Graduate Calendar Archives: 2005 / 2006

Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture: Cultural Mediations

The Institute

Director of the Institute: Christopher Faulkner

Supervisor of Ph.D. Studies: Mitchell Frank

The Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture offers a program of study and research leading to the Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Mediations.

The Department of English Language and Literature, the Department of French, the programs in Art History, Film Studies and Music of the School for Studies in Art and Culture, and the program in Comparative Literary Studies participate in the doctoral program.

Doctor of Philosophy

The program is designed to support work in cultural theory of the twentieth century and the analysis of a variety of cultural practices across and between the participating disciplines. The program addresses those issues in cultural theory of the twentieth century that inform interdisciplinary work today in literature, film, music, art and new media: the nature of the text and textuality; the nature of representation, interpretation, meaning and affect; cultural identity and hybridity; the role of technologies of production and reception; the formation of the subject and modes of subjectivity; the functioning of ideology; the meaning and ethics of cultural value. Specific works of literature, film and other cultural practices, including new media, will be studied in relation to questions of theory.

There are four fields of study in the program:

• Literary Studies
• Visual Culture
• Musical Culture
• New Technologies

Admission Requirements

The normal requirement for admission to the Ph.D. program in either a full-time or part-time capacity is an M.A. (or a recognized equivalent) in a discipline appropriate to the interdisciplinary strengths of the program. A GPA of 10.0 (A-) or better is normally required of course work completed at the Master's level.

Appropriate disciplines might include English or French Literature, Art History, Film Studies, Music, Comparative Literature, Anthropology, Canadian Studies, Communication, Geography, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Gender Studies.

Program Requirements

Students admitted to the Ph.D. program in Cultural Mediations are required to complete a total of 10.0 credits as follows:

• 1.0 compulsory credit, CLMD 6101
• 1.0 credit chosen from CLMD 6102,
• CLMD 6103, CLMD 6104, CLMD 6105
• 0.5 compulsory credit, CLMD 6900
• 1.0 additional credit
• 2.0 comprehensive credits
• 4.5 dissertation credits

Language Requirements

Upon graduation, each student is expected to be proficient in one language (preferably French) in addition to English. Additionally, students will be expected to deal with all material that is their primary object of research in its original language. The graduate supervisor should be consulted about the fulfillment of language requirements.

Comprehensive Examinations

Students are required to pass two written comprehensive examinations. Each comprehensive has a 1.0 credit value: 1. The first comprehensive will be a general examination of the broad range of cultural theory of the twentieth century; 2. The second comprehensive will be a discipline- specific examination from one of the following four areas of specialization chosen by the student: Literary Studies; Visual Culture; Musical Culture; New Technologies.

Thesis

All students are required to complete a thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree offered by the program. The thesis must be defended at an oral examination.

All students will be required to prepare, present and defend a thesis proposal before proceeding to the writing of the thesis. The proposal will be discussed and defended before the members of the thesis advisory committee at an oral defense chaired by the graduate supervisor.

The program appoints a doctoral thesis advisory committee, the chair of which shall be the student's thesis supervisor. The committee will consist of at least three members of the university faculty, at least two of whom will be core (or associate) faculty in the program. The advisory committee shall determine when a thesis may go forward for examination.

Academic Standing

Doctoral students must normally obtain a grade of B- or better in each course counted toward the fulfillment of the requirements of the degree.

Guidelines for Completion of the Doctor of Philosophy

Full-time Ph.D. students are expected to complete their requirements within six calendar years. Students who undertake the program by a combination of full-time and part-time study must complete their degree requirements within an elapsed period of eight calendar years, as set out in the General Regulations section of this Calendar.

Graduate Courses

Not all of the following courses are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for 2005-2006 and to determine the term of offering, consult the Registration Instructions and Class Schedule booklet, published in the summer and available online at carleton.ca/cu/programs/sched_dates/

CLMD 6101 [1.0 credit]

Perspectives on Interdisciplinarity in Cultural Theory

Theory and practice of interdisciplinary studies of culture. Attention will be paid to those issues in cultural theory of the twentieth century that inform interdisciplinary work today in literature, film, music, art and new media.

CLMD 6102 [0.5 credit]

Issues of Cultural Identity and Hybridity

This course will look at examples of Western and non-Western cultural practice that raise questions about the personal and social consequences of differential cultural relations. Emphasis will be less upon the discreteness of the cultural practices in question and more upon their heterogeneity and hybridization.

CLMD 6103 [0.5 credit]

Issues of Cultural Mediation and Representation

How works from different cultures or works in the same or different media from the same culture pose questions about the nature of representation, interpretation, meaning and affect. Emphasis on the relation between social intelligibility and textual features.
For 2005-2006 only, also offered as ENGL 5900 and HIST 5906.

CLMD 6104 [0.5 credit]

Issues of Subjectivity and Difference

The theory of the subject and its relations, with examples from specific cultural practices in literary studies, film, music, art, popular culture and new media.

CLMD 6105 [0.5 credit]

Issues in the Technologies of Culture

The role that technology plays in changing models of literacy, visuality and aurality. The technologies of the cultures of print, vision and sound will be discussed through specific examples of cultural practices in various media.

CLMD 6900 [0.5 credit]

Interdisciplinary Research Methods

Students will be introduced to a range of methods of inquiry, procedures and practices across related disciplines, using both traditional and electronic research tools, as preparation for the doctoral dissertation, practices of academic publishing, conference presentations, and private and public sector writing and research protocols.

CLMD 6901 [0.5 credit]

Directed Readings in Cultural Mediations

This tutorial is designed to permit students to pursue research on topics chosen in consultation with members of faculty and the graduate supervisor.

CLMD 6902 [0.5 credit]

Special Topic in Cultural Mediations

Selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings. For 2005-06, the topic for section W is: Revolutions in Romantic Literature. This seminar will explore a series of wide-ranging and theoretically self-conscious debates about literature, which flourished in the Romantic period (Also offered as ENGL 5408).

CLMD 6903 [0.5 credit]

Special Topic in Cultural Mediations

Selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings. For 2005-06, the topic for section F is: Modernity and the Culture of Imitation. Twentieth century reformulations of mimesis across various disciplines: as representation of reality and as social mimicry, as acculturation and assimilation, as desire, camp or trash culture. Authors studied include Walter Benjamin, Homi Bhabha, René Girard, Susan Sontag, Michael Taussing, Hillel Schwartz (Also offered as CLST 6803, ENGL 5000).

CLMD 6904 [0.5 credit]

Special Topic in Cultural Mediations

Selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings. For 2005-06, the topic for section W is: Modernist Genders, Modernist Sexualities. "Modernism" is understood as a combination of innovative literary movements from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, movements that were responding to the contemporary historical conditions of "modernity" while also reacting against Victorian cultural beliefs and literary forms. (Also offered as ENGL 5608)

CLMD 6907 [1.0 credit]

Comprehensive I

A general examination of the broad range of cultural theory of the twentieth century as it informs interdisciplinary work today and the