The course listings on this page are also listed in the UC Davis General Catalog. Not all courses are available every year. Quarterly course selection is determined by evaluating student need/interests and availability of affiliate faculty.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
CST 200A - M. Jerng - History of Cultural Studies: Genealogies of Cultural Studies: Histories and traditions of cultural studies internationally; multiple legacies of cultural studies as a field of inquiry in various geographical contexts; foregrounds important critical perspectives resulting from social and intellectual movements worldwide.
Wed: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
CST 290 - R. Kim - Colloquium: CST Speaker Series. Designed to provide cohort identity and faculty-student exchange. Opportunity to present papers, hear guest lecturers, and see faculty presentations, gather for organizational and administrative news, exchange information, and make announcements.
Thur: 4:10pm - 6:00pm
CST 295 - R. Cartwright - Enduring Conditions: Chronic Illness, Disability, Care, and Access: This interdisciplinary seminar is part of a Mellon-funded disability studies grant that brings together scholars, grassroots organizers, and culture workers to think about access, care, and humanistic approaches to chronic illness. Scholarly texts are drawn from the fields of critical race and ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies history, and feminist science and technology studies (fSTS). Seminar participants will also engage with the arts and media as critical sites for understanding culture work bringing together knowledge in disability and chronic illness spaces. To embrace community-based research and knowledge sharing, the course will feature regular guest lectures from grassroots disability justice organizers and culture workers. To consider what disability studies and work on chronic illness can build together, we will read scholars such as Moya Bailey, Aimi Hamraie, Jina B. Kim, Aksum Nishida, and Sami Schalk, among others.
Restrictions: Permission of Instructor; Please reach out to Professor Cartwright (rcartwright@ucdavis.edu) for a CRN.
Wed: 12:10pm - 3:00pm
AFFILIATE COURSES
AHI 200A - H. Watenpaugh - Visual Theory and Interpretive Methods: Designed for graduate students in art history or any discipline with an interest in visual studies. This seminar is neither a history of art history, nor does it provide a menu of methods for the study of art history, even though history and method will be among our key concerns. Instead, this seminar emphasizes the relationship between the aesthetic theories that drive our field and the social history of the institutions that sustain it, including museums. The debates we will examine include: key assumptions in visual studies, the roles of the art historian (humanist, scholar, historian, connoisseur, expert, philosopher, archivist, linguist, archaeologist, authenticator…), the relationships between art history and allied disciplines, the critical importance of aesthetic philosophy, and the methods of art interpretation. We will scrutinize art history’s evolving self-perception and its most cherished myths, its links to enlightenment and modernity, its relationship with technologies such as photography, its allied institutions such as museums and exhibitions, the workings of the art market. We will look at art history as a form of writing and as performance. We will consider the changing roles of art historians and other arts professionals, reflecting on art history's resilience, transformations and resurgence in the contemporary art world.
CRN: 20722
Mon: 1:10pm - 4:00pm
ANT 210 - J. Dumit - Aspects of Culture: Analysis of various phases of culture, such as religion, economics, law, and folklore.
Thurs: 12:10pm - 3:00pm
GSW 201 - Special Topics in Feminist Theory and Research: In-depth exploration of a topic of feminist theory and research related to the interests of the instructor.
Tues: 1:10pm-4:00pm
STS 200 - C. Milburn - Theories and Methods in Science and Technology Studies: Theories and methods of Science & Technology Studies as a field of critical and empirical scholarship, and examination of various contexts in which STS has emerged worldwide.
Tues: 9:00am-11:50am
Winter 2025 Courses
CST 200B - K. Fallon - Theories of Cultural Studies
Definitions of "critical" scholarship and examination of various contexts in which cultural studies theory has emerged worldwide. Both mainstream and alternative theoretical traditions, such as those developed by people of color and by other minoritized groups.
Mon: 1:10pm - 4:00pm
CST 250 - C. Whithaus - Research Seminar:
This seminar focuses on the preparation and writing of a draft dissertation prospectus in the qualitative interdisciplinary field of cultural studies. A dissertation prospectus is a distinct genre that can vary somewhat in its characteristics depending on specific field(s). During the quarter you will write components of the prospectus and critique each other’s work. By the end of the quarter you will have a workable initial draft of a dissertation prospectus.
While our work will focus on developing a working draft for your dissertation prospectus, we will also attend to other important writing opportunities such as academic journal articles, grant proposals, and public-facing, activist-oriented scholarship. This seminar should provide you space to think about how all these writing activities might fit within the developing trajectory of your research, scholarship, and public engagement.
Wed: 12:10pm - 3:00pm
CST 290 - Colloquium: CST Speaker Series.
Designed to provide cohort identity and faculty student exchange. Opportunity to present papers, hear guest lecturers, and see faculty presentations, gather for organizational and administrative news, exchange information, and make announcements.
Thurs: 4:10pm - 6:00pm
AFFILIATE COURSES
AAS 204 - B. Ng’weno - Methodologies in African American and African Studies
Relationship between theory and methodology, with emphasis on identifying relevant methodological approaches and constructing theoretically informed research projects for studying the experience of people of African descent whether on the African continent or in the rest of the world.
