Major in Cultural Studies

Majors in Cultural Studies must complete 31 units of course work, including the introductory course (3 units), the methodology course (3 units), required courses (4 units), Cultural Studies electives (6 units), a capstone project (3 units), and 12 units of interdisciplinary elective courses.

Introductory Course
CLST 201INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL STUDIES3
Methodology Course
CLST 300METHODS OF CULTURAL INQUIRY3
Required Courses
CLST 303IDENTITY AND CULTURE3
CLST 304CULTURAL STUDIES CONCENTRATION PLANNING1
Cultural Studies Electives6
PERSPECTIVES IN GLOBAL CULTURE
VISUAL CULTURE
PERFORMING CULTURE
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE
TOPICS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Capstone Experience
CLST 497CAPSTONE PROJECT IN CULTURAL STUDIES3
Interdisciplinary Electives
See below12
Total Units31

Electives

12 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.

CLST 490INDEPENDENT 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.

ANTH 325MORAL PANICS3
ANTH 382VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY3
ANTH 341INFORMATION AGE CULTURES3
ARTH 328ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS3
CLST 309PERFORMING CULTURE3
ENGL 463SEMIOTICS: THE STUDY OF SIGNS3
KNES 353SPORT & SOCIETY3
MCOM 101INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION3
MCOM 352MEDIA CRITICISM3
MCOM 385MASS MEDIA AND SOCIETY3
THEA 310THEATRE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE3

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.

ANTH 207CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY3
ANTH 351DRUGS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE3
ANTH 364RELIGION, MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT3
ANTH 368GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE3
ANTH 380ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD METHODS3
ARTH 330EAST ASIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE3
ARTH 331ART OF CHINA3
ARTH 333ART OF JAPAN3
CLST 305TEXTUALITY & CULTURE3
ENGL 471TOPICS IN WORLD LITERATURE3
GEOG 357CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY3
GEOG 381POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY3
PHIL 204RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3
SOCI 243SOCIOLOGY OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3

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.

ARTH 328ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS3
ARTH 335AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART3
ARTH 339LATIN AMERICAN ART: 1800 TO PRESENT3
ARTH 341WOMEN IN ART3
ENGL 462MODERN LITERARY THEORY3
ENGL 463SEMIOTICS: THE STUDY OF SIGNS3
KNES 251HISTORY OF SPORT IN AMERICA3
MUSC 127ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC3
PHIL 201SOCIAL & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY3
PHIL 204RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3
PHIL 343AESTHETICS3
WMST 337FEMINIST THEORY3

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.

ANTH 346WEALTH, POWER AND POLITICS IN CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE3
ANTH 351DRUGS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE3
ANTH 368GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE3
ECON 201MICROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES3
ECON 202MACROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES3
ECON 321HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT3
ECON 341LABOR ECONOMICS AND LABOR RELATIONS3
ECON 374ECONOMIC ISSUES OF GENDER3
ECON 375ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS3
KNES 460CULTURAL ECONOMY OF SPORT3
SOCI 249SOCIAL PROBLEMS3
SOCI 323SOCIAL MOVEMENTS3
SOCI 333POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY3
SOCI 341CLASS, STATUS AND POWER3
WMST 335WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY3

Critical Artscape

The courses in this module critically examine visual aspects of society.

ARTH 323MODERN ART I3
ARTH 324MODERN ART II3
ARTH 325HISTORY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE3
ARTH 327HISTORY OF MODERN DESIGN3
ARTH 328ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS3
CLST 305TEXTUALITY & CULTURE3
ENGL 462MODERN LITERARY THEORY3
PHIL 343AESTHETICS3

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.

ANTH 341INFORMATION AGE CULTURES3
ANTH 368GLOBALIZATION IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE3
ARTH 351HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY3
PHIL 319SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & VALUES3
SOCI 312SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER3

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.

ARTH 328ART, CULTURE AND POLITICS3
CLST 309PERFORMING CULTURE3
ENGL 336POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE3
ENGL 462MODERN LITERARY THEORY3
KNES 285SPORT: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE3
PHIL 204RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3

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.

ARTH 341WOMEN IN ART3
ARTH 335AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART3
CLST 309PERFORMING CULTURE3
HLTH 220SEXUALITY IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY3
KNES 353SPORT & SOCIETY3
LGBT 101INTRODUCTION TO LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER STUDIES3
LGBT 381READINGS IN LGBT STUDIES1-3
PHIL 204RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3
SOCI 243SOCIOLOGY OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER3
SOCI 312SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER3
WMST 336WOMEN AND MEDICINE3
WMST 338WOMEN AND SEXUALITY3

Sample Four-Year Plan

The selected course sequence below is an example of the simplest path to degree completion. Based on course schedules, student needs, and student choice, individual plans may vary. Students should consult with their adviser to make the most appropriate elective choices and to ensure that they have completed the required number of units (120) to graduate.

Freshman
Term 1UnitsTerm 2Units
CLST 201 (Core 11)3CLST 3003
CLST Elective3CLST Elective3
Core 1 (or Core 2)3Core 2 (or Core 1)3
Core 33Core 53
Core 43Core 63
 15 15
Sophomore
Term 1UnitsTerm 2Units
CLST 3033Interdisciplinary Elective3
CLST 3041Interdisciplinary Elective3
Core 74Elective3
Core 93Core 84
Core 103Core 123
 14 16
Junior
Term 1UnitsTerm 2Units
Interdisciplinary Elective3Core 143
Interdisciplinary Elective3Elective3
Core 133Elective3
Elective3Elective3
Elective3Elective3
 15 15
Senior
Term 1UnitsTerm 2Units
CLST 4973Elective3
Elective3Elective3
Elective3Elective3
Elective3Elective3
Elective3Elective3
 15 15
Total Units 120
  1. Describe the Cultural Studies discipline and its central questions. 
  2. Understand the self as a consumer, product, and producer of culture.
  3. Engage interdisciplinary theories and methods. 
  4. Analyze cultural phenomena through critical methods. 
  5. Intervene in how power shapes and maintains the everydayness of culture.