Reading Popular Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Studies

An introduction to the field of cultural studies, this unit progresses through a “circuit of culture”. Using this model, it introduces the key concepts and practices of representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation. Two areas of contemporary culture will be of particular interest to this unit: (1) issues surrounding advertising, corporate power and globalisation, and (2) debates about the representation of gender and sexuality in the media and popular culture. In the first half of the course, students will learn to use semiotics, a method that is widely used by cultural and feminist critics to study how meanings are produced in images and texts. Coupling semiotics with theories of identity, subjectivity, ideology and discourse students will analyse power relationships in popular culture. Students will also become familiar with debates relating to production and consumption. Upon completing the course requirements, students will have experience in applying core methods and theories analytically, and will be able to demonstrate critical reflection on key concepts shared by cultural and gender studies.