Thurs: 1:10pm - 4:00pm
AHI 290 - H. Watenpaugh - Cultures of Collecting
The seminar this Winter will focus on Collecting the Arts from the Middle East in historical and theoretical perspective. We will consider all aspects of the history of collecting – such as the manifold processes that result in objects traveling across vast distances and acquiring new functions and contexts. We will also do deep dives on the “cast of characters” that often play multiple roles in this process– art dealers, art collectors, museum officials, looters, fixers, middle men, attorneys, scholars, and curators. Finally we will critically consider manifold resistance movements focused on defending cultural heritage in war and peacetime and pressing restitution claims, as well as movements that advocate the selective erasure of cultural heritage and battles over memory and history.
Mon: 1:10 pm- 4:00pm
ANT 210 - C. Giordano - Aspects of Culture Structure
Analysis of various phases of culture, such as religion, economics, law, and folklore.
Thurs: 10:00am - 12:50pm
ANT 210 - F. Mojaddedi - Aspects of Culture Structure
Analysis of various phases of culture, such as religion, economics, law, and folklore.
Thurs: 2:10pm - 5:00pm
GER 297 - C. Zhang - Modernism, Spirituality, and Transcendence
In the graduate seminar, participants will explore the spiritual dimension in modernist literary texts and the discussion of transcendence in critical theory. While historical materialism has been a dominant approach to interpret literary modernism and its sociocultural contexts, this course focuses on the prominent yet less discussed spirituality and psychologism in modernism in conjunction with the transcendental in critical theory such as writings by Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin, and C. G. Jung. Literary texts include Hermann Hesse, Bertolt Brecht, Alfred Döblin, and Franz Kafka.
Wed: 2:10pm - 5:00pm
GSW 200A - C. Hanssmann - Current Issues in Feminist Theory
This seminar examines current issues in feminist theory, techniques employed to build feminist theory in various fields.
Tues: 3:10pm - 6:00pm
REL 200B - F. Miller - Foundational Theories of Religion
This course is an analytical survey of some of the prominent theories and approaches scholars use in the study of religion. Recurring themes in this course include race, gender, reduction versus interpretation, normative versus descriptive approaches, insider versus outsider explanations, and idealism versus materialism.
Among assigned books, we will read are the following:
- Stephen S. Bush, Visions of Religion: Experience, Meaning, and Power. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
- David Sloan Wilson, Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
- Webb Keane, Christian Moderns: Freedom and Fetish in the Mission Encounter. Oakland, CA: University of California, Press, 2007.
- Ismail Fajrie Alatas, What is Religious Authority? Cultivating Islamic Communities in Indonesia. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2021.
Tues 2:10pm - 5:00pm
Spring 2024 Courses
CST 200C - S. Maira - Practices of Cultural Studies
Methodological and practical applications of cultural studies research. Critical analyses of ethnography, textual analysis, social change, community development, and identity formation. Emphasis given to students' unique versions of cultural studies practices.
Thur: 10:00am - 12:50pm
CST 210/HMR 200B - C. Walker - Memory, Culture, & Human Rights
Explores the multiple convergences among memory, culture, and human rights. Discusses diverse approaches to how societal actors in different historical, cultural, and national settings, construct meanings of past political violence, inter-group conflicts, and human rights struggles.
Mon: 3:10pm - 6:00pm
CST 290 - Colloquium: CST Speaker Series.
Designed to provide cohort identity and faculty-student exchange. Opportunity to present papers, hear guest lecturers, and see faculty presentations, gather for organizational and administrative news, exchange information, and make announcements.
Thur: 4:10pm - 6:00pm
AFFILIATE COURSES
ANT 210 - M. De la Cadena; J. Dumit
Analysis of various phases of culture, such as religion, economics, law, and folklore. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
Wed: 2:10pm - 5:00pm
GSW 200B - B. Jafri - Problems in Feminist Research
Application of feminist theoretical perspectives to the interdisciplinary investigation of a problem or question chosen by the instructor(s).
Wed: 10:00am -12:50pm
GER 297 - J. Fischer - National vs Transnational: European Co-Productions in the EU Era
This seminar will examine a special case of post-1990 European cinema, namely, efforts at art-cinema co-productions undertaken by two or more countries. European nations have long sought to find a niche in the global film market by producing art-cinema films related to various national cinemas (as in Italian neorealism, French New Wave, New German Cinema, Romanian New Wave, etc.), but there has also been a group of films, many funded in part by the EU (e.g., via its MEDIA program) or by other cross-border schemes like ARTE that foreground, even thematize, their co-production status. Part of their goal is produce films that will be of interest in global film markets, but, often, they also seek to highlight how identities can and often do transcend national borders, not least via images underscoring themes of mobility, migration, and diaspora/refuge – indeed, a “European” or cosmopolitan identity is a complex term and notion, but often the goal of these kinds of films. The course will examine the history of such cross-border co-productions, including works by directors like Krzysztof Kieslowski, the Dardennes brothers, Fatih Akin, Michael Haneke, Jessica Hausner, Mati Diop, Christian Petzold, Céline Sciamma, and Claire Denis. In addressing these films, the seminar will consider the dominant genres that have emerged for this kind of cinema aiming to carve out a niche in the world film market, including neorealist melodrama, urban thrillers, (quasi) horror films, and historical costume drama.
