This course introduces the development of cultural studies as an approach to communication studies by focusing on Classical Social Theory and Contemporary Sociological Theory. The emphasis is on the analysis of everyday practices and issues with reference to leading theoreticians to figure out how they shape our understanding of everyday life.
Vertical Tabs
Course Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcomes | Program Learning Outcomes | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| 1) Associates cultural texts with the popular and the everyday. | 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 | 1, 2, 8, 15 | A, C |
| 2) Gains an understanding of how culture draws on the fields of History, Economy, Politics, Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Literary Studies. | 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 | 1, 2, 8, 15 | A, C |
| 3) Gains knowledge of how cultural practices and meanings are produced, circulated, and exchanged. | 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 | 1, 2, 8, 15 | A, C |
| 4) Analyses cultural practices, representations, identities, and power and becomes an informed and engaged critical thinker in relation to important contemporary cultural issues. | 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 | 1, 2, 8, 15 | A, C |
Course Flow
| COURSE CONTENT | ||
| Week | Topics | Study Materials |
| 1 | Introduction to cultural studies: What is culture? What is cultural studies? How do cultural texts and practices convey different kinds of meaning and value? | |
| 2 | Culture in Classical Social Theory (Basic viewpoints of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber) | Alkin, R. C. (2014). Introduction to the Relationship between Modernity and Sociology in Specific to Emile Durkheim and Max Weber’s Studies. European Scientific Journal, 10(5), 1–11. |
| 3 |
Culture in Classical Social Theory (continues) (Basic viewpoints of Karl Marx and Georg Simmel) ); The discussion about Gökdelen within the framework of Marxist infrastructure-superstructure relationship
|
“Precarity”, “Precarious”:
Mckenzie, L. (2017). The rich, the rich, we’ve got to get rid of the rich. Clinical Psychology Forum, 297, 8–12.
Yücel, T. (2016). Gökdelen. İstanbul: Can Yayınları
|
| 4 | Culture in Classical Social Theory (Basic viewpoints of Karl Marx and Georg Simmel) (continues |
Geczy, A., & Karaminas, V. (2015). Fashion’s Double : Representations of Fashion in Painting, Photography and Film. Bloomsbury Academic.
|
| 5 | Consumer cultures as a source of pleasure, identity, degradation, social injustice, inequality, and alienation |
Veblen, T. (2007). The Theory of the Leisure Class. OUP Oxford, Chapter 4: Conspicious Consumption
To comprehend the “Diderot Effect”: Denis D. (1769) Regrets on parting with my old dressing gown, https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/diderot/1769/regrets.htm
Why new things make us sad - BBC REEL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNxBSiV4ZY
|
| 6 | Consumer cultures as a source of pleasure, identity, degradation, social injustice, inequality, and alienation (continues); The discussion about Kumru ile Kumru within the framework of the consumption ideology |
Alderson, A. S., & Katz-Gerro, T. (2016). Compared to Whom? Inequality, Social Comparison, and Happiness in the United States. Social Forces, 95(1), 25. https://doi-org.lproxy.yeditepe.edu.tr/10.1093/sf/sow042
Yücel, T. (2016). Kumru ile Kumru, İstanbul: Can Yayınları |
| 7 | Contemporary Sociological Theory: The Frankfurt School theoreticians with a closer look at Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin | |
| 8 | MIDTERM | |
| 9 | Contemporary Sociological Theory: The Frankfurt School theoreticians with a closer look at Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin (continues) | Murray, M. (2005). Nothing happening: Warhol and the negative dialectics of subversion. European Journal of American Culture, 24(1), 61–83. https://doi-org.lproxy.yeditepe.edu.tr/10.1386/ejac.24.1.61/1 |
| 10 | Contemporary Sociological Theory (continues): Michel Foucault and his understanding of power |
What is Foucault's Panopticon? An Introduction to a Revolutionary Theory, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFbywfzu-jI
Aux origines du panoptique/Décryptage (with English translation), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUoomlneIkw
|
| 11 |
Contemporary Sociological Theory (continues): Erving Goffman and The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and Michel de Certau-Recaliming the Everyday
Everyday life: Details that make up everyday experiences (Fashion, eating, shopping, waste, laughter, selfies, etc.) |
Sheringham, M. (2006). Everyday Life : Theories and Practices From Surrealism to the Present. OUP Oxford.
Derek, C. M. (2020) Selfie consumerism in a narcissistic age, Consumption Markets & Culture, 23:1, 21-43, DOI: 10.1080/10253866.2018.1467318 |
| 12 | Contemporary Sociological Theory (continues): From modernity to post-modernity? A closer look at François Lyotard ve Jean Baudrillard | Powell, J. L. (2012). Baudrillard and Postmodernism. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., |
| 13 | Contemporary Sociological Theory (continues): From modernity to post-modernity? A closer look at François Lyotard ve Jean Baudrillard (continues) | |
| 14 |
Digital culture: The impact of digital technology on our social cultural lives; How this technology challenges our more traditional notions of identity and self, the body, relationships, privacy, and friendship |
Leong, B. (2019). Facial recognition and the future of privacy: I always feel like ... somebody’s watching me. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 75(3), 109.
Kominers, S. D. (2020). Fake AI People Won’t Fix Online Dating. Bloomberg Opinion, N.PAG.
Silverman, J. (2017). Privacy under Surveillance Capitalism. Social Research, 84(1), 147–164.
Trop, J. (2019). The Spy inside Your Car. Fortune International (Europe), 179(2), N.PAG.
Williams, P. J. (2019). AI’s Persona Problem. Nation, 309(2), 10–11.
|
| 15 |
Digital culture (continues) &
Final discussion about the term: Can we see the other side of the coin now? |
iHuman, a documentary about AI, social control, and power, Norwegian Film Institute, 2017. |
| 16 | FINAL | |
Recommended Sources
Material Sharing
| MATERIAL SHARING | |
| Documents | yulearn.yeditepe.edu.tr |
| Assignments | yulearn.yeditepe.edu.tr |
| Exams | |
Assessment
| ASSESSMENT | ||
| IN-TERM STUDIES | NUMBER | PERCENTAGE |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 60 |
| Homework-Classwork | 10 | 40 |
| Total | 100 | |
| Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade | 60 | |
| Contribution of In-Term Studies to Overall Grade | 40 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Course’s Contribution to Program
| COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM | ||||||
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | Defines basic concepts, theories, methods, and domains of study specific to radio, television and cinema by associating them with the findings and theories of humanities and social sciences. | X | ||||
| 2 | Demonstrates the responsibilities, effective participation, coordination, and planning skills essential for harmonious and efficient teamwork in the production processes relative to the radio, television and cinema fields. | |||||
| 3 | Generates media products in accordance with professional standards in various narrative forms and genres specific to the field by synthesizing up-to-date knowledge and skills for expertise acquired through applied and theoretical courses. | X | ||||
| 4 | Manifests professional knowledge and such skills as copywriting, image management, editing, sound design, producing and directing, media management in different fields of radio, television and cinema locally and globally. | X | ||||
| 5 | Holds responsibility in broadcasting by integrating national and international rules of law that media professionals should pursue with professional ethical principles. | |||||
| 6 | Comprehends the knowledge and skills related to institutional operation and management in the production and broadcasting processes of radio, television and cinema for the common interest. | |||||
| 7 | Evaluates radio, television and cinema fields analytically and critically from their institutional structuring to products regarding a wide range of cultural, artistic, economic, and social relations. | X | ||||
| 8 | Has the ability to collect visual, audio and written data, conduct research, evaluate, report and offer creative solutions in the fields of radio, television and cinema. | X | ||||
| 9 | Develops original projects for radio, television and cinema by following new technologies, developments, and ideas in the fields of art, culture, and media at the national and global planes. | |||||
ECTS
| ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION | |||
| Activities | Quantity |
Duration (Hour) |
Total Workload (Hour) |
| Course Duration | 14 | 3 | 42 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 14 | 4 | 56 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Classwork-Homework | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Final examination | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Total Work Load | 124 | ||
| Total Work Load / 25 (h) | 4,96 | ||
| ECTS Credit of the Course | 5 | ||