87417 - Sociology Of Culture (A-L)

Learning outcomes

The course investigates the role played by culture in social relations and in institutional processes as well. In particular, culture is analysed such as one of the main resources developed by social groups, people and Nations, that is as the focus on some crucial geopolitical, economic and religious themes that dominate the international debate. At the end of the course, students are able to know the different perspectives outlined by classic authors about the relationship between society and culture. Moreover, they are able to point out and examine the cultural dynamics that are involved in social processes both nationwide and at an international level.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as it will be detailed in the following program. Lectures (26 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified as follows: for the seminar section, students will be divided into five groups according to their own preferences and to the rules concerning the current pandemic emergency. Groups 1, 2, 3 will attend the seminar in classroom (12 hours), and groups 4 and 5 will attend the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (12 hours). Therefore, a total of 38 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

Students will be able to freely choose and enrol in specific distribution lists, each representing a seminar, on the base of the chronological order of enrolment.

The first part will be devoted to the origin of sociology and to the contribution of classics such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx, Tocqueville, Weber. The second part will present authors and currents belonging to twentieth-century and contemporary sociology; the critical theory: M. Horkheimer and T.W. Adorno; P.A. Sorokin and the comparative sociology of civilizations; T. Parsons and neo-functionalism; J. Habermas and neo-Marxism; Z. Bauman and liquid society; the sociological theories of globalization.

The third part corresponds to the above-mentioned five seminars.

Seminar 1 (in classroom) and Seminar 4 (online): La democrazia del narcisismo

Set books to be read by all students:

G. Orsina, La democrazia del narcisismo. Breve storia dell'antipolitica, Marsilio, 2018

M. Lacroix, Il culto delle emozioni, Vita e Pensiero, 2001

Further readings:

M.Benasayag- G.Schmit, L'epoca delle passioni tristi, Feltrinelli, 2004

L. Ricolfi, La società signorile di massa, Mondadori, 2019

Seminario 2 (in classroom) and Seminar 5 (online): Max Weber: "Disincantamento del mondo" e secolarizzazione

Set books to be read by all students:

Max Weber, L'Etica protestante e lo spirito del capitalismo, in: M. Weber, Sociologia delle religioni, vol. 1, Utet, 1976, pp. 107-324

R. Spaemann, H. Joas, Pregare nella nebbia. La fede ha un futuro?, Morcelliana, 2019

Further readings:

Fascicolo della Rivista "Acta Philosophica" dedicato a M. Weber, a cent'anni dalla morte; settembre 2020, contributi di: P.P. Donati, S. Belardinelli, L. Allodi, G. Miranda

Seminario 3 (in classroom): Max Weber e il disagio della modernità

Set books to be read by all students:

C. Taylor, Il disagio della modernità, Laterza, 1994

M. Weber, La scienza come professione/la politica come professione, Mondadori, 2006 (con un saggio di M. Cacciari);

Further readings:

M. Cacciari, Il lavoro dello spirito, Adelphi, 2020

J. Freund, La sociologia di Max Weber, Il Saggiatore, 1972

At the end of the course, students are able to know the different perspectives outlined by classic authors about the relationship between society and culture. Moreover, they are able to point out and examine the cultural dynamics that are involved in social processes both nationwide and at the international level. Students are also expected to know analytically and critically the specific contribution of authors and schools; to compare the contribution of authors and schools on specific issues; to identify authors, works and sociological paradigms that have also had an echo in international relations studies; to orient themselves in the debate on fundamental problems of epistemology and social ontology (individualism vs. holism; materialism vs. cultural autonomy; realism vs. social constructivism; social order vs. social conflict; cosmopolitanism vs. communitarianism); to know the main reading paradigms on the link between culture and society, with particular reference to the topics covered in the attended seminar.

Readings/Bibliography

Readings/Bibliography

Set books to be read by all students:

(1) R. Aron, Le Tappe del pensiero sociologico, Mondadori, 1989 (Chapters on Comte, Marx, Tocqueville, Durkheim, Weber)

(2) A. Santambrogio, Introduzione alla sociologia. Le teorie, i concetti, gli autori, Laterza, 2019 (Chapters: Il funzionalismo, La teoria critica, Sviluppi della teoria critica, Z. Bauman)

(3) Lecture notes on L. Ricolfi, P. A. Sorokin, M. Scheler.

(4) Each seminar includes two reference texts. On the basis of the attended seminar, students are expected to prepare the corresponding texts for the third mid-term exam. Further readings (papers, short essays, etc.) may be assigned to attending students and will be the subject of third mid-term exam questions.

Seminar 1 (in classroom) and Seminar 4 (online): La democrazia del narcisismo

Set books to be read by all students:

G. Orsina, La democrazia del narcisismo. Breve storia dell'antipolitica, Marsilio, 2018

M. Lacroix, Il culto delle emozioni, Vita e Pensiero, 2001

Seminario 2 (in classroom) and Seminar 5 (online): Max Weber: “Disincantamento del mondo” e secolarizzazione

Set books to be read by all students:

Max Weber, L'Etica protestante e lo spirito del capitalismo, in: M. Weber, Sociologia delle religioni, vol. 1, Utet, 1976, pp. 107-324

R. Spaemann, H. Joas, Pregare nella nebbia. La fede ha un futuro?, Morcelliana, 2019

Seminario 3 (in classroom): Max Weber e il disagio della modernità

Set books to be read by all students:

C. Taylor, Il disagio della modernità, Laterza, 1994

M. Weber, La scienza come professione/la politica come professione, Mondadori, 2006 (con un saggio di M. Cacciari);

Teaching methods

Teaching shall take the form of online lectures and both online and classroom seminars

Assessment methods

Examinations for attending students

At the beginning of the course, students will be provided with instructions about the three online mid-term exams. In order to sit for these intermediate online exams in October, November, and December, they are invited to carefully attend lectures and seminars.

Marks are out of 30, and the pass mark is 18. Only students who have sat and passed all three intermediate exams may sit for the final oral exam. Those who have passed only two intermediate exams shall sit for one oral test to be held within the final oral exam, by the September 2021examination session. Those students who do not sit the intermediate exams, or who are absent at two of the intermediate exams, or who do not pass two of the intermediate exams, shall sit a written exam consisting of 15 questions to be answered in 100 minutes and covering all the topics.

Oral examination

The oral exam mainly focuses on the two reference texts of the attended seminar, but also on the fundamental concepts developed within the course. It is mandatory for everyone and can be taken only in ONE January-February exam session or in the September session.

Refusal of a mark given for a mid-term exam

Students cannot refuse to accept the mark given for each mid-term exam. They can only refuse the final mark, and thus re-set the whole exam in the September session.

The topics dealt with in the first intermediate exam are: L. Ricolfi e l’equazione della crescita; la nascita della sociologia; Comte, Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim, Weber. To prepare for this exam, students are required to read text book no. 1 and the lecture notes.

The topics dealt with in the second intermediate exam are: la Teoria critica, P.A. Sorokin, T. Parsons e il funzionalismo, J. Habermas, Z. Bauman; le teorie sociologiche della globalizzazione. To prepare for this exam, students are required to read text book n. 2 and the lecture notes.

The topics dealt with in the third intermediate exam belong to the following reference texts:

Seminar 1 (in classroom) and Seminar 4 (online):

G. Orsina, La democrazia del narcisismo. Breve storia dell'antipolitica Marsilio, 2018

M. Lacroix, Il culto dell’emozione, Vita e Pensiero, 2001

Seminar 2 (in classroom) and Seminar 5 (online):

Max Weber, L'Etica protestante e lo spirito del capitalismo, in: M. Weber, Sociologia delle religioni, vol. 1, Utet, 1976, pp. 107-324;

R. Spaemann, H. Joas, Pregare nella nebbia. La fede ha un futuro?, Morcelliana, 2019

Seminar 3 (in classroom):

C. Taylor, Il disagio della modernità, Laterza, 1994

M. Weber, La scienza come professione/la politica come professione, Mondadori, 2006 (con un saggio di M. Cacciari).

The three online exams are designed to assess students’ knowledge (and comparative understanding) of the writers, the sociological models and the topics presented during the course.

Exam for non-attending students

Those students not attending the course can sit a written exam on books (1) (2) and on the reference texts of the chosen seminar. The written and oral exams shall be held during the winter exam session or during the September 2021 exam session. The written exam consists of 15 questions to be answered in 100 minutes. Those students who do not sit the intermediate exams, or who are absent at two of the intermediate exams, or who do not pass two of the intermediate exams, shall be deemed as “non-attending students”.

Tutorial course

Student workers, students who have to pass one or more of the assigned exams, and ERASMUS students, are invited to attend the online tutorial lectures and to sit for the exam, as indicated by the tutor.

Teaching tools

 

Slides

Office hours

See the website of Leonardo Allodi