Major in Cultural Studies
Majors in Cultural Studies must complete 42 units of course work, including the introductory course (3 units), the methodology course (3 units), required courses (15 units), either a capstone project or a capstone/internship combination (6 units), and 15 units of elective courses.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory Course | ||
| CLST 201 | INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL STUDIES | 3 |
| Methodology Course | ||
| CLST 300 | METHODS OF CULTURAL INQUIRY | 3 |
| Required Courses | ||
| CLST 301 | PERSPECTIVES IN GLOBAL CULTURE | 3 |
| CLST 303 | IDENTITY AND CULTURE | 3 |
| CLST 307 | VISUAL CULTURE | 3 |
| CLST 311 | SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE | 3 |
| CLST 370 | TOPICS IN CULTURAL STUDIES | 3 |
| Capstone Experience | ||
| Select one of the following: | 6 | |
| CAPSTONE PROJECT IN CULTURAL STUDIES and INTERNSHIP IN CULTURAL STUDIES (3 units of each) | ||
| CAPSTONE PROJECT IN CULTURAL STUDIES (6 units) | ||
| Electives | ||
| See below | 15 | |
| Total Units | 42 | |
Electives
15 units of courses from the following groupings, 9 of which must be upper division. A list of offered courses will be updated each term. The following learning modules are meant to indicate possible thematic trajectories as a guide for students. As such, courses may be listed under more than one heading.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CLST 490 | INDEPENDENT STUDY IN CULTURAL STUDIES (limited to 3 units) | 3 |
Society of the Spectacle
The courses in this module are meant to theorize the intersection of traditional and contemporary media and consumer cultures. In contemplating a broad spectrum of “spectacles,” students will consider the economic, political, and social discourses of visual culture and performance.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 325 | MORAL PANICS | 3 |
| ANTH 382 | VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY | 3 |
| ANTH 341 | INFORMATION AGE CULTURES | 3 |
| ARTH 328 | ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS | 3 |
| CLST 309 | PERFORMING CULTURE | 3 |
| ENGL 463 | SEMIOTICS: THE STUDY OF SIGNS | 3 |
| KNES 353 | SPORT & SOCIETY | 3 |
| MCOM 101 | INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION | 3 |
| MCOM 352 | MEDIA CRITICISM | 3 |
| MCOM 385 | MASS MEDIA AND SOCIETY | 3 |
| THEA 310 | THEATRE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE | 3 |
Cultural Cartographies
The courses in this module examine the cultural products that result from human landscapes, charting the ways in which we map our interaction with the environment.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 207 | CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY | 3 |
| ANTH 351 | DRUGS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ANTH 364 | RELIGION, MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT | 3 |
| ANTH 368 | GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ANTH 380 | ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD METHODS | 3 |
| ARTH 330 | EAST ASIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE | 3 |
| ARTH 331 | ART OF CHINA | 3 |
| ARTH 333 | ART OF JAPAN | 3 |
| CLST 305 | TEXTUALITY & CULTURE | 3 |
| ENGL 471 | TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURE | 3 |
| GEOG 357 | CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY | 3 |
| GEOG 381 | POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY | 3 |
| MUSC 112 | WORLD/AMERICAS, AFRICA | 3 |
| MUSC 113 | WORLD/E.EURO,ASIA | 3 |
| PHIL 204 | RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
| SOCI 243 | SOCIOLOGY OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
Critical Pedagogies
This module is ordered around one central premise: knowledge is never neutral. As such, these courses call into question the construction of knowledge; interrogate the traditional means of passing on cultural knowledge; and recognize alternative forms of knowledge and the processes by which they are disseminated.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ARTH 328 | ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS | 3 |
| ARTH 335 | AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART | 3 |
| ARTH 339 | LATIN AMERICAN ART: 1800 TO PRESENT | 3 |
| ARTH 341 | WOMEN IN ART | 3 |
| ENGL 462 | MODERN LITERARY THEORY | 3 |
| ENGL 463 | SEMIOTICS: THE STUDY OF SIGNS | 3 |
| KNES 251 | HISTORY OF SPORT IN AMERICA | 3 |
| MUSC 112 | WORLD/AMERICAS, AFRICA | 3 |
| MUSC 113 | WORLD/E.EURO,ASIA | 3 |
| MUSC 127 | ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC | 3 |
| PHIL 201 | SOCIAL & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY | 3 |
| PHIL 204 | RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
| PHIL 343 | AESTHETICS | 3 |
| WMST 337 | FEMINIST THEORY | 3 |
Political Economies of Empire
The courses within this module investigate the relations of corporate, political, economic and cultural forces in the context of 21st century globalization. The courses assess factors such as: wealth distribution, the disappearance of “local” culture, labor and labor exploitation, the military and globalization, environmental issues, and new notions of empire.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 346 | WEALTH, POWER AND POLITICS IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ANTH 351 | DRUGS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ANTH 368 | GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ECON 201 | MICROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES | 3 |
