Basic Theories of Culture 1

The subject offers a basic introduction to the current approaches toward culture in the historical context. Culture is known as one of the most difficult terms to define. For the study degree of Transcultural Communication, the term of culture lies in its very core and therefore it is important for the students to study it systematically. The subject helps to elaborate further on the topic of transcultural understanding as it introduces various modes of dividing the world between “us” and “them”. Students will learn about different theories of culture as they evolved since the end of 19th century until nowadays.

The aim of the subject is to help the student orientate in basic anthropological theories, to enable the student critically analyse and apply the crucial theses. Students will work with core anthropological literature (both classics and contemporary) and learn how to produce a scholarly text dealing with an anthropological topic.

Barnard, Alan; Spencer, Jonathan (eds.). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Routledge, 2012.
Eller, Jack David. Cultural Anthropology: Global Forces, Local Lives. Routledge, 2009. (or newer editions)
Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity. McGraw Hill, 2011.