Course : Culture, Society, and Politics

Course Syllabus

I. Introduction to culture, society, and politics: Interconnections and dynamics
II. Comparative Politics: Cultural and social differentiations in governance
III. (Post-)modern quests: Power and freedom in contemporary societies
IV. Critical cultural thought: Deconstructing and reconstructing ideologies and discourses
V. Identities: Diversity and variety from social fragmentation to social cohesion
VI. Biopolitics and governance of personal and collective life
VII. Environmental justice and ecological politics in the Anthropocene era
VIII. Digitality and self: Authenticity, autonomy, and digital personality
IX. Artificial (General) Intelligence and Democracy: Navigating cultural and political dilemmas in digital environments
X. Globalization 2.0: The future of culture, society, and politics through emerging trends, challenges, and prospects

Course Objectives/Goals

Upon successful completion of the exercise, students will:
• Gain knowledge and understanding of the fundamental characteristics and pertinent issues of both the cultural and the relevant political and social framework of our contemporary era.
• Achieve a coherent and concise understanding of some of the most important theoretical and critical arguments regarding the intersection of contemporary social, political, and cultural philosophy.
• Be able to assess the socio-political and cultural dimensions of the international transformations of our time.
• Develop the ability to orally present and analyze the main pertinent issues of the topic, as well as to construct their own philosophical arguments about them.
• Compile a paper discussing selected philosophical positions analytically and critically, as well as formulating their own perspective on them.
• Familiarize themselves with theoretical, epistemological, and methodological data regarding the pertinent issues of the relationship between cultural and socio-political thought.
• Cultivate critical and normative capacity regarding social-political, cultural, and ecological issues in the fields of physical reality and digital hyperreality.

Instructional Methods

This course employs a dynamic blend of instructional methods to ensure a comprehensive learning experience. With a focus on engagement and flexibility, the instructional approach comprises 75% face-to-face teaching, fostering direct interaction between instructors and students in a traditional classroom setting. Additionally, 25% of the course involves distant teaching, which can be delivered either synchronously or asynchronously. This remote component allows students to access course materials, participate in discussions, and engage with learning activities at their own pace, leveraging online platforms and resources. By combining face-to-face interaction with remote learning opportunities, the course aims to cater to diverse learning styles and preferences, facilitating deeper understanding and collaboration among students while accommodating individual schedules and needs.

Assessment Methods

• 20%: Participation
• 20%: Oral presentation
• 60%: Written assignment

Prerequisites/Prior Knowledge

This module has no prerequisites in the curriculum or prior knowledge requirements.

Instructors

Instructors for the course will be announced shortly.

Textbooks

To be added soon.

Bibliography

• Barry, Brian, 2001, Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Benhabib, Seyla, 2002, The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

• Baudrillard, J., 1994, Simulacra and Simulation, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

• Bechtel, William, 1985, “Attributing Responsibility to Computer Systems”, Metaphilosophy, 16(4): 296–306.

• Bernholz L., Landemore H., and Reich R. (eds.), Digital Technology and Democratic Theory, 2021, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

• Bijker, Wiebe E., and John Law (eds), 1992, Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Borgmann, Albert, 1984, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

• Butler, Rex, 1999, Jean Baudrillard: The Defense of the Real, London and Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Chalmers, D. J., 2022, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy, New York: W. W. Norton.
• Coeckelbergh, Mark, 2022, The Political Philosophy of AI: An Introduction, Cambridge: Polity.
• Debord, Guy, 1970, The Society of the Spectacle, Detroit: Black and Red.
• Dhamoon, Rita, 2006, “Shifting From ‘Culture’ to ‘the Cultural’: Critical Theorizing of Identity/Difference Politics”, Constellations, 13(3): 354–373. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8675.2006.00406.x
• Eisenberg, Avigail, 2009, Reasons of Identity: A Normative Guide to the Political and Legal Assessment of Identity Claims, Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291304.001.0001
• Goodman, Nelson and Catherine Z. Elgin, 1988, Reconceptions in Philosophy, London: Routledge.
• Grau, Oliver, 2003, Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Gutmann, Amy, 2003, Identity in Democracy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Kellner, Douglas, 1995, Media Culture. Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern, London and New York: Routledge.
• Kitcher, Philip, 2001, Science, Truth, and Democracy, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
• Lenard, Patti Tamara.,2012, Trust, Democracy and Multicultural Challenges, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania University State Press.
• Longino, Helen, 1990, Science as Social Knowledge: Values and Objectivity in Scientific Inquiry, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Mitchell, W. J. T., The Language of Images, University of Chicago Press, 1980.
• Nissenbaum, Helen, 2010, Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life, Stanford, CA: Stanford Law Books.
• Rowell, John, 1995, “The Politics of Cultural Appropriation”, Journal of Value Inquiry, 29(1): 137–142.
• Rush, Michael, 2005, New Media in Art, London: Thames & Hudson.
• Sclove, Richard E., 1995, Democracy and Technology, New York: The Guilford Press.
• Smuts, Aaron, 2009, “What is Interactivity?”, Journal of Aesthetic Education, 43(4): 53–73.
• Stearns, William and William Chaloupka (eds.), 1992, The Disappearence of Art and Politics, New York and London: Saint Martins and Macmillan Press.
• Tavinor, Grant, 2019, “On Virtual Transparency”. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 77(2): 145–156.
• Winner, Langdon, 1977, Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought, Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press.
• Young, James O., 2008, Cultural Appropriation and the Arts, Malden, MA: Blackwell.
• Zuboff, Shoshana, 2017, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, New York: Public Affairs.