Thurs: 2:10pm-5:00pm
SOC 230 - M. Craig - Sociology of Race and Racism
Advanced study of the determinants of ethnic groupings and their interrelationships. Major theme will be the patterns of ethnic stratification and causes of ethnic conflict. Specific focus upon dominance and resistance to dominance. Influence of social science research.
Tues: 12:10pm -3:00pm
Courses
CST Full Course List
200A. Histories of Cultural Studies (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Undergraduate coursework in the humanities or social sciences recommended. Histories and traditions of cultural studies internationally; multiple legacies of cultural studies as a field of inquiry in various geographical contexts; foregrounds important critical perspectives resulting from social and intellectual movements worldwide.—F. (F.)
200B. Theories of Cultural Studies (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A or consent of instructor. Definitions of "critical" scholarship and examination of various contexts in which cultural studies theory has emerged worldwide. Both mainstream and alternative theoretical traditions, such as those developed by people of color and by other minoritized groups.—W. (W.)
200C. Practices of Cultural Studies (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: courses 200A and 200B or consent of instructor. Methodological and practical applications of cultural studies research. Critical analyses of ethnography, textual analysis, social change, community development, and identity formation. Emphasis given to students' unique versions of cultural studies practices.—S. (S.)
204. History and Theory of Sexualities (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. Studies of sexuality in feminist, literary, historical, and cultural studies research, specifically examining the emergence of "sexuality" as a field of research and the relationship of sexuality studies to cultural forms, subjectivity, and social relations generally. May be repeated two times for credit. Offered irregularly.—F. (F.)
206. Studies in Race Theory (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. Theoretical framework for the critical study of race, drawing on contemporary cultural studies and postcolonial scholarship in order to understand the social production of "race" as a category for organizing social groups and determining group processes. Offered irregularly.—W. (W.)
208. Studies in Nationalism, Transnationalism, and Late Capitalism (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. Contemporary theories of nation, nationalism, postcolonialism, and transnationalism. Specific attention to the relationship between cultural production and the formation of ideas about nation and nationalism, including examination of both "legitimizing" and resistant discourses. Offered irregularly.—S. (S.)
210. Memory, Culture, and Human Rights (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Restricted to graduate students. Explores the multiple convergences among memory, culture, and human rights. Discusses diverse approaches to how societal actors in different historical, cultural, and national settings, construct meanings of past political violence, inter-group conflicts, and human rights struggles. (Same course as Human Rights 200B.) Offered in alternate years.—F. Lazzara
212. Studies in the Rhetorics of Culture (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. Survey of critical and analytical approaches to the study of texts. Examination of multi-mediated objects to understand their cultural import by focusing on discursive production, dispersal, and reception processes, and related shifts in power relations. Offered irregularly.—F. (F.)
214. Studies in Political and Cultural Representations (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 200A (may be taken concurrently) and consent of graduate adviser. Framework for the analysis of political and popular cultural representations. Emphasis on concepts, theories, and methodologies illuminating dominant and vernacular cultural representation, appropriation, and innovation in transnational contexts. May be repeated for credit up to 4 times when topic differs. Offered irregularly.—W. (W.)
250. Research Seminar (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: courses 200A, 200B, 200C or consent of instructor. Designed to facilitate student interaction and promote student research by guiding students through the production of a publishable essay. Essays submitted, distributed, and discussed by seminar participants. May be repeated up to 12 units of credit.—W. (W.)
270A. Individually Guided Research in Cultural Studies (4)
Discussion—1 hour; independent study—2 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 200C, 250, consent of instructor. Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Cultural Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project to produce a dissertation prospectus.—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
270B. Individually Guided Research in Cultural Studies (4)
Discussion—1 hour; independent study—2 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 200C, 250, consent of instructor. Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Cultural Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project to produce a dissertation prospectus.—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
270C. Individually Guided Research in Cultural Studies (4)
Discussion—1 hour; independent study—2 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 200C, 250, consent of instructor. Individually guided research, under the supervision of a faculty member, on a Cultural Studies topic related to the student's proposed dissertation project to produce a dissertation prospectus.—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
290. Colloquium (1)
Lecture—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Designed to provide cohort identity and faculty student exchange. Opportunity to present papers, hear guest lecturers, and see faculty presentations, gather for organizational and administrative news, exchange information, and make announcements. May be repeated up to 12 units of credit. (S/U grading only.)—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
295. Special Topics (4)
Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Special topics courses offered according to faculty and student interests and demands. May be repeated for credit with consent of adviser.—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
298. Group Research (1-5)
(S/U grading only.)—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
299. Directed Research (1-5)
(S/U grading only.)—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
299D. Dissertation Research (1-12)
Independent study—3-36 hours. Prerequisite: advancement to doctoral candidacy. (S/U grading only.)—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)
Professional
396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)—F, W, S. (F, W, S.)