The course Soc 8735, "Sociology of Culture" taught by Penny Edgell meets Thursdays 2:30-5:00pm.
Soc 8735 Sociology of Culture
(Non-Sociology Graduate Students Welcome!).
This course provides an overview of cultural sociology. The first part of the course covers central readings in theory and method; in the second half we read the best contemporary empirical work in the subfield. We will consider why the field has moved away from a focus on culture as ideas and ideals and toward a conception of culture as practice and institution, and we will read newer work emphasizing the relationship between culture, embodiment, and emotion. The course places at the forefront questions of resources, power, identity, globalization, and social change, and considers several theoretical approaches to the relationship between culture, structure, agency, and change. Readings span national contexts and include comparative analyses. Empirical works include analyses of political, civic, religious, and literary culture as well as everyday cultural practices and mass media.
