherine Reynolds, ‘Consumption, Culture and Change’ (chapter 14)

Geoff Stahl, ‘Advertising: Mapping the ‘new and improved’ mediascape’ (chapter 15)

Additional Reading

du Gay P (2004) ‘Self-Service: Retail, shopping and personhood’, Consumption, Markets and Culture, 7(2): 149-163.

Goodman D J and Cohen M (2004) Consumer Culture. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. (see pp. 1-25)

 

Klein N (1999) No Logo: Taking aim at the brand bullies. New York: Picador. (see pp. 3-26)

Williams R (1991) ‘The Dream World of Mass Consumption’, in Mukerji C and Schudson M (eds) Rethinking Popular Culture: Contemporary perspectives in cultural studies. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Week 10

Tuesday 15 May

19.Globalisation and branding national identity

Thursday 17 May

20.Sport

Required Reading

Claudia Bell, ‘Pakeha Identity and Material Culture’ (chapter 12)

Barry Smart, ‘Global Sport and the Cultural Economy of Late Capitalism: Play, spectacle, and profit’ (chapter 17)

Additional Reading

Bell C (2006) ‘Branding New Zealand: The national green-wash’, British Review of New Zealand Studies, 15: 5-20.

Grixti J (2006) ‘Indigenous Culture and Global Media: Young people’s shifting perceptions of tradition and identity’, in McNaughton H and Lam A (eds) The Reinvention of Everyday Life: Culture in the twenty-first century (pp. 135-142). Christchurch: University of Canterbury Press.

Schirato T (2007) Understanding Sports Culture. London: Sage. (see pp. 5-21)

Week 11

Tuesday 22 May

21.Videogames

Thursday 24 June

22.Digital and social media

Required Reading

Eli Boulton and Colin Cremin, ‘The Sociology of Videogames’ (chapter 24)

Andrew Whelan, ‘Digital Media: The cultural politics of information’ (chapter 22)

Additional Reading

Craigie A (2012) ‘Facebook: Audiences, surveillance, friendship and identity’, in Cohen B M Z (ed.) Being Cultural. Auckland: Pearson.

Fuchs C (2017) Social Media: A Critical Introduction. Los Angeles: Sage.

Lewis J (2008) Cultural Studies: The basics. Los Angeles: Sage. (see pp. 327-343)

Poole S (2000) Trigger Happy: Videogames and the entertainment revolution. New York: Arcade.

Week 12

Tuesday 29 May

23.Film

Thursday 31 May

24.Exam revision

  • [Exam Study Break begins on Saturday 2 June]

Additional readings

For those additional readings listed in this course outline (see section above) which are not from the Being Cultural book, students are expected to locate these themselves. Students are not expected to read all of the suggested additional readings for each tutorial. However, it is expected that students will have a general familiarity with the central texts related to each subject. Please note that at the end of each chapter of the textbook there are also recommendations for further readings on the topic (and likewise, on the last page of each lecture powerpoint) - these will be particularly useful for researching your Project Essay.

Students are expected to undertake their own library research for assignments, and should not rely on the textbook provided. In order to ensure you are using up-to-date information, it is highly recommended that you become familiar with using journals and databases. Tutorials are available from the General Library at the start of semester – please check their website for further details.

The library holds numerous other specialist journals on popular culture, popular music, television, film, etc., many of which are only accessible online. When utilising online journals, please endeavour to use the PDF version of articles, as these are electronic versions of the published version, and therefore the more authoritative.

General sociological encyclopaedias and dictionaries will also be useful (for example, the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology).

Great care should be taken in using material from websites – this will be discussed in class. Wikipedia will not be accepted as a reference for assignments in this course.

Further readings and resources

The University’s library has a large holding of books pertinent to the issues discussed in this course. The following is a selection of general texts which cover the area of cultural studies and popular culture, but they are by no means exhaustive. Please return library loans promptly to ensure that everyone has a chance to use the books.

Baldwin E, Longhurst B, McCracken S, Ogborn M and Smith G (eds) (2004) Introducing Cultural Studies (1st rev. edn). Harlow: Pearson.

Barker C (2008) Cultural Studies: Theory and practice (3rd edn). Los Angeles: Sage.

