Mar 11, 2026  
GRCC Curriculum Database (2025-2026 Academic Year) 
    
GRCC Curriculum Database (2025-2026 Academic Year)
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HU 150 - Introduction to Cultural Studies


Description
This course introduces students to theoretical frameworks and modes of criticism used in the field of cultural studies. Students will work with key concepts in cultural studies to unpack the historical and philosophical foundations of various works of literary, visual, and performing arts. Students who successfully complete the course will understand the centrality of social identities, values, relationships, and environments to the diversity and complexity of the human experience.

 


Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours: 3
Prerequisites/Other Requirements: None
English Prerequisite(s): None
Math Prerequisite(s): None
Course Corequisite(s): None
Academic Program Prerequisite: None
Consent to Enroll in Course: No Department Consent Required
Dual Enrollment Allowed?: Yes
Number of Times Course can be taken for credit: 1
Programs Where This Course is a Requirement:
None
General Education Requirement:
Humanities
General Education Learner Outcomes (GELO):
3. Critical Thinking: Gather and synthesize relevant information, evaluate alternative perspectives, or understand inquiry as a means of creating knowledge

4. Cultural Competence: Understand diverse interpersonal and cultural perspectives through analysis of scholarly or creative works
Course Learning Outcomes:

  1. Students will identify and explain theoretical frameworks and modes of criticism in cultural studies such as psychoanalytic, Marxist, poststructuralist, postmodern, postcolonial, critical race, critical disability, feminist / gender, lesbian / gay / queer, new historical, and ecocritical.
  2. Students will analyze and interpret a diverse body of literary, performing, and visual arts using concepts offered by theoretical and critical approaches in cultural studies. (GELO 3) 
  3. Students will discuss and analyze social identities theorized in cultural studies such as class, race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, sex, sexuality, ability, and nationality. (GELO 4)
  4. Students will explain and evaluate political, economic, religious, and philosophical values and value systems theorized in the field of cultural studies.
  5. Students will explain and analyze social relations and interactions of concern to the field of cultural studies such as familial, communal, national, colonial, imperial, international, global, cyber, and virtual. 
  6. Students will discuss and analyze environments, settings, and spaces theorized in cultural studies, namely rural / agrarian, suburban, urban, industrial, preindustrial, postindustrial, utopian, dystopian, developing / developed world, cyberspace, virtual, fantasy, and outer space.
  7. Students will identify and analyze their values, identities, relationships, and environments using the tools of cultural studies.

Course Outline:
I. Cultural Studies

    a. Overview of the Field

II. Cultural Theory(ies) 

    a. Key Thinkers

    b. Key Concepts

III. Theoretical Frameworks / Schools of Criticism

   a. Psychoanalytic

   b. Marxist

   c. Postmodern

   d. Postcolonial

   e. Critical Race

   f. Critical Disability

   g. Feminist / Gender

   h. Lesbian / Gay / Queer

   i. New Historical 

   j. Ecocritical

 


Approved for Online and Hybrid Delivery?:
Yes
Instructional Strategies:
Combination of lecture, discussion, readings, videos, individual / group acitvities: 100%
Mandatory Course Components:
None
Equivalent Courses:
None
Name of Industry Recognize Credentials: None

Course-Specific Placement Test: None
Course Aligned with ARW/IRW Pairing: NA
Mandatory Department Assessment Measures:
None
Course Type:
General Education- Offering designed to meet the specific criteria for a GRCC Distribution Requirement. The course should be designated by the requirement it fulfills.
Course Format:
Lecture - 1:1
Total Lecture Hours Per Week: 3
People Soft Course ID Number: 105203
Course CIP Code: 24.0103
Maximum Course Enrollment: 30
General Room Request: None
School: School of Liberal Arts
Department: Language & Thought
Discipline: HU
First Term Valid: Fall 2023 (8/1/2023)
1st Catalog Year: 2023-2024
Name of Course Author:
Christopher Johnston
Faculty Credential Requirements:
18 graduate credit hours in discipline being taught (HLC Requirement), Master’s Degree (GRCC general requirement)
Faculty Credential Requirement Details:
Master’s degree in an interdisciplinary field in the humanities such as cultural studies, liberal studies, American studies, ethnic studies, etc. or a Master's degree in a humanities field with graduate coursework in at least two humanities areas such as literature, history, art, philosophy, film, etc.
Course Review & Revision Year: 2027-2028



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