This
course is an introduction to the study of cultures and the theoretical issues
therein. Drawing from insights and debates from several disciplines like
Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Philology, and Philosophy this course explores
new approaches to the study of culture. It simultaneously trains students in
analysing descriptions of cultures and developing sophisticated criticisms of
such descriptions. It also explores the history of studying culture in the
social sciences and humanities and attempts to reconstruct the theoretical
paradigms that have been most influential in the last couple of centuries. Through
these strategies, it tries to isolate in sharp relief the object of study for a
Philosophy of Culture.
Unit
1: Culture – Introduction
a. What is culture
and why does it matter?
b. Cultural
difference and its implications
c. Cultural
conflicts and pluralism
d. The challenges
for intercultural dialogue
Unit
2: Describing Cultures
a. Significant
descriptions and trivial descriptions
b. Evaluation and
description
c. Thick
description
d. Object-level
descriptions and meta-descriptions
e. Participants
and Observers: Emic and Etic Categories
f.
Cultural relativism (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)
Unit
3: Approaches to the study of cultures
a. Heritage
approach
b. Materialist
approach
c. Hermeneutic
approach
d. Formalist
approach
e. Comparative
approach
Unit
4: Culture as Learnables
a. Theories of
tradition
b. Need for a
theory of culture
c. Culture as Learnables
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