Bachelor of Cultural Studies at Towson University

The minor in Cultural Studies is designed to enhance and supplement students' studies in a number of other areas, including anthropology, education, English and mass communication. In these areas of study, the fundamental questions posed by cultural studies give students a broader, more critical look at the interactions between their fields of study and society as a whole. These courses may also provide a useful complement to any undergraduate program of study.

Requirements

Students minoring in Cultural Studies must complete 18 units, including the introductory course (3 units), the methodology course (3 units), two from required courses list, and two electives (6 units), one of which must be upper-division. 

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Major Requirements.

1. Use a working critical vocabulary to do textual and ethnographic analyses of cultural phenomena, showing an understanding of both verbal and visual texts, students own everyday experience, and the inter-relatedness of social, political, historical, and economic components of their worlds.
2. Through writing, convey an understanding of a variety of critical strategies (e.g. semiotics, content analysis, structuralism) applicable to cultural studies cross-disciplinary core.
3. Acquire the habits and attitudes of an inquiring mind, for looking into questions of culture in ways that resonate with students' lives and finally even beyond these lives, into an awareness of ethical, cognitive, and emotional issues that may at first seem foreign to their own systems of cultural values.
4. Evaluate critically the sources and content of information. This goal is listed among the Middle States Commission on Higher Education Expectations Regarding Information Literacy and Technological Competency.
5. Understanding and applying relevant discipline-specific methodologies and strategies of inquiry.
6. Engaging intellectually and seeking to understand the experiences and views of people with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, whether in their own country or abroad.