British Cultural Studies

Overview

The British Cultural Studies course from Babes-Bolyai University has been specially designed for students in Romania by a team of academics who have based their work on the most recent research, materials and theory available from the United Kingdom. It is a fully contemporary and interdisciplinary programme, with the principal aims being the development both of knowledge and of research skills.

The Subject

British Cultural Studies, a modern discipline, aims to create a context for the study of British culture and to establish a framework of enquiry into the ways in which a complex society defines and represents itself through language, text, image, social practice and political philosophy. The subject recognises the importance of traditional humanities study in history, literature and language, but seeks to bring these into line with the newer disciplines of sociology, gender, postcolonialism, media studies and cultural critique.

Unlike courses in British Civilisation, British Cultural Studies incorporates a strong theoretical basis, and, similar to courses in the UK, tends to stress cultural, critical and social theory. The courses here in Cluj, have a similarly theoretical emphasis, and this is evident in the expectations for students’ written work.

However, it is expected that students will be familiar with the historical and political factors which have shaped contemporary British society, and the course content reflects this requirement. UK university trends towards inter-disciplinarity are pursued here as well, the aim being to break down the often artificial barriers between traditional disciplines.