Logo UAB
2021/2022

Cultural Studies

Code: 100208 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OT 3 0
2500245 English Studies OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Sara Martín Alegre
Email:
Sara.Martin@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

És la llengua vehicular exclusiva

Prerequisites

  • Students are advised to have passed all first and second year subjects in the English Studies degree before taking this subject.
  • The required English level is C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment
  •  An interest in pop music is also essential, as this is the focus of the course in 2021-22.

 

Objectives and Contextualisation

The subject Cultural Studies in English provides an introduction to the methodology of this area through close reading and discussion of the various theoretical debates as well as analyses of case studies.  

After taking the subject Cultural Studies in English, the student will be able to

  • Understand the methodologies associated with this area of study
  • Apply these methodologies to case studies of all kinds of cultural texts
  • Use the cultural studies  resources of any university library
  • Express an informed critique of academic texts in the area

Competences

    English Studies
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activities.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Utilising new technologies in order to capture and organise information in English and other languages, and applying it to the personal continued training and to the problem-solving in the professional or research activity.
  • Working in an autonomous and responsible way in a professional or research environment in English or other languages, in order to accomplish the previously set objectives.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply the acquired knowledge to the generation of innovative and competitive research on a basic level.
  2. Apply the knowledge and competences acquired in the professional and academic activities related to literature, history and culture.
  3. Applying the acquired methodologies of work planning to work in an environment in the English language.
  4. Applying the acquired scientific and work planning methodologies to the research in English.
  5. Applying the information in English that is available on the Internet, in databases, etc. to the work and/or research environments.
  6. Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
  7. Demonstrate a master of the specific methods of individual academic work that prepare the student for a postgraduate specialised education in the same or a different field of study.
  8. Demonstrate a sound knowledge about advanced topics related to the study of literature and culture.
  9. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  10. Locating and organising relevant information in English that is available on the Internet, in databases, etc.
  11. Produce new professional initiatives.
  12. Students must be capable of comprehending advanced academic or professional texts in their own language or the another acquired in the degree.
  13. Students must be capable of precisely arguing ideas and opinions in their own language or another acquired in the degree.

Content

Cultural Studies in English will focus on the genre of the documentary as a tool to practice Cultural Studies.  

1. Introduction to Cultural Studies: Definition

2. Origins of Cultural Studies: Great Britain, United States, Spain

3. Theory in Cultural Studies

4. Methodologies in Cultural Studies

5. The concept of text in Cultural Studies

6. Case Study: Female pop stars in the Anglophone countries

Methodology

1 ECTS credit = 25 hours; 6 credits = 150 hours

  • Guided activities (30%, 1.8 cr)
  • Supevised activities (15%, 0.9 cr)
  • Autonomous activities (50%, 3 cr)
  • Assessment activities (5%, 0.3 cr)
VERY IMPORTANT: This subject is aimed at publishing an e-book in the UAB Digital Documentation Repository (www.ddd.uab) similar to those I have already published with other students. See:
										
											https://gent.uab.cat/saramartinalegre/content/books. This course the e-book will deal with the female figure in the current pop music of English-speaking countries, and students will be asked to work on the analysis 
of their textual representations (public presence, albums and songs, music videos). Students will make presentations related to their work for the e-book in the classroom. In any case, the teacher will offer examples 
of the work that students have to submit. 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Class debates (face-to-face and virtual) 10 0.4 3, 4, 13, 8, 7, 9, 6
Lectures 35 1.4 5, 13, 12, 9, 6, 10
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials on the texts for the e-book 5 0.2 4, 5, 13, 10
Writing the texts for the e-book 20 0.8 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 13, 12, 8, 7, 9, 6, 11, 10
Type: Autonomous      
Locating and studying secondary sources 10 0.4 4, 1, 2, 5, 12, 7, 11, 10
Reading, listening, viewing and text analysis 35 1.4 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 13, 12, 11, 10

Assessment

The teaching methodology and the evaluation proposed in the guide may undergo some modification subject to the onsite teaching restrictions imposed by health authorities.

Assessment on this course is based on the following:

  • Writing the texts for the e-book= 50%
  • Exam on the theory of Cultural Studies = 25% (You need to choose an aspect of the handbook Introducing Cultural Studies, prepare an outline at home and write in class a 500-word essay)
  • Participation on class debates (presential, virtual) and class presentations = 25%

 Please, note:

  • Assessment is continuous.
  • All the exercises are compulsory and no-reassessment is possible without having submitted them all. If less than 30% is submitted, then the course cannot be assessed ('No avaluable').
  • The minimum final mark to have a right to re-assessment is 3'5. The minimum to pass the course is 5.
  •  25% of the mark in all exercises will correspond to the use of English
  •  Exercise reviewing and re-assessment: all students have the right to a personal tutorial with the teacher, within the period announced (not later than two weeks), to review their exercises and agree on the conditions of re-assessment. The exam can be re-assessed (with a second exam) and also the factsheets (with a second delivery). Class participaction cannot be re-assessed
  •  VERY IMPORTANT: In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject. Partial or total plagiarism from an uncredited source will automatically result in a 0 (FAIL) for the course.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Class participation and presentations 25% 5 0.2 3, 1, 13, 9, 6, 11
Preparing an exam question and writing the exam 25% 10 0.4 3, 5, 13, 8, 7, 9, 6, 10
Writing the texts for the e-book 50% 20 0.8 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 13, 12, 8, 7, 9, 6, 11, 10

Bibliography

David Walton, Introducing Cultural Studies: Learning through Practice, London: Sage, 2007. (compulsory, independent study)

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/introducing-cultural-studies/book228363

Kristin J. Lieb. Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry (Routledge 2018 SECOND EDITION) (recommended)

Software

This course includes no software