World Orientation: An Introduction to Cultural Studies
Full course description
This course takes an approach that surpasses boundaries between disciplines and methods, problems and perspectives. We will focus on understanding how culture and cultural differences contribute to some of the current problems and phenomena observed in six disciplines (health, food, business, globalization, human rights, and risk perception). In each week of the course we will focus on the relation between culture and one of the six fields. Questions that will be tackled include: What is culture? How does globalization influence culture and identity? Why are some people so persistent in using non-western forms of healing/ treatment within a biomedical treatment dominated country? Is food culture by definition the result of an autonomous shift in consumer views/tastes or can a change in food culture be produced? How can culture explain differences in risk perception?
Course objectives
- You can recall cultural concepts and models relevant to understanding how culture influences our actions and thinking in six different fields of studies (e.g. Kleinman's explanatory model; Douglas grid-group theory).
- You can explain how culture influences our actions and thinking in six different fields of studies (health, food, business, globalization, human rights, and risk perception).
- You can use the theoretical and empirical knowledge retrieved from academic sources to argue for or against a perspective on a current societal issue.
- You can orally discuss a current societal issue in a two person debate using theoretical and empirical knowledge studied in the course.
Prerequisites
Recommendations: Given the extensive reading load, including many classics, and the required abstract thinking level, it is advised to not take this course in the first 6 months of your study.
Recommended reading
An e-reader will be provided which contains numerous literature sources per task.