Introduction to Cultural Studies

By Prof. Avishek Parui | IIT Madras

Learners enrolled: 1112

This course intends to examine culture, cultural identities and politics of production across various human historical conditions. Culture is examined in this course as an asymmetrical entanglement of material and abstract attributes and hence the course draws on political theory, psychology and critical theory, among other disciplines, in order to investigate the constructed categories of identity, authority and knowledge.

INTENDED AUDIENCE : B.A/M.A. students of English and Cultural Studies

PRE-REQUISITES : B.A in English or Cultural Studies l
INDUSTRY SUPPORT : NIL

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences English Studies
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	24 Jan 2022
End Date :	15 Apr 2022
Enrollment Ends :	07 Feb 2022
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2022 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1  : What is Culture? Culture and Cultural Identities, Values, Key lenses for Culture Studies
Week 2  : Edward Said’s Orientalism, Homi Bhabha’s ‘The Other Question’
Week 3  : Homi Bhabha’s ‘The Other Question’, George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’
Week 4  : George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’, Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
Week 5  : Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition, Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks
Week 6  : Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble
Week 7  : Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition
Week 8  : Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, Michel Foucault’s ‘What is an Author?’
Week 9  : Michel Foucault’s ‘What is an Author?’, Ian Hacking’s The Social Construction of What?
Week 10  : Ian Hacking’s The Social Construction of What?, bell hooks’ ‘Understanding Patriarchy’
Week 11  : bell hooks’ ‘Understanding Patriarchy’, Slavoj Zizek’s Welcome to the Desert of the Real
Week 12  : Slavoj Zizek’s Welcome to the Desert of the Real, Conclusion to the Course

Teaching Assistants:

1.Soham Chakraborty
2.Nishtha Pandey

Books and references

Edward Said’s Orientalism, Homi Bhabha’s ‘The Other Question’, Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’, Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition, Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, Michel Foucault’s ‘What is an Author?’, Ian Hacking’s The Social Construction of What?, bell hooks’ ‘Understanding Patriarchy’, Slavoj Zizek’s Welcome to the Desert of the Real

Instructor bio

Prof. Avishek Parui

IIT Madras

Dr Avishek Parui is Assistant Professor in English at IIT Madras and Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He researches and supervises PhDs on medical humanities, masculinity studies, memory studies and postmodernism. His recent book Postmodern Literatures, has been published by Orient Blackswan.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 24 April 2022 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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