| ECON 202 | MACROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES | 3 |
| ECON 321 | HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT | 3 |
| ECON 341 | LABOR ECONOMICS AND LABOR RELATIONS | 3 |
| ECON 374 | ECONOMIC ISSUES OF GENDER | 3 |
| ECON 375 | ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS | 3 |
| KNES 460 | CULTURAL ECONOMY OF SPORT | 3 |
| SOCI 249 | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | 3 |
| SOCI 323 | SOCIAL MOVEMENTS | 3 |
| SOCI 333 | POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY | 3 |
| SOCI 341 | CLASS, STATUS AND POWER | 3 |
| WMST 335 | WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY | 3 |
Critical Artscape
The courses in this module critically examine visual aspects of society.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ARTH 323 | MODERN ART I | 3 |
| ARTH 324 | MODERN ART II | 3 |
| ARTH 325 | HISTORY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE | 3 |
| ARTH 327 | HISTORY OF MODERN DESIGN | 3 |
| ARTH 328 | ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS | 3 |
| CLST 305 | TEXTUALITY & CULTURE | 3 |
| ENGL 462 | MODERN LITERARY THEORY | 3 |
| PHIL 343 | AESTHETICS | 3 |
Posthumans in Second Nature
The courses in this module consider the ways in which advances in genetics and the reproductive sciences have raised questions about our identities and human beings and our relation to nature, blurring divisions between human and non-human, culture and nature, animal and machine.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 341 | INFORMATION AGE CULTURES | 3 |
| ANTH 368 | GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| ARTH 351 | HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY | 3 |
| PHIL 319 | SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & VALUES | 3 |
| SOCI 312 | SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER | 3 |
Postcolonial Contexts
The courses in this module foster discussions of various conditions in which western and non-western cultures collide. In the postcolonial context, the formation of identity is understood as a result of resistance to imposing and powerful cultural forces.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ARTH 328 | ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS | 3 |
| CLST 309 | PERFORMING CULTURE | 3 |
| ENGL 336 | POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE | 3 |
| ENGL 462 | MODERN LITERARY THEORY | 3 |
| KNES 285 | SPORT: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
| PHIL 204 | RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
Wild and Docile Bodies
This module features courses that approach the body as the point of conjunction between the individual and society and therefore as a site of control, study, discipline, punishment and emancipation. Students in these courses will examine the cultural, political and economic technologies active within, and which act upon, the corporeal aspects of everyday life.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ARTH 341 | WOMEN IN ART | 3 |
| ARTH 335 | AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART | 3 |
| CLST 309 | PERFORMING CULTURE | 3 |
| HLTH 220 | SEXUALITY IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY | 3 |
| KNES 353 | SPORT & SOCIETY | 3 |
| LGBT 101 | INTRODUCTION TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER STUDIES | 3 |
| LGBT 381 | READINGS IN LGBT STUDIES | 1-3 |
| PHIL 204 | RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
| SOCI 243 | SOCIOLOGY OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER | 3 |
| SOCI 312 | SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER | 3 |
| WMST 336 | WOMEN AND MEDICINE | 3 |
| WMST 338 | WOMEN AND SEXUALITY | 3 |
Suggested Four-Year Plan
Based on course availability and student needs and preferences, the selected sequences will probably vary from those presented below. Students should consult with their adviser to make the most appropriate elective choices.
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Units | Term 2 | Units |
| CLST 201 (Core 11) | 3 | CLST 311 (Core 14) | 3 |
| Lower-Division Elective | 3 | Lower-Level Elective | 3 |
| Core 1 (or Core 2) | 3 | Core 2 (or Core 1) | 3 |
| Core 3 | 3 | Core 5 | 3 |
| Core 4 | 3 | Core 6 | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Sophomore | |||
| Term 1 | Units | Term 2 | Units |
| CLST 301 | 3 | CLST 307 | 3 |
| CLST 303 | 3 | CLST 370 | 3 |
| Core 7 | 4 | Upper-Level Elective | 3 |
| Core 9 | 3 | Core 8 | 4 |
| Core 10 | 3 | Core 12 | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Junior | |||
| Term 1 | Units | Term 2 | Units |
| CLST 300 | 3 | CLST 495 or 497 | 3 |
| Upper-Level Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Core 13 | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Core/Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Core/Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Senior | |||
| Term 1 | Units | Term 2 | Units |
| CLST 495 or 497 | 3 | Upper-Level Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 1 |
| 15 | 13 | ||
| Total Units 120 | |||
- Describe the Cultural Studies discipline and its central questions.
- Understand the self as a consumer, product, and producer of culture.
- Engage interdisciplinary theories and methods.
- Analyze cultural phenomena through critical methods.
- Intervene in how power shapes and maintains the everydayness of culture.