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CULP-043 Intro to Culture and Politics: Humanities
The course aims to introduce students to the major theoretical paradigms of the politics of culture, and apply them to specific cultural texts and artifacts. The course is based on three main premises: first of all, that all culture is political, if by political we understand the relationship of a work of art to the social order and flows of power. Its intentions and effects can range all the way from affirming to questioning, subverting, transgressing, or protesting prevailing national, class, racial, and gender relations, to name the most pertinent axes of difference. We will ask why some artists explicitly position themselves a nonpolitical, and look at why, and how, some cultural objects obscure political power relations, and others aim to expose them. The objective is to become more conscious and sensitive to how culture positions us vis-à-vis political power.
The second premise is that there is no “objective,” disinterested stance one can take up, as a scholar, student, or consumer, vis-à-vis culture, since we are all enmeshed in symbolic systems rather than standing outside of them. Indeed, many of us participate in multiple, sometimes antagonistic cultures, and the ability to translate between them becomes increasingly important, indeed indispensable, to global citizens.
The third premise is that there is not a single theory of culture that explains all cultural texts, artifacts, and performances, and how people interact with them. Just as it is valuable to acquire fluency in different local/national/class/gendered etc. cultures, fluency in different theories of culture will enhance our aesthetic appreciation and critical faculties. We will therefore survey and investigate different definitions (aesthetic, anthropological, semiotic), registers (mass, popular, high, avant-garde), and genres (print, visual, performance) of culture.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Sections:
CULP-043-01 Intro to Culture and Politics: Humanities
The course aims to introduce students to the major theoretical paradigms of the politics of culture, and apply them to specific cultural texts and artifacts. The course is based on three main premises: first of all, that all culture is political, if by political we understand the relationship of a work of art to the social order and flows of power. Its intentions and effects can range all the way from affirming to questioning, subverting, transgressing, or protesting prevailing national, class, racial, and gender relations, to name the most pertinent axes of difference. We will ask why some artists explicitly position themselves a nonpolitical, and look at why, and how, some cultural objects obscure political power relations, and others aim to expose them. The objective is to become more conscious and sensitive to how culture positions us vis-à-vis political power.
The second premise is that there is no “objective,” disinterested stance one can take up, as a scholar, student, or consumer, vis-à-vis culture, since we are all enmeshed in symbolic systems rather than standing outside of them. Indeed, many of us participate in multiple, sometimes antagonistic cultures, and the ability to translate between them becomes increasingly important, indeed indispensable, to global citizens.
The third premise is that there is not a single theory of culture that explains all cultural texts, artifacts, and performances, and how people interact with them. Just as it is valuable to acquire fluency in different local/national/class/gendered etc. cultures, fluency in different theories of culture will enhance our aesthetic appreciation and critical faculties. We will therefore survey and investigate different definitions (aesthetic, anthropological, semiotic), registers (mass, popular, high, avant-garde), and genres (print, visual, performance) of culture.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
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