Cultural Studies Now

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Total expected time commitment is 170 hours across the semester, including class time.

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in cultural studies, Master of Arts and Cultural Management (Moving Image), Master of Arts & Cultural Management.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject will introduce students to the current state of the discipline of Cultural Studies. Students will be oriented in relation to the major theoretical traditions, methodological approaches, empirical and political pre-occupations, and national traditions in cultural studies. We will do this by considering particular contemporary configurations of cultural studies in relation to specific research problems. Students will develop both a synoptic sense of the shape of Cultural Studies now and focused expertise which will enable them to engage with some of the most significant contemporary problems from cultural competence and equity to cultural sustainability.

Students who successfully complete this subject will:

• be able to comprehend the analytical domain of Cultural Studies;
• be able to appreciate the intellectual dynamics which have shaped the development of Cultural Studies as a discipline;
• be able to understand the key contemporary theoretical and methodological issues in Cultural Studies; and
• be able to produce specific accounts of Cultural Studies.

A 5000 word essay 100% (due in the examination period). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who successfully complete this subject will acquire skills in the following areas:

• social, ethical, and cultural understanding of self and others through detailed analysis of contemporary culture in its various local, national and transnational contexts, the reception of new ideas and the contextualisation of judgments, the adaptation of knowledge to new situations;
• critical analysis and synthesis through the study of competing theories of contemporary culture and their application to diverse examples, the engagement with and processing of different critical perspectives across the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies, the development of independent thought and arguments;
• effective written and oral communication through seminar discussions and debates, the preparation and execution of written assessment exercises, exposure to and emulation of competing genres and protocols of critical writing;
• information management and information literacy through the practice of library and archival research and engagement with electronic databases;
• teamwork, flexibility, and tolerance through group discussions in seminars, reception of new ideas and opinions, engaging and cooperating with other people from diverse backgrounds; and
• time management and planning through managing and organizing workloads for recommended reading, seminar presentations, and assessment requirements.