Lehrende: Dr. phil. Esther Schomacher
Veranstaltungsart: Seminar / Übung
Orga-Einheit: Communication & Cultural Management
Anzeige im Stundenplan: Advanced Methods | D
Semesterwochenstunden: 1,5
Credits: 3,0
Standort: Campus der Zeppelin Universität
Unterrichtssprache: Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: 6 | 18
Prioritätsschema: Standard-Priorisierung
Inhalte: Almost forty years after the publication of Michel Foucault’s influential works in the 1970s the importance of discourse analysis as a research program within cultural studies can hardly be overrated. This workshop will introduce and discuss its most important concepts and questions. Starting with a close reading of selected parts of Foucault’s most important methodological texts – The Order of Discourse, The Archeology of Knowledge, Discipline and Punish – , we will discuss the theoretical premises as well as the historical and philosophical context of Foucault’s work. Working with examples showcasing the reception and development of discourse analysis as a method in cultural studies’ various disciplines (such as literary studies, history, gender studies, media studies and theory…), participants will gain insight into the variations in focus and analytical perspective within the vast field of appropriations of foucaultian concepts. This approach will be complemented by a critical exploration of the limits and ‘blind spots’ of discourse analysis. The workshop will focus on reading and discussing the texts in class and on the development of individual small-scale research projects. In order to achieve the workshop’s aims students are required to be present in class and are encouraged to actively contribute to discussions. The texts and topics to be discussed will be agreed upon within the group. Reading material and a bibliography of the course will be made available online before the beginning of term. With regard to Foucault’s works, discussions in class will be based on the English and German translations; however, students are, of course, free to read and/or compare the French original text if they wish to do so.
Lernziele: Participants will learn to view research projects and question within the field of cultural studies from a discourse analytical perspective as well as to develop their own research along discourse analytical lines. They will also learn to assess in which contexts discourse analysis appears as a valuable approach and provides helpful methodological tools – and where it does not. In short: Students will learn what discourse analysis can, and cannot, do.
Weitere Informationen zu den Prüfungsleistungen: The examination consists of 3 parts: A protocol of one course unit (2-3 pages), a (critical) review of a discourse-analytical research paper (approx. 3 pages), as well as a draft of a (hypothetical) discourse-analytical research project (approx. 3-4 pages).
