This course aims to allow students to:
A) Develop knowledge of contemporary cultural theories that are relevant for understanding our contemporary global world
B) Learn to read difficult and densely written texts that are important to research fields in the humanities, and work with them in feminist, queer, postcolonial, posthuman(ist) and (new) materialist projects
C) Formulate research questions, locate and interpret sources, and assess the significance of one’s own research within the framework of current cultural theories
D) Gain confidence in reporting research findings in both oral and written forms.
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In this course, the newest developments in cultural theory (used here as an umbrella term for the fields of feminist, queer, postcolonial, critical race, posthuman(ist) and (new) materialist perspectives) are explored by reading key texts that are crucial to what can be called inspiration to the 'new humanities'. New materialism, critical and queer (post)humanisms, non-philosophy, and affect theory are just some of those currents at the forefront of this re-inscription of the humanities today that may be studied in this class each year. The course will select its text corpus in attunement with emerging theoretico-discursive developments, thereby providing a focused engagement with the subject of the 'new humanities' that speaks to a broad audience of cultural studies students. Without giving overviews or summaries, students in this class are asked to be part of cutting-edge scholarship by reading texts that matter 'today'. They are invited to 'do' the theory proposed in them by exposing themselves to the task of what Foucault once called a 'critical ontology of ourselves'.
Career orientation:
The course provides students with cutting-edge intellectual debates in the broad field of Cultural Studies, with specific focus on Gender Studies discussions. Students are thereby familiarized with very contemporary research, which is helpful for shaping their future research profile on the academic job market and beyond.
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