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2018/2019  BA-BEBUO1003U  Culture and Cultural Economy

English Title
Culture and Cultural Economy

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in European Business
Course coordinator
  • Maribel Blasco - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Intercultural studies
  • Sociology
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 21-06-2018

Relevant links
Learning objectives
  • Define a well-founded research question containing a ‘puzzle’ or problem concerning cultural economy in a European context
  • Formulate and present a clear and coherent argument, following academic conventions, both in writing and orally
  • Demonstrate awareness of the challenges and opportunities offered by group work, reflect critically on the learning process in your groupwork and on what you would do differently next time
  • Use the concepts and theories taught during the course to analyse and discuss empirical examples drawn from the European context
  • Critically discuss the assumptions that underpin the major theoretical perspectives on culture and cultural economy taught during the course
  • Display awareness of own cultural assumptions, and of social responsibility issues that may arise in relation to culture in the context of business activities
Examination
Culture and Cultural Economy:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Oral group exam based on written group product
Number of people in the group 3-5
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
The group essay is max 2 pages per student.

A group of 3 students can max write 6 pages, a group of 4 students can max write 8 pages and a group of 5 students can max write 10 pages.

At the oral exam a group must spend max. 10 minutes on their presentation.

The exam duration is as follows.10 minutes are allocated per student, plus 10 minutes for a group presentation, plus 5 minutes voting and changeover:

3 students: 10 min presentation + 15 minutes + 5 minutes voting = total 30 mins
4 students: 10 min presentation + 25 minutes + 5 minutes voting = total 40 mins
5 students: 10 min presentation + 35 minutes + 5 minutes voting = total 50 mins
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
10 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Re-examination:
If a student participated in writing the group essay, but was sick at the time of the oral examination, the re-examination will be based on a resubmission of the original group essay.

If a student participated in writing the group essay, but did not pass the oral examination, the student can choose either to resubmit the original group essay or to write a new, individual essay within a specified time period.

The exam time for a single student reexamination is 25 minutes (10 mins student presentation, 10 mins for exam dialogue, 5 minutes voting and changeover).
Description of the exam procedure

Written examinanation assignment: The student groups have seven days in which to complete their written group essay.

 

Oral examination Students make a brief group presentation (10 minutes max) of their essay, which is followed by a discussion with the examiner/s. Students may consult notes while making their presentation.

 

An exam assignment will be handed out containing guidelines for how to write the essay. Students are required to find their own research question, but must adhere to the guidelines issued in the exam assignment. The exam assignment guidelines are identical to those of the practice assignments that students have been working on during the semester, the idea being that students can use their practice assignments in the final exam.

 
Course content and structure

The overall aim of the course is to introduce students to major ways in which culture can be conceptualized in relation to business and capitalism as an economic system, and to  key ways in which cultural dynamics play out in a globalising business world as well as specifically  in a European context. Students are introduced to problem-oriented research through their work-in-progress assignments: including a research question, literature review, methodology, data presentation and analysis. The course aims to train students' cultural sensitivity and social responsibility by inviting them to reflect critically on their own cultural assumptions, as well as those of the theories presented, and to take these into account when considering business problems and challenges.

 

More specifically, the course aims to train students to see economic processes and discourses as cultured, culture-producing and anchored in local, regional and global contexts that shape meaning. We will study two major ways of looking at culture, namely the functionalist and the interpretivist approach, and explore how these can be used to analyse cultural economy issues in a European context. Specific topics include convergence and divergence, commodification,  consumption, identity and taste, value and values, economic nationalism, and cultural distance/fit. Empirical examples will be mostly drawn from the European business context.
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures, workshops and group supervision. Some lectures might be taught in Danish.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students receive feedback in the form of:

i) 2 x 30 mins supervision in groups of 3-5 students, with the aim of providing feedback in dialogue on their work-in-progress practice assignments;

ii) 1 x workshop in which groups receive opponent feedback from a fellow student group and written and oral feedback from the teacher on their (further developed) work-in-progress practice assignments. 2 x workshops at which students present their ongoing ideas for the respective stage of the practice assignment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher.
Student workload
Preparation 124 hours
Participation 36 hours
Exam 50 hours
Expected literature

 

Bourdieu, P. (1984) The sense of distinction. In Distinction: A Social Critique of The Judgement Of Taste. London: Routledge. 

 

Corrigan, P. (1998) Chapter 2: Theoretical approaches to consumption. In The SociologyOfConsumption. London: Sage 

 

Linnet, J. T. (2011). Money Can't Buy Me Hygge: Danish Middle-Class Consumption, Egalitarianism, and the Sanctity of Inner Space. Social Analysis, 55(2), 21-44. 

 

Schwartz, S. "A theory of cultural value orientations: Explication and applications." International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology 104 (2006): 33. 

 

 
Last updated on 21-06-2018