Courses
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2004 (SoSe)
Theories of mass culture / popular culture
Universität Erfurt
Mass culture / popular culture is a key element of modern societies but at the same time the relation between these two entities is highly contested: does mass culture promote integration in módern societies? Or are the latter and their individuals threatened by manipulation? Or is popular culture a field of subversion and creative transformation of modernity? Beside this sociological and political dimension theory of culture provides another dimension concerning the relationship between high brow culture, popular culture of the underclass and mass culture. Finally media theory leads towards a distinction between a product centered, a consumer centered, a media centered and a process perspective encompassing these three elements.
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The "stranger" in sociology. Analysis of a phenomenon, social criticism, method
Universität Erfurt
The notion of the stranger, like it is theoretically developed by Georg Simmel, Robert E. Park and Alfred Schütz in the first half of the 20th century, has remained important up to now. In these early works as well as in later sociological approaches the stranger as a major theoretical topic implies three different dimensions: the analysis of phenomena like migration, conflict and transfer between cultures especially in modern societies; the stranger as a general description of the experiences of individuals in modern societies; and understanding different and strange life worlds as methodological starting point for interpretative social research.
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2003/2004 (WS)
Sociological Theories of youth violence
Universität Erfurt
Starting with a discussion of the concepts and definitions of violence as well as the methodological problems of analyzing violence several theoretical perspectives concerning the reconstruction and explanation of youth violence will be examined: the Chicago Schools's exploration of youth subcultures, social structure approaches (anomie and control theory), the interactionist perspective, constructivism and recent theoretical works which try a synthesis of these approaches or focus on neglegted issues such as gender and biography.
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Durkheims Sociology of religion and its consequences
Universität Erfurt
Durkheim's "The elementary forms of religious life" remains one of the most important classical sociological oeuvres. Framed by an analysis of the genesis and the social meaning of religion the cultural dimension of social phenomena is fundamentally focussed. Durkheim's question concerning the relationship between rituals, symbols, emotions and social integration is a starting point for some of the most important newer currents within the sociology of culture. These currents will be discussed and their shared theoretical background will be examined behind their different theoretical and empirical perspectives. After a intensive reading of Durkheim's work we discuss Victor Turners theory of Ritual, Pierre Bourdieus analysis of cultural distinction, Jeffrey Alexanders Sociology of political rituals, Randall Collins' investigation of the role of emotions in the process of intellectual innovations and Bruno Latours Sociology of Science and Technology.
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2003 (SoSe)
Youth, youth cultures, subcultures
Universität Erfurt
Youth and youth cultures seem to be closely linked to processes of social change. Insofar classical as well as recent research on these topics is not only about historically specific youth and their culture but could also be understood as sociological diagnosis on the impact of modernisation, individualisation and globalisation. In this twofold perspective the theoretical and methodological implications of different approaches are discussed.
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Collective behavior
Universität Erfurt
Collective behavior is of special sociological significance because of at least two reasons: firstly, collective actors and social movements play a crucial role in processes of social change and secondly, these phenomena bridge the gap between a microsociological perspective on individual actors and a macrosociological perspective on organisations, institutions and social structures. Different theoretical explanations of the emergence, dynamics and effects of collective behavior and social movements are discussed and linked to its historical and empirical contexts.
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2000/2001 (WS)
Alltag Macht Kultur - Cultural Studies
Freie Universität Berlin
Weniger eine abgeschlossene Theorie als vielmehr ein inter- oder transdisziplinäres Projekt thematisieren Cultural Studies den Zusammenhang zwischen alltäglichen Praktiken, populären Formen von Kultur und sozialen Machtprozessen. Während dieses Projekt im britischen und us-amerikanischen Raum bereits Anfang der 70er Jahre entstanden ist und seitdem weiterentwickelt, transformiert und institutionalisiert wird, setzt eine umfassende Rezeption in Deutschland erst Mitte/Ende der 90er Jahre ein.
In dem Seminar soll zu den drei Themenblöcken Jugendkulturen, Medienforschung undrace
/gender
ein überblick über Cultural Studies gegeben werden.
Die Heterogenität der Cultural Studies läßt sich bei der Lektüre sowohl älterer,klassischer
Studien als auch neuerer Ansätze anhand folgender Fragestellungen systematisieren: wie wird auf theoretischer Ebene das Verhältnis von (kreativen) Akteuren und Praktiken versus (determinierenden) sozialen Strukturen gefaßt und wie werden auf methodologischer Ebene textuelle bzw. ethnographische Ansätze eingesetzt?
Ferner soll diskutiert werden, welche Perspektiverweiterungen sich aus dem Cultural Studies-Ansatz hinsichtlich der hiesigen erziehungswissenschaftlichen Theorie und Praxis ergeben. DozentInnen: Bettina Fritzsche und Christoph Liell.