Introducing Cultural Studies at City Lit

Cultural Studies is a rich, varied and constantly evolving discipline. It explores many different aspects of cultural life, from social class to comics to colonialism.

It’s also an interdisciplinary field that spans music, film, digital media, aesthetics, cultural industries, gender and queer studies, postcolonialism, journalism, political economy, critical race studies and critical theory.

Since it arose in the late 1950s it has been very influential, with many of the above-mentioned fields becoming areas of study in their own right.

Cultural Studies also explores the connections between the various disciplines under its umbrella. For instance, a single course might encompass gender, race, film, digital media and youth subculture, as well as looking at the relationships between them.

Cultural Studies grew out of the research of the literature scholars Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart and Stuart Hall.

Each of them stressed the importance of exploring previously ignored aspects of culture, such as popular media consumed by working class people, for instance, music and magazines. In the words of Angela McRobbie, ‘The cultural practices and rituals of everyday life associated with ordinary people, or with groups and populations who did not belong to the powerful social classes or to the political elites’.

Williams and Hoggart wrote founding Cultural Studies works in the 1950s and the 1960s, while Hall extended their work in the 1970s and 1980s to include ‘black and ethnic minority people, youth and youth subcultures and working-class women who enjoyed watching ‘soap operas’ on TV’ (McRobbie 2020).

Hall and others studied a wide range of popular cultural forms, ranging from the ‘spectacular styles of the punks to the vernacular codes of the tabloid press’ (McRobbie 2020). Books were published on youth subcultures, film stars, celebrity culture and television audiences.

Nowadays, students of Cultural Studies might explore subjects as diverse as science fiction films, street fashion and fairy tales.

If you’re interested in learning more, why not explore our Cultural Studies programme at City Lit? Our online and in-person courses explore some of the most urgent contemporary issues that we face, as well as fascinating aspects of our past.

This can include courses on British and American history that focus on the books, film, music and politics of different decades. Other courses look at what’s going on right now, from the environmental crisis to contemporary feminism to the impact of technology on what it means to be human.

Explore a diverse range of topics

Cultural Studies gives you a chance to analyse diverse topics like race, youth subculture, music, fashion, creative economies, sexuality, emotions, national identities, art and cultural expression.

By studying aspects of culture both past and present, you can gain a deeper understanding of the society we live in. 

Boost your critical thinking and analytical skills

There can be career benefits too, as the cultural industries are a rapidly growing field of employment that offers many routes to rewarding occupations.

By taking a Cultural Studies course, you will learn critical and analytical skills that can enhance your appreciation of popular culture—and potentially boost your employability prospects.