Aspects of Cultural Studies

This four-week course intends to equip students with historical, philosophical and cultural evolution, circulation and application of Cultural Studies across disciplines and universities. Several schools of Cultural Studies like the Frankfurt School and the Brimingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (BCCS) along with philosophical insights from Phenomenology, Philosophy of Science, Post-positivism, etc., are brought in to enunciate the features and purposes of Cultural Studies in contemporary times. Examples of Richard Hoggart, Stuart Hall, E.P. Thompson, etc., would enable them to comprehend certain core concepts, theoretical frameworks and interdisciplinary approaches of Cultural Studies. Since culture is the core premise of analysis in Cultural Studies, this course would, therefore, expose the students to various literary and cultural domains, such as food, films, animals, religions, politics, law, pedagogy, ethnography, etc., in order to instill confidence in students how to think about or conceive of their own areas of interests in Cultural Studies.  Thus, they will realise how cultural studies can turn them from a traditional, passive receivers in the closed classrooms to a more dynamic, free-thinking, and participatory intellectuals. It will also convince them about the urgency of organic intellectualism in our contemporary times that can bridge the intellectual gaps between universities, colleges and the real world of public outside the universities and other academic institutions. By learning the nature, art, and aesthetics of Cultural Studies during the four-week course, students shall develop academic confidence and discursive intellectualism to choose and execute their own research topics either as registered scholars or as independent researchers. Moreover, this course will also be of immense knowledge and skill to align the students with the New Educational Policy of India.