Cultural Studies (CLST) 201

Overview

Cultural Studies 201: Cultural Studies and Everyday Life is a junior-level, three-credit course that takes as its organizing metaphor, Raymond Williams' remark that “culture is ordinary.” This course will provide an introduction to cultural studies by exploring, reflecting on, and evaluating how, on a daily basis, we are immersed in culture.

Course Objectives

• To demystify the idea of “culture” by showing the ways in which it permeates our everyday lives.
• To question the distinction between things deemed to be cultural and things assumed to be natural.
• To explore the ways in which everyday culture can be a site of contestation.

Outline

CLST 201 consist of the following six units.

• Unit 1: Culture is Ordinary
• Unit 2: Domestic Cultures
• Unit 3: Workplace Cultures
• Unit 4: Recreational Cultures
• Unit 5: Culture and Community
• Unit 6: Culture, Experience, Identity

Evaluation

To receive credit for CLST 201, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a D (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbook

Other Materials

All other course materials are available online.

Reading the Everyday by Joe Moran

Culture and Everyday Life by David Inglis