Self, Sign and Society

Code

CULT3031

School

Cultural, Media and Visual Studies

Level

3

Credits

20

Semesters

Spring UK

Summary

This module equips students with the theoretical tools needed to explore how social identity is both asserted and challenged through the deployment of signs broadly conceived. 'Sign' is understood here primarilly with reference to Saussurean linguistics, and the impact of the structuralist and then poststructuralist movements on disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, psychoanalysis, semiotics, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and visual culture. How does our accent function as a sign of our class origins or cultural sympathies? Does skin colour always function as a social sign? How do the clothes we wear align us with particular lifestyles and ideological positions and how is this transgressed? How has the phenomenon of self-branding colonised our everyday lives? What does our Facebook profile say about how we would like to be read by the wider world? Does the logic of the sign itself exceed what we intend to do with it? How do the signs that construct a social 'self' circulate in the context of new media? Are there psychological costs associated with living in this society of the sign? This module will address these and other related questions by introducing students to the approaches of thinkers such as Freud and Lacan, Saussure and Greimas, Barthes and Baudrillard, Levi-Strauss and Geertz, Derrida and Bhabha, and Mirzoeff and Mitchell among others.

A single coursework assessment will replace all failed assessment components at the reassessment stage.

Target Students

Only available for International Media & Communication Studies students, History of Art students, Liberal Arts students and Exchange students

Classes

• One 2-hour seminar each week for 11 weeks
• One 1-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies operates an attendance policy. The details of this policy can be found in the student handbook on Workspace and in module handbooks.

Assessment

• 100% Coursework: Coursework - 3,500 words portfolio of written work and equivalent

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

a) Knowledge and Understanding:

• This module will provide students with a broad knowledge of the history of Psychoanalysis and semiotics; 

• an understanding of key concepts within Psychoanalysis and semiotics; 

• a basic familiarity with the main theorists of Psychoanalysis and semiotics; 

• an awareness of the critiques of Psychoanalysis and semiotics; 

• a general grasp of the impact of Psychoanalysis and semiotics within the history of ideas, including philosophy;

• the capacity to situate Psychoanalysis and semiotics within its cultural and political context; 

• and to creatively apply Psychoanalytic interpretations to broader phenomena of contemporary social life.

b) Intellectual Skills: 

• This module will encourage the textual analysis of theoretical and literary texts; 

• critical reflection on the advantages and drawbacks of the application of specific concepts;

• verbal group and individual written communication skills; 

• theoretical application; 

• theoretical application to diverse empirical examples; 

• critical awareness;

c) Professional Practical Skills: 

• This module will enhance the ability to articulate complex arguments; 

• comparatively evaluate divergent perspectives;

• work effectively in groups; approach concepts critically; 

• and construct logical written argumentation.

d) Transferable (Key) Skills: 

• This module will enhance transferable skills such as communicating clearly in oral and written forms; 

• working effectively in groups; 

• giving oral presentations; 

• and retrieving and presenting information.

• and self-reflection.

Conveners

• Dr Colin Wright