Sociology: Cultural Sociology

Cultural sociology examines culture from a broad perspective as well as looking at the more specific features of culture.

Would you like to know whether the global exchange of media products – Disney movies, fashion magazines, popular music – poses a threat to local and national cultures? Or whether developing art markets in Russia, China, Brazil and India adopt Western models and institutions?

In Cultural Sociology, you will not only examine culture from a broad perspective (collective mentalities, ideologies, religious orientations, expert and lay knowledge), but you will also look at the more specific features of culture (art, media, popular culture). You will focus on how symbolic goods like books, artworks and fashion are produced, distributed and received. In addition, the curriculum explores how broader cultural conceptions are embedded in social relations, and how they change over time and vary across social groups.

The approach to the study is empirically grounded, utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods. The programme offers you the unique opportunity to study key themes within contemporary cultural sociology. The research and teaching of staff members stimulates a strong engagement with issues of cultural globalisation and cross-national comparative research.