Module SOCI1351: CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Department: Applied Social Sciences (Sociology; Social Wk/Policy; Com&Yth Wk)

SOCI1351: CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To examine and contrast the main uses of the concept of culture within contemporary society.
• To describe and convey a clear understanding of the main approaches within the sociology of culture, and to identify the sociological utility of the arts and culture.
• To explore through a series of case studies, the tensions and congruences between sociological approaches to cultural forms and the discourses internal to those forms.
• To contrast sociological and other approaches to a range of forms of life such as being a sports professional, laboratory scientist or mental patient.
• To position students for deeper sociological study of specific cultural forms.

Content

• This module examines and contrasts, in an exemplary way, the various meanings and experiences of culture within contemporary society.
• In order to develop a good understanding of the main approaches within the sociology of culture, it explores through a series of case studies, the sociological approaches to cultural forms and cultural responses to social questions.
• It does this by comparing sociological and other approaches to a range of exemplary forms of life such as designing cities or solving murders.
• It is ideal preparation for students who are preparing for deeper study of specific cultural forms whether sociologically or in terms of the language of those forms themselves.
• An introduction explores definitions of culture and the recent history of the sociology of culture.
• Part one involves four separate two-week engagements with four exemplary areas of social study (in 2009-10, these were mental illness, prostitution, suburbia, surveillance). Some of these areas will change each year. This work gives rise to group poster projects, and individually differentiated commentaries.
• Part two connects arts practice to these areas, and pairs a different arts subject with each area (in 2009-10: mental illness and film; surveillance and literature; suburbia and music; prostitution and painting), proceeding to examine in each case the sociological insight and critique that the arts can offer.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Understand a range of different historical and contemporary approaches to culture and the arts
• Understand the contested nature of cultural fields, as this applies both within the arts and across society more generally
• Understand the significant relationships between the key sociological concepts of class, status, gender, ethnicity and identity - and forms of persistence, decay and emergence within the arts in contemporary society

• At the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Undertake basic sociological analysis of artistic production
• Research historically the emergence of the contemporary forms of the arts
• Apply sociological evidence to questions concerning the arts in society
• Work across social scientific and artistic discourses within the same project
• Plan the use of images to support a research project
• Work within a team to develop a poster campaign combining arts and society interests

• At the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Evaluate and synthesize information from a variety of sources (e.g. written, oral, internet, artistic)
• Communicate relevant information in writing, orally, and visually
• Work effectively as part of a team, including the developing abilities to manage time, plan a division of labour, feedback to others, critically reflect on progress and outcomes achieved personally and by the group as a whole.
• Research intensively on a small topic, and extensively on a wide concept

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Learning of basic approaches to culture, both within sociology and within the discourses of various cultural forms will be enabled by lectures, seminar exercises and assigned reading.
• Contrast between the sociology of culture and the discourses specific to various cultural forms will be developed through conventional teaching and study, but also through the use of multi-media.
• The first half of the seminar programme will examine critical issues of research and policy in each of the substantive areas; the second half of the seminar programme will enable students to understand how, in practice, sociological and policy analysis is cross-cut with cultural commentary.
• The course will be assessed formatively by the assignment of personal poster development exercise in hypothetical conference planning.
• The summative assessment will consist of one case study project (examined by group poster exhibition and individual commentary) and one essay.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Personal poster development, and construction of hypothetical conference programme.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University