SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: GIUSEPPE TOSCANOExpected Learning Outcomes
- According to the Dublin descriptors, at the end of the course, students will demonstrate:
- Knowledge of the main classical and contemporary sociological theories on culture. Special emphasis will be placed on the perspective of symbolic interactionism and other sociological approaches emphasizing sense-making processes.
- Learning conceptual outlines and basic notions of the methodology of social research to develop hermeneutic skills in studying social phenomena and cultural practices.
- Development of sociological sensitivity and analytical skills for approaching cultural phenomena. Specific focus will be placed on interpretive and constructivist sociological paradigms.
- Active participation of students attending the class and paper presentations will help the acquisition, improvement, and enhancement of communication skills.
- In-class presentations will be organized to help students to apply theoretical concepts in everyday social interactions.
Course Structure
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Two ways of looking at culture: Social Sciences and Humanities. Classical theories: Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel. Conflictualist perspectives (Bourdieu). Structural-functionalist perspectives (Parsons, Merton, Alexander).
Symbolic Interactionism (Mead, Blumer, Becker, Denzin). Subcultures and Social Worlds.
Constructing a social problem.
Studying cultures empirically: basic outlines of qualitative methodology. Ethnography and participant observation; open-ended interviews; personal documents: biographies, autobiographies, life histories.
Culture and identity: the social construction of Self
Primary socialization, secondary socialization, re-socialization, significant others, and reference groups. Maintenance and transformation of subjective reality. Internalization and social structure.Textbook Information
§ Wendy Griswold, Cultures and Societies in a Changing World, New York, Sage, 2013, pp. 228.
§ Piergiorgio Corbetta, La ricerca sociale: metodologia e tecniche. Volume III. Le tecniche qualitative, il Mulino, Bologna, 2015, pp. 176.
§ Howard S. Becker (1963), Outsiders, The Free Press, New York, 1991, pp. 79-120.
§ Rosalba Perrotta, Giuseppe Toscano, Osservare, immaginare e scrivere. Riflessioni sulla relazione tra sociologia e letteratura, Kurumuny, Calimera (Le), 2018, pp. 141.
§ Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality, Doubleday, New York, 1966. (Chapter 3), pp. 147-204.
Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.
For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).
All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.