GLOBAL CULTURAL INDUSTRIES
SOSC 7350
This course aims to offer a multidisciplinary analysis of “global culture industries”— the increasingly powerful, centralized corporate conglomerates in television, music, advertising, marketing, cinema, social networking, and the like — and their relationship to the political, social and economic changes taking place in countries around the world. It will help the students learn the process of cultural production of various types, especially in the digital age. The course will also provide students opportunities to examine the development of cultural industries in a particular region (such as Asia or the Greater China) via case studies. By doing so it attempts to encourage the students to ponder and explore the effects of globalization on local cultural production, its promise on cultural innovation, and its relationship with cultural homogeneity and heterogeneity.
GLOBAL COLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL CULTURES
SOSC 7310
This course explores modern colonialism and postcolonialism from the perspective of cultural history. By taking a global approach, students will identify commonalities and differences between the cultures of multiple European empires and individual colonies. Students will consider the meaning and significance of terms such as ‘colonial’, ‘postcolonial’, and ‘nation’. Furthermore, they will critically examine concepts such as hybridity and material culture. Drawing on case studies from diverse regions, the course will explore several themes, including the construction of colonial/postcolonial identities and colonialism’s impact on political culture. In addition to considering the effects of imperialism in the colonies, students will also engage with debates about the impact of empire on European cultures. By the end of the course, students will understand the lived experience of colonialism and its legacies in the contemporary world. Furthermore, they will be able to propose solutions to the enduring global and local problems arising from the colonial experience.