Sociology

The course is a reasoned introduction to the complex path of the concept of culture in the social sciences and in particular in sociology. Starting from the rupture of the Enlightenment distinction between culture as a form of high expressions of a civilization and culture as a set of general characteristics of a social group, the most important definitions of culture in the anthropological and sociological fields are reviewed, debated and discussed and debates from the sociology of culture of our current time are analysed and discussed. Students are called to study links between these definitions, the development of the resulting methodologies and the different aspects of the culture object of research and sociological analysis. The sociology of culture is also observed in the light of the direct or mediated influences of some classics of sociological thought and in particular Durkheim, Weber. Marx, Simmel, Parsons. Afterwards, the most recent topics of the sociology of culture and cultural sociology are at center stage starting and following the so-called "cultural turn" of the 1970s are addressed. Sequence of topics: The historical premises of the concept of culture The crossroads of culture; The contents; Text and practice; Culture and power; Culture versus cultures The anthropological gaze, the sociological gaze; Cultural relativism; The critical review of culture Karl Marx, the culture between classes and capital Emile Durkheim and the "social" of culture Structuralism (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") Georg Simmel, the cultural excess Max Weber, how culture works Culture in the Parsons's system The cultural turn American dream, Cold War and conformism Methodological positivism The complicated story of structural-functionalist hegemony (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") The crisis of anthropology Geertz and the success of interpretationism (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") British Cultural Studies, American cultural studies The birth of Cultural studies in Great Britain Culture and/or power (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") Pierre Bourdieu, the practice of culture The Frankfurt School: cultural industry, mass culture The production of culture's school. Culture and consumptions Popular culture Culture in reception and culturalism Jeffrey Alexander and cultural sociology Beyond the sociology of culture The strong program of cultural sociology Performance, culture, social action Fusion, defusion, recasting: the heuristic force of the ritual Religion, religions. Common sense and everyday life The re-emergence of other sociologies (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") Language, communication, memory, semiotics The semiotic dimension of culture Post-structuralism (from (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") How cultures changes Generations, subcultures, young people Social movements and cultural change (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") The transition to adulthood Men, women and beyond: gender Women’s studies, Gender studies Black is beautiful! (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti") Between equality and difference Beyond the dichotomy: the plurality of genres Minorities, migrations, multiculturalism The cultural turn and post-modernity Globalization, traffic in cultures, multiculturalism (from the textbook "Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti")

Attending and non-attending students should: a) be familiar with main historical periods and facts of the Twentieth century b) be able to read and understand an elementary text of sociology written in English c) be able to read and interpret graphs and tables with percentages d) be able to use the basic functions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint

1. Piccone Stella, S. e Salmieri, L. (2018), Il gioco della cultura. Attori, processi, prospettive, NUOVA EDIZIONE, Carocci, Roma. 2. Salmieri, L. (2017),Studi culturali e scienze sociali. Fatti, testi e contesti, Carocci, Roma. 3. Giancola, O e Salmieri, L. (2023), La povertà educativa in Italia. Carocci, Roma. Further resources avalaible at: https://elearning.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=2726

The course takes place in the second semester. During the lessons the teacher adopts the flipped classroom methodology. In this regard, students are invited to attend classes with a notebook or a tablet, or at least with a smartphone equipped with the wi-fi system.

Attendance is not compulsory. Students who at the end of the course will have duly completed the performance of the tasks and tests of skills assessment available on the e-learning platform (https://elearning2.uniroma1.it/course/view.php?id=2726) can choose to take an online test which works as a basis of prior assessment for the oral exam. Those who get a positive assessment at the online test and want to improve can take the oral exam on dates available on Infostud.

Assessment of learning outcomes takes place on the basis of written and intermediate tests, an optional final test administered online and the completion of an oral examination

The course takes place in the second semester. During the lessons the teacher adopts the flipped classroom methodology. In this regard, students are invited to attend classes with a notebook or a tablet, or at least with a smartphone equipped with the wi-fi system.