Bell C and Matthewman S (eds) (2004) Cultural Studies in Aotearoa New Zealand: Identity, space and place. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Bennett T, Mercer C and Woollacott J (1986) Popular Culture and Social Relations. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

During S (ed.) (1999) The Cultural Studies Reader (2nd edn). New York: Routledge.

Evans J and Hall S (eds) (1999) Visual Culture: The reader. London: Sage.

Fiske J (2001) Reading the Popular. London: Taylor & Francis. [e-resource]

Fuchs C (2017) Social Media: A Critical Introduction. Los Angeles: Sage.

Gary A and McGuigan J (eds) (1997) Studying Culture: An Introductory Reader (2nd edn). London: Arnold.

Gelder K (ed.) (2005) The Subcultures Reader (2nd edn). New York: Routledge.

Mirzoeff N (ed.) (2002) The Visual Culture Reader (2nd edn). London: Routledge.

Sardar Z, Van Loon B and Appignanesi R (1999) Introducing Cultural Studies. London: Icon Books.

Storey J (ed.) (1998) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader (2nd edn). New York: Prentice-Hall.

Strinati D (2000) An Introduction to Studying Popular Culture. New York: Routledge.

Library resources

Please use the library and familiarise yourself with all the wonderful resources we have on our doorstep. You will find our Subject Librarian particularly useful when undertaking background research towards the completion of your Project Essay:

Anahera Morehu

Arts Information Services l Toi Aronui

Level 1, General Library

Phone: 09-923-8053 (extn. 82881)

Email: a.morehu@auckland.ac.nz

Department of Sociology library webpage:

http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subject-guides/socio/socsubj.htm

Sociology podcast

I can highly recommend the weekly BBC Radio 4 podcast ‘Thinking Allowed’ hosted by reformed criminologist Laurie Taylor. He is often discussing issues of relevance to this course, and always features commentaries from cutting-edge sociologists and related social scientists. You can also access about ten years’ worth of back issues of the programme. Well worth a look:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/ta

 

Help with Sociology essays:

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/

Student Learning Services:

https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/services/student-learning

TUAKANA Tuakana is a program for Maori and Pacific Island students with the aim of providing extra pastoral and content help. The Tuakana mentor for this paper will be available to provide extra assistance with essay writing and content. Tuakana workshops should NOT be used as a substitute for regular lecture and tutorial attendance.

The email for Tuakana in our department is: tuakana.sociol@auckland.ac.nz The Tuakana mentor is here to provide assistance such as extra assessment preparation, looking over draft copies of essays, helping with academic skills, and any other pastoral or content help needed by the Maori and Pasifika students in this class. Please utilise their service, they are here to help. The mentor will be announced in class.

Turnitin

This course uses the Turnitin electronic plagiarism detection service. Plagiarism continues to be a significant issue at universities worldwide. This service helps to safeguard the value of your degree. You must cite all sources correctly and in full. Keep direct quotations relevant and to a minimum. Please do not use any previous essay writing handed in for other courses (this also counts as serious academic misconduct at the University of Auckland).

 Acknowledgement of sources is an important aspect of academic writing. The University’s Referen©ite website www.cite.auckland.ac.nz provides students with a one-stop online resource for academic referencing needs. Referen©ite explains the essentials of referencing and how to avoid plagiarism. It also includes practical tools to help students reference correctly, use references effectively in writing, and gives fast access to some major reference formats with examples. 

If you need further help, information, or advice please also consider…

The Student Learning Service;

 

SOCIOL 105 (CULTURAL STUDIES AND SOCIETY)

PROJECT ESSAY MARKING GUIDE

 

1. ORGANISATION

Poor(D)

Adequate(C)

Good(B)

Very Good(A)

Introduction – the topic and the approach explained

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progression – ideas/arguments flow logically

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion - summarises key points raised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. CONTENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowledge and understanding of key debates around the topic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of appropriate theory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Critical analysis of the text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use of appropriate sources

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. PRESENTATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spelling, grammar and sentence structuring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Referencing of sources and quotes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consistency and completeness of Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Please note: the final mark for your essay will be particularly weighted towards the ‘Content’ (i.e. section 2, above) of your essay.

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due