CULTST 1001 - Approaches to Culture

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2025

The contemporary humanities and social sciences are the product of a `cultural turn?: away from dry, functionalist theories of society and towards an appreciation of culture as the medium in which meanings are made and shared, and identities are formed. This course will introduce students to a number of ways to understand culture, and equip them with a variety of tools for analysing the cultures of everyday life. The course content includes topics such as fashion, taste, race, gender, online (sub)cultures, and the environment. It includes Indigenous perspectives on the relationship between nature and culture and addresses contemporary debates about identity. Approaches to Culture will introduce first year students to several of the major thinkers in the Humanities and Social Sciences, whose influence continues to be felt across the disciplines. The course is also the entry point for the Cultural Studies major.

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Course Details

Course Code	CULTST 1001
Course	Approaches to Culture
Coordinating Unit	School of Humanities
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Incompatible	ENGL 1111
Assessment	Discussion Boards, Writing Portfolio (1200 words), Research Essay (1500 words).

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Benjamin Madden

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Define Cultural Studies as a distinctive disciplinary formation with the Humanities and Social Sciences
2. Be conversant in the ideas of some of the major figures who have shaped thought in the Humanities and Social Sciences across the twentieth century
3. Employ a variety of interpretive tools and strategies to decode the meanings and messages that circulate in our culture
4. Use group enquiry in class settings to articulate aspects of students’ own cultural practices, and learn about those of others
5. Critique cultural objects and practices from a variety of viewpoints, and with an awareness of others' identities and subjectivities
6. Understand the distinctive contribution of Indigenous knowledges to contemporary understandings of the relationship between nature and culture.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1, 2
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	3
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	4
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	5
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	6

Learning Resources

Required Resources

All required readings for this course will be provided online by the Barr Smith Library, accessible through MyUni

Online Learning

Relevant online learning resources to be provided throughout. All lectures recorded and available on MyUni.

Learning & Teaching Modes

One formal lecture per week followed by a two-hour workshop with a variety of activities, such as exploration of key terms and concepts, cultural analysis tasks, and preparation for assignments. The workshops will focus on the application of concepts introduced in the lecture to students' own examples and cultural practices.

Learning will be supported by online activities, and supplementary learning materials including interactive videos to introduce key course concepts.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Activity	Hours
1 x 1-hour lecture per week	12 hours per semester
1 x 2-hour seminar per week	24 hours per semester
6 hours reading per week	72 hours per semester
2 hours research per week	24 hours per semester
2 hours assignment preparation per week	24 hours per semester
TOTAL WORKLOAD	156 hours per semester

Learning Activities Summary

Topics to be addressed include definitions of culture, ideology, semiotics, the culture industry, subculture, identity, nature and culture, body cultures, and urban cultures. A full summary of week-by-week topics with supporting materials will be published on MyUni.

The following breakdown of course content is taken from a previous iteration of the course; the order in which this material is delivered may change, but the core content will be largely the same in 2025:

Week	Lecture	Seminar
1	Introduction to Cultural Studies	None
2	Doing Cultural Studies	Introduction to Cultural Studies
3	The Fashion System	Doing Cultural Studies
4	Ideology and Popular Culture	The Fashion System
5	“Taste” and Cultural Capital	Ideology and Popular Culture
6	Subcultures, Tribes, and the Birmingham School	“Taste” and Cultural Capital
7	Identity and Authenticity	Subcultures, Tribes, and the Birmingham School
8	Body Culture	Identity and Authenticity
9	Nature and Culture	Body Culture
10	Urban Spaces	Nature and Culture
11	Course Review	Urban Spaces
12	Conclusion	None

Week	Main Concept	Main Theorist
1	Culture	Raymond Williams
2	Semiotics	Roland Barthes
3	Semiotics and Fashion	Roland Barthes and Georg Simmel
4	Ideology	Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer
5	Cultural Capital	Pierre Bourdieu
6	Subculture	Dick Hebdige and Stuart Hall
7	Identity	Judith Butler and Paul Gilroy
8	The Body	Michel Foucault
9	Natureculture	Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour
10	Urbanism	Michel de Certeau, Richard Sennett, and Walter Benjamin

Specific Course Requirements

Students must attend the weekly seminar. Online participation options will be provided.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment for this course is designed to support student learning by providing a space in which students can apply the concepts they learn in the course to their own lives and cultural experiences. To this extent, the assessment tasks are less traditional research projects than invitations for students to assume the role of invistigaters in their own cultrual and subcultural milieus.

1. Annotated Bibliography: 20%
2. Portfolio: 40%
3. Research Essay: 40%

Assessment Detail

The annotated bibliography will acquaint you with the conventions of researching and referencing in Cultural Studies.

The Portfolio will be made up of three short entries addressing major concepts and styles of analysis we will learn during the course. The porfolio is a slightly less formal piece of writing than an essay.

The final essay will ask you to enquire in detail in to one of the thinkers we encounter in the course, and assess the usefulness of their ideas in understanding contemporary culture.

Submission

Online, via Turnitin, and ongoing assessment through MyUni.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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