Cultural Studies Certificate
Cultural Studies at UNC encourages the examination of those areas of cultural knowledge where disciplines overlap, intersect, and collide, producing productive debate, fruitful collaboration and disciplinary self-reflection. It emphasizes the multiplicity and variety of cultural formations and practices both within American society and around the world and insists upon the historical and geographical specification of both “culture” and specific cultural practices within cultural studies. Cultural Studies at UNC provides opportunities for faculty and students from disparate disciplines to engage in discussion, teaching and research across common interests in questions of culture and power. It provides opportunities for students and faculty to encounter and engage with theories and methods that might open up new ways of approaching their own research and teaching.
Cultural Studies at UNC is designed to serve both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the other universities of North Carolina. It offers the opportunity for an undergraduate major and graduate certificate in cultural studies. It supports interdisciplinary courses, both individually and jointly taught, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and encourages new and experimental models for teaching). Every institutionalization of cultural studies is defined by the intellectual resources of its particular faculty and the traditions they represent. Cultural Studies at UNC draws on and serves a unique combination of disciplines, including communication, anthropology, sociology, history, geography, international and area studies, African-American studies, law, art, English, education, medicine and public health. The strong presence of the historical, social, and biological sciences especially distinguishes UNC’s program in Cultural Studies. Cultural Studies at UNC seeks to bring the excitement, fluidity, and relevancy of cultural studies research into the classroom, by combining curricular and programmatic concerns, and by placing pedagogical commitments at its center.
For further inquiries, please contact the program director, Dr. Michael Palm, at mpalm@email.unc.edu
Course Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Course | ||
| One graduate-level course explicitly devoted to Cultural Studies: COMM 700, COMM 855, or another course approved by the certificate director. | 3 | |
| Electives | ||
| Four graduate-level courses selected in consultation with the student's Cultural Studies adviser and the program director, two of which must be from outside the student's home department. These courses should be interdisciplinary, theoretically grounded, and connected with Cultural Studies even if not directly framed in those terms. Students are strongly encouraged to include work on questions of cultural/social difference, political economy, and contemporary cultural theory. | 12 | |
| Minimum Hours | 15 | |
Non-Course Certificate Requirements
- Email a description of your completed courses to program director.
