CULTURAL STUDIES

Cultural Studies may include concentrations in communications, creative writing, expository writing, rhetoric and composition, journalism, language, literature, philosophy, religious studies and other areas. Students designing programs in the area of Cultural Studies explore the ways in which human beings understand and articulate their world. They examine the relationship between culture as lived experience and culture as creative and philosophical expression. They explore aesthetic and cognitive forms and values within social and historical contexts; hence, Cultural Studies intersects and overlaps with various other areas of study (such as Historical Studies; The Arts; and Social Theory, Social Structure and Change). Students are encouraged to study artistic expression, social and cultural norms and belief systems, and modes of communication. Programs in Cultural Studies should include cross-cultural and historical perspectives addressing questions of gender, class and race. For example, students who work in Cultural Studies need to develop skills in critical reading, interpretation and writing. These skills include the ability to distinguish the main point of a text from supporting argument or evidence, to evaluate the logic and rhetoric of a presentation, to identify underlying assumptions and to interpret levels of meaning. Students also should develop skills to communicate their own ideas and feelings fully, precisely, and creatively in speech and writing. Students pursuing upper-level work in Cultural Studies should acquire conceptual vocabularies, knowledge of sources, and critical skills appropriate to their areas of focus or lines of inquiry. Degree programs in Cultural Studies should be focused on an articulated goal and should have a relatively broad frame of reference. Revised: February 1993