Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Theory of Culture
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Appointments by email at macuriel@uic.es
Introduction
Culture represents the scene where all human experiences take place, practically since the beginning of Humanity. Culture is in constant change as are societies and their cultural constructions.
Fourteen years have passed since the change of the century and that fact has produced a multitude of critical reflections on globalising Postmodernity –not globalisation–, which is the same as adding that the last question is based, in essence, on one’s own Human Culture in transition.
The challenge of postmodernism was reborn in Germany as the Philosophy of Culture, in an effort to find answers, with structure and sense, after losing the battle against Social Anthropologists, who had the appropriate authorship and reflection on the term ‘culture’. The work by Ortega y Gassett, in essence a Philosopher of Culture, takes on resurgent senses.
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisites are needed to enrol in this course.
Objectives
The philosophical reflection on culture should contribute greatly to educate the students.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- CP05 - Students will be able to analyse socio-cultural, historical and artistic structures, from a respect for the fundamental rights of equality between men and women, using language that avoids androcentricity and stereotypes.
- HB02 - Students will be able to convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- HB03 - Students will be able to develop a coherent understanding and expression of ideas and arguments, both orally and in writing.
- HB04 - Students will be able to develop the capacity for analysis, synthesis and critical thinking.
- HB05 - Students will be able to problem solve based on reasoned judgements.
- HB11 - Students will be able to critically analyse cultural and artistic representations, based on an understanding of their historical context, in order to develop an intercultural perspective and a deeper understanding of the contemporary world.
- HB13 - Students will be able to draw connections between data derived from observations and relevant theories, following data interpretation.
- HB15 - Students will be able to analyse the elements that make up cultural heritage.
Syllabus
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE FROM THE FIELDS OF KNOWLEDGE.
2.1 Origin of the term.
2.2. In the Social Sciences.
2.3 In Biology.
2.4. The construction of the myth of Culture.
2.5 The Philosophy of Culture. Features, deduction, method.
3. PHENOMENOLOGY OF CULTURE.
3.1 By Ortega.
3.2 By Husserl.
3.3 By Heidegger.
3.4 Phenomenology of Culture.
4. TYPES OF CULTURE AND CULTURAL SCENARIOS
4.1 Technical Culture
4.2 Culture as an ideal
4.3 Culture as praxis
4.4 cultural scenarios: work, family-politics, death, game (and body)
5. THE CRISIS OF THE IDEAL OF CULTURE
5.1 The ideal of culture in Husserl
5.2 Criticism of Humanism in Heidegger
5.3 Marketing and culture
5.4 Body and culture: Posthumanism
Teaching and learning activities
In person
Each session is divided into two parts. The first part involves an explanation and analysis; the second part requires the development of a component of the course by each student which we call ‘contribution to the class’. In addition, each student must perform an oral presentation in class whose content shall be specified by the professor of the course.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
-Participation in the blog of the subject 10% -Oral presentations 18% -Written assignments 72% (Delivery of all written assignments is compulsory to award the course grade)
In the event that the faculty detects a plagiarized work or a student cheating in an exam, the faculty will notify the Faculty Board, which will take the appropriate measures, including automatically obtaining a 0.0 grade for that subject, and passing directly to the second call.
Bibliography and resources
ABRUZZESE, ALBERTO, “Cultura de masas”. En CIC, Cuadernos de Información y Comunicación, nº 9, pp. 189-192, 2004.
AUSTIN MILLÁN, T. R.; “Para comprender el concepto de Cultura”. En Revista UNAP, Educación y Desarrollo, año 1, Nº 1, marzo de 2000. Accesible en:
t.r.austinmillan.para_comprender_el_concepto_de_cultura.pdf
BAUMAN ZYGMUNT, La cultura en el mundo de la modernidad líquida. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Méjico, 101 pp.
BROCKMAN, JOHN (Ed.), Cultura. Colec. Fronteras del conocimiento. Ed. Crítica, S.L., 2012, 285 pp.
BUSTAMANTE RAMÍREZ, ENRIQUE, “Cultura Digital: la "nueva" cultura clásica”. En, Telos, Cuadernos de comunicación e innovación, ISSN 0213-084X, Nº. 88, (Ejemplar dedicado a: La cultura digital), págs. 59-64, 2011.
CALDUCH CERVERA, RAFAEL.; “Cultura y civilización en la sociedad internacional”. Accesible en:
cultura_civilizacion.pdf
CHOZA, JACINTO, Filosofía de la Cultura. Editorial Thémata. Sevilla, 2013, 266 pp.
DE VALLESCAR PALANCA, DIANA, Hacia una racionalidad intercultural. Cultura, multiculturalismo e interculturalidad. Tesis Doctoral. Madrid, 2000. Accesible en:
http://biblioteca.ucm.es/tesis/19972000/H/2/H2098801.pdf
HARRIS, MARVIN, Teorías sobre la cultura en la era posmoderna. Ed. Crítica, Barcelona, 2000.
MARCUSE, HERBERT, “Observaciones sobre una nueva definición de la cultura”. Revista de Occidente, ISSN 0034-8635, Nº 30, págs. 261-286, 1965.
MÉNDEZ RUBIO, ANTONIO, Hacia una teoría crítica de la Cultura. Universidad de Valencia, 1996. ISBN: 84-370-2623-7.
SAN MARTÍN SALA, JAVIER, Teoría de la Cultura. Editorial Síntesis, Madrid, 1999, 317 pp.
VV.AA. (T. S. Eliot, Félix de Azúa), Notas para la definición de la Cultura. Ed. Bruguera, Barcelona, 1984. ISBN: 84-02-09643-3.
VV.AA. (Jan Assmann, Helga Breuninger, Gerhard Schroeder, coords), Teoría de la cultura. Un mapa de la cuestión. Fondo de Cultura Económica, España, 2005.
ZAID, G.; “El primer concepto de cultura”. Letras Libres, nov. de 2006, pp. 44-46 Accesible en:
elprimerconceptodecultura.pdf