POST 135 PZ -Mapping Global Cultures

Institution: Pitzer

Description: People, ideas, artefacts and images appear to be circulating the globe in ever greater numbers. Buit does this make a global culture, is this the end for the local,, is the cultural diversity of humanity declining or is it enriched. This course places culture at the heart of the globalization debate, maps the historical and contemporary geography of global cultural power and examines some of its key forms, from mass migration to world religions, from global mega events to social movements.

First students will actively map four key elements of cultural globalization - the pattern of global migrations, the geography of global cultural infrastructures from language to the internet, the economic geography and functioning of the global culture industries and the use of soft power and cultural strategies by nation states. In the second part of the course, students will deploy these ideas to investigate the emergence and impact of global mega event from the world’s fairs to the Olympic Games, looking closely at the interplay of global and local actors in the production and circulation of meanings and ideas. In the third part of the course students will investigate three areas of contemporary cultural globalization - music and the visual arts, regional and consumerism, and new social movements.

Prerequisite(s): Please check course schedule for requirements.

For up-to-date information on current course offerings and details, please refer to the Pitzer class schedule on MyCampus2 Portal.