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Meaning, Making Consuming

Module description

Taking an interdisciplinary perspective on some of the biggest issues and questions related to the study of culture and society, this module provides you with training in the analysis of a wide-range of cultural forms, art, artistic practices and media, reflecting critically on the modes by which they are produced, evaluated and consumed. You will be familiarised with the central cultural sociological theoretical, conceptual, methodological and empirical dimensions of these areas. You will consider themes such as the nature of culture, relations between different cultural media, forms and power, and how culture informs human agency and subjectivity. The course lays the necessary conceptual, methodological and substantive foundations for you to carry out your own independent research into the overlapping fields of artistic and cultural production and consumption across a range of media. Prior sociological knowledge is useful but not necessary. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

To provide a thorough and rigorous discussion of the main paradigms in relation to the analysis of arts, media and consumption practices. 

To illustrate relevant theoretical ideas and modes of understanding from the sociology of culture and cultural sociology through the use of empirical research across a wide range of subject matter, drawing on data collected in different ways and according to various methodologies. 

To foster your capacity to engage with techniques of analytical and critical inquiry in the areas of arts, media and consumption. 

To prepare you for career paths in the creative industries and media as well as serving as the basis for further doctoral-level study. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of diverse paradigms in cultural sociology.
• 2. Engage critically with the conceptual and methodological bases of cultural sociological schools of thought.
• 3. Interpret socio-cultural worlds, objects and phenomena through the prism of concepts and theories developed within cultural sociology

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Demonstrate detailed awareness of the concepts, theories and methodologies used by cultural sociologists of different types.
• 5. Demonstrate a capacity to conceive of matters in systematic cultural-sociological ways, informed by theories and empirical evidence.
• 6. Demonstrate independent and critical thought within and about cultural-sociological frameworks

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Construct and evaluate concepts and ideas.
• 8. Formulate and express ideas at different levels of abstraction, in writing and oral communication
• 9. Develop effective time management skills.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics: 

• Differing views of what “culture” and “society” are 
• Culture and social structure 
• Culture and social agency 
• Culture and social power 
• The politics of Art and culture 
• The socially-patterned nature of consumption 
• The nature of representation 
• Aesthetics 
• Differing ways of understanding what ‘art’, ‘artists’ and ‘artistic practice’ are 
• The globalization of culture 

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Inglis, D. and Hughson, J. (2003) Confronting Culture: Sociological Vistas. Cambridge: Polity Press. 
• Inglis, D. and Almila, A. M. (2016) The Sage Handbook of Cultural Sociology. London: Sage. 
• Alexander, J. C. (2003) The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. Oxford; Oxford University Press. 
• Bourdieu, P. (1996) The Rules of Art. Cambridge: Polity Press. 
• Inglis, D. and Hughson, J. (2005) The Sociology of Art: Ways of Seeing. London: MacMillan Press. 

Key words search

Cultural Sociology, Sociology of Culture, Art and Culture, Sociology of Art, Art and Consumption, Cultural Media, Cultural Production, Cultural Consumption