ASOK15102U Culture, Lifestyle and Everyday Life NB - The course is closed for further registration

Volume 2015/2016
Education

MA Sociology 2015 - Compulsory course package subject.

Sociology students must be enrolled under MSc Curriculum 2015 to take this exam.

BA-Undergraduates from foreign countries (exchange students) can sign up for this course

Content

This is the compulsory course for the course package "Culture, lifestyle and everyday life".

The course reviews a range of central theoretical-analytical perspectives and empirical studies, each contributing to a cultural sociological analysis of problems within contemporary urbanized society.

This course relates to and advances from Cultural Sociology at the BC in the following ways. The themes of city, urbanism and urbanization are central aspects of the BC course in Cultural Sociology. Building on and advancing this knowledge base, the current course introduces the students to a “problem-based” approach to cultural sociology: while the phenomena of culture, lifestyle and everyday life may relate to “positive” meaning making processes, atmospheres, affects and actions, this course will focus on the problematic aspects of these socio-cultural phenomena, especially within the context of the contemporary city. Urban problems arises, e.g., in relation to contested uses of space, organization of leisure lifestyles, subcultural and delinquent reactions, violence and aggression, cultural segregation, religion and public space and various criminal activities. This is moreover the case when lifestyles are related to transgressive risk behaviors, when cultures neutralize their “deviance” and thus provokes mainstream societies norms, or when one finds pleasures in others pains and loss. Analytically this course will focus on various levels: from the social psychological and situational, to subcultures, communities, and the more diagnostic. This broader analytical perspective should give the students concepts for researching how, say, affective and emotional aspects within the individual is related to different forms of organizations (e.g. work life, gangs, family life, justice system). The focus on culturally-based problems will prepare the students to relate the theme of culture, lifestyle and everyday life to concrete tasks for a professional sociologist outside academia.

Learning Outcome

Upon finishing the course, the student will have gained a broadly based overview of the core sociological research literature within the thematic field of culture, lifestyle and everyday life. This will give them the ability to thoroughly compare and contrast key theoretical perspectives that are central to the wider MA specialization in Culture, lifestyle and everyday life, as well as identifying significant historical and contemporary developments in the field.

Moreover, the student will be able to identify and analyze social and social-material interactions as well as explain  their cultural meanings. Based on the work with papers during the course, the students will gain and train competences in a problem-based approach to analyze and explain cultural phenomena, including how theses analyses might inform practical interventions. In this way, the student will be able to apply and critically discuss key theoretical concepts within the thematic field of Culture, lifestyle and everyday life particularly related to of urban cultural contexts marked by conflicts, contested lifeforms and delinquency.      

A compendium consisting of central texts will be put together and made available prior to course start. The total curriculum is app. 1200 pages. In addition, students are required to choose supplementary reading materials for their project work (app. 400 pages). 

Students must have knowlegde of Cultural sociology on the level taught in cultural sociology "Kultursociology" at 4th semester at the BC. Further it is expected that the students must be familiar with sociologcal methods and theorries on BC level.
The course combines class-based teaching and project work (either individually or in groups). Each week the teaching will combine lectures (first double lecture) and discussion and workshop based sessions (second double lecture). Students are expected to contribute actively to discussion of core theoretical-analytical tools as well as the more specific analytical examples and tasks. The problem-based focus is reflectied in the teaching form: first and foremost, we will work with concrete analysis of contemporary problems within the workshops. Moreover, the students are expected to indentify a problem to work with in their papers. This means that the students should expect to review litterature besides the couse texts already for their first paper. The work on the papers will be included in the more workshop-oriented activities in the couse. As part of the project work, aspects of conducting literature reviews within the relevant field of research will be taught and trained.

The lectures will include presentations by external professionals within crime and urban areas: city planners, crime prevention units, police and architects.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam Preparation
  • 90
  • Exercises
  • 90
  • Lectures
  • 56
  • Preparation
  • 140
  • Theory exercises
  • 37
  • Total
  • 413
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Portfolio, -
Ved porteføljeopgave forstås en opgave bestående af et antal mindre opgaver, der besvarer et eller flere stillede spørgsmål. Opgaverne kan udarbejdes løbende, mens undervisningen i faget finder sted. Der vil være mulighed for af få feedback på opgaverne i løbet af undervisningsforløbet, hvis fristerne for feedback-indlevering overholdes. Opgaverne kan viderebearbejdes som følge af feedback.

Der gives én karakter på bagrund af en samlet vurdering af porteføljeopgaven og det mundtlige forsvar. De skriftlige porteføljeopgaver kan udarbejdes i mindre grupper (max 4 studerende) og det mundtlige forsvar foregår herefter som gruppeprøve med individuel bedømmelse.

De samlede porteføljeopgaver må maximalt fylde 30 sider. Ved gruppebesvarelser tillægges 15 sider pr. ekstra studerende.
Exam registration requirements

No specific registration requirements.

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment

See learning outcome