introduction
what is liberal arts?
interconnected study, bound by ‘philosophia’, love of learning
an informed citizenry is an empowered citizenry
no hierarchical distinction between sciences and arts
what is cultural studies?
what is ‘culture’?
video:
social sciences first coined the “cultural system”
abstract concept of abstract norms & values
therefore, culture is how a society has learned to behave, and what certain nuanced behaviours are perceived to mean
what is ‘critique’?
generally, to critique something is to review it, approaching it sceptically, objectively and thoroughly
what context did Hall’s Cultural Studies emerge from?
why is context important?
video: historical specificity and the specificity of each cultural configuration and pattern are paramount in cultural studies
eg (from video) there are common mechanisms globally associated with racism, but each society has a specific history, where such specificities truly affect the dynamic within such areas
history of cultural studies
the study of popular, contemporary culture
founded at UoB in 1964 (Richard Hoggart, Stuart Hall)
informed by Raymond Williams’ pioneering ideas: ‘Culture is ordinary’ (1958)
culture is a living, breathing, everyday concept, rather than an exhibited thing
culture = lived experience | texts/discourses | social context
stuart hall & critical culture
“the dirty crossroads where popular culture intersects with the high arts”
“cultural studies…reflect the rapidly shifting ground of thought and knowledge, argument and debate about a society and about its own culture. it’s an activity of intellectual self-reflection. it operates both inside and outside the academy”
“it represents a point of disturbance a place of necessary tension and change…pushing for new questions…a necessary irritant”
popular culture does not represent a version of “real life” however distorted, it functions as “myths do…they are myths which represent in narrative form the resolution of things which can’t be resolved in real life…they tell us about the ‘dream life’ of a culture”
cultural studies take-aways
cultural studies challenges and complicates ‘dominant narratives’ (hierarchies)
makes visible structuring forces, contexts and the ‘dream life’ of society
insists on ‘non-cultural’ artefacts as having cultural impact
is rigorously and critically self-reflective
what is cross-disciplinary research?
cross-disciplinary investigations expand the borders of what knowledge can do
it is collaborative, curious, open to the perspectives of others
the transdisciplinary imagination
global issues generate local issues: imagining across different scales, distances, timeframes
‘wicked problems’ cannot be solved with existing modes of enquiry or mechanisms for making decisions: imagining new ways of asking questions n answering them
‘transdisciplinary’ = ‘collective understanding’
‘imagination’ = ‘creativity, insight, vision and originality…memory, perception and invention’
imagination is not the enemy of ‘scientific objectivity’
critical enquiry is a creative act
how to formulate questions
from description to analysis
what is this object communicating? what do you notice about the object?
what is being silenced? what is not being communicated?
why is this a ‘problem’ or an important point of study?
what knowledge did you use to answer the 3 questions?
taught
informal
inherited
etc