| Introduction |
Building on your knowledge of literature, art, history, science – and at the same time expanding this knowledge and challenging its certainties – this course will give you insight into major approaches to culture since the early 19th century. It analyses various definitions of culture and explores the historical contexts in which they were formulated and gained currency, always with an eye on current social developments and problems. The course is highly interactive, with a lecture followed by discussion/seminar. It meets once a week for two hours. The first hour is generally devoted to an introduction to a core topic/problem from a historical perspective, while the second hour takes the form of closer reading and discussion of the primary texts listed in the Course Schedule. These sessions are organised around informal presentations and group work. The goal of these discussions and close readings is to assist and stimulate you to read, reflect on, and offer interpretations of a variety of important theoretical texts and to think about their relevance today. The course essay will be on topics chosen by you (topics not studied directly on the course but related to it are equally welcome).
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