Overview
Program structure
Typical program
Articulation and progression

Overview

The Graduate program in Cultural Studies is related to a key University research centre, Transforming Cultures, covering cultural studies, history, ethnography and international studies and the application of these fields to issues of social and cultural change. The research strengths also include work with new and traditional media, ficto-critical writing, international activism, and transcultural interaction. These are concerns that inform the teaching of the graduate program and relate strongly to faculty and university research and educational goals in terms of relevance, practicality and internationalisation.

Cultural Studies is the most significant field in the New Humanities. It uses interdisciplinary methods and engages strongly with contemporary and popular cultures and new media including film, radio, music and digital multimedia. In the late 1970s UTS pioneered education in cultural studies in Australia. The Graduate program seeks to build on this foundation and its considerable reputation.

The Graduate program in Cultural Studies offers theoretico-experimental training in combination with original and empirical research. Many insights for the understanding of the contemporary world have emerged in the history of the interaction between different traditional disciplines such as English, History and Anthropology, so the courses provide 'ways of reading' or interpreting texts (including some set texts in the HSC); such as a Marxist reading vs. a formalist reading vs. a feminist reading, etc. Innovative student work is encouraged, including experimenting with ways of writing. This engages somewhat with the new creative writing emphasis in the secondary school curriculum.

Students in the program gain a familiarity with formulating and developing research questions grounded in contemporary cultural contexts. These include cultures and sub-cultures in the domains of literature, music, cinema, popular culture and the environment. Students create original and creative projects that focus analytic concepts in domains of contemporary culture, drawing out their inherent significance as well as their contestation in public debate.

Program structure

The Graduate Program in Cultural Studies courses consist of core and elective subjects.

Core subjects

Students in all courses must complete the following two core subjects:

57042 Culture and Writing 8cp
010023 Language and Power 8cp

The Graduate Diploma and Master's courses have additional compulsory and/or elective subjects as indicated under each course structure.

Elective subjects

Students in the Cultural Studies program may select from a range of Cultural Studies electives:

50133 Music and Popular Culture 8cp
50135 Television and Popular Culture 8cp
50136 Cinematic Cultures 8cp
50169 Writing and New Media 8cp
50181 Neighbourhood 8cp
50180 Culture and Poetics 8cp
50252 Culture and Technology 8cp
50253 Culture and Sound 8cp
50254 Contemporary Cinema 8cp
50255 Documentary Study 8cp
50256 Genre Study 8cp

Typical program

The typical programs provided for each course indicate a suggested pattern of enrolment depending on subject load and semester commencement.

Articulation and progression

Graduate Program in Cultural Studies courses are articulated so that students who successfully complete the Graduate Certificate in Cultural Studies or Graduate Diploma in Cultural Studies and are admitted to the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies are eligible for advanced standing for already completed subjects within the advanced course.