ΠΠΑ511: Culture and Cultural Studies

The module ΠΠΑ511, “Culture and Cultural Studies”, is the introductory course for the postgraduate program "Cultural Policy and Development" and aims to familiarising the students with basic knowledge, terms and phenomena in the field of Culture and Cultural Studies.

The purpose of the module is to make students understand the many different interpretations of the term 'culture', and the ways it closely relates to everyday life. It explores how it connects the cultural field with sciences such as sociology, ethnology and anthropology; and it showcases how the emergence of the cultural past and heritage shapes collective ideologies and memory.

The Module is divided into five subunits.

1. The first subunit (3 weeks) presents the historical set-up of the scientific field of cultural studies. It examines the content of the concept "culture" over the past two centuries and briefly presents the differences of its’ perceptions to date.
2. The second subunit (3 weeks) deals with the concepts of cultural memory and national identity and the ways they relate to each other and to culture. The phenomenon of romanticism is examined in terms of its effects on the above-mentioned concepts both internationally, as well as in Cyprus and Greece, in particular.
3. The third subunit (3 weeks) deals with the relationship between culture and artistic production, on the one hand-site, and political and religious power, on the other. It explores the role of commissioned artworks in the past and its role in forming official political and religious positions, ideologies and narratives. Consequently, it raises the issue of the subjective nature of historical narratives and the past, in general.
4. The fourth subunit (2 weeks) focuses and analyses the resulting phenomenon of direct and indirect censorship and its role in preserving and shaping cultural memory and identity.
5. Finally, the fifth subunit (2 weeks) examines the meaning and distinction between high and mass culture, comments on sociological phenomena and behaviours, and integrates the distinction into the historical, economic and social context of the post-industrial era.

The Module focuses in particular on:

• Historical documentation and analysis of the concepts of culture and civilization.
• Exploring the terms collective memory and identity, cultural memory and identity, national memory and identity, and their interactions.
• The role of romanticism in the creation of the above concepts in the European space and especially in Cyprus and Greece.
• Interactions and conflicts between cultural production and political or other authorities, and the consequences of these conflicts in the formation of dominant ideologies.
• The importance and role of censorship in the field of culture.
• The consequences of subjective perception and interpretation of concepts such as collective memory and identity in the formation of culture.
• Understanding the terms of high art and mass culture and the social and economic parameters to which they relate.