The latvian academy of culture

BA STUDY PROGRAMME Part A

Description of the Study Course
The Name of the Course:Sociology of Culture
The Scope of the Course: 64 academic hours. (38 hours of lectures, 26 hours of seminars).

4 credit points. The form of assessment: a test and an examination.

The Author of the Course: Lecturer Taņa Lāce, Mag. Art.

Preconditions for the Acquisition of the Course: Knowledge in the fundamentals of sociology, the history of sociology and an ability to cope with texts in English and Russian.
The Contents of the Course: The objective of the course is to give an understanding about the formation of sociology of culture as a new discipline, considering the changes of the role of culture in the life of modern society, and offer knowledge about the main themes and the notions of sociology of culture, as well as their historical development. The course also explores the interrelations of sociology of culture and other culture sciences (culture anthropology, culturology, ethnology and others) in the research of culture.
Thematic Planning:

Theme	Week	Type of classes and hours
The notion of culture: its historical changes.	1.	L2
An understanding of the notions of culture and civilization in European philosophy in the XIX century.	2., 3.	L2,S2
Philosophy of culture: its creation and evolution. The classical conception of culture (J.Herder, I.Kant).	4., 5.	L2,S2
Anthropology of culture: anthropology as a science about human culture and the variety of societies. The most characteristic approaches to culture in the anthropology of culture: the descriptive conception of culture (E.Taylor, M.Mead), the symbolic conception of culture (C.Geertz). C.Lévi-Strauss and his theory of symbolic systems.	6., 7., 8., 9., 10., 11., 12., 13.	L6,S10
Sociology as a science about culture. E.Durkheim’s approach to culture. G.Simmel’s theory of culture alienation. The conception of culture in M.Weber’s sociological theory.	14., 15.,16., 17., 18., 19.	L8,S4
The main approaches and notions in the sociology of culture (functionalism, semiotics, the dramatic approach and others).	20., 21., 22.	L6
The style of culture. Notions: style, tradition, canon. Values, the assimilation of values in the process of culture. Rituals. The types of rituals (E.Durkheim) and their functions. Myths and symbolic codes. Identity. Individual and group identity. National and ethnic identity.	23., 24 25. 26.,27., 28., 29.	L4,S2 L2 L2,S4
The forms and dynamics of culture. The notion of a subculture, the types of subcultures. Mass culture, elitist culture, national culture. Culture and everyday life. The logic of everyday knowledge.	30., 31.	L2,S2
Culture and social structure. Culture as the means of the reproduction of a social structure.	32.	L2

Requirements for the Acquisition of Credit Points: Participate in seminars and do practical work.
Literature:

1. 
   Modernity and its Futures. by Stuart Hall, 1993.
   
2. 
   Becker, H.P. Art worlds.
   
3. 
   Geertz, C. Interpretations of Culture.
   
4. 
   Ионин, Л. Г. Социология культуры. Москва: Логоc, 1996.
   
5. 
   Ионин, Л. Г. Основания социокультурного анализа. Москва: 1995.
   
6. 
   Гердер, И.Г. Идеи философской материи человечества. Москва: Наука, 1977.
   
7. 
   Мид, М. Культура и мир детства. Москва: 1988.
   
8. 
   Тайлор, Э. Первобытная культура. Москва.
   

The Name of the Course: General Theory of Sociology

The Scope of the Course: 96 academic hours.(64 hours of lectures, 32 hours of seminars)

6 credit points. The form of assessment: a test and an examination.

The Author of the Course: Prof. Pēteris Laķis, Dr. Hab. Art.

Preconditions for the Acquisition of the Course: Prior understanding of the character of sociological knowledge, ability to read texts in English or German and Russian.

The Contents of the Course: The objective of the course is to give an idea about the theoretical level of sociological knowledge on the whole, allow to comprehend the specific features of the sociological view of society in detail, ensure the acquisition of the contents of the most important parts of sociological theoretical knowledge considering different methodological orientations.

Thematical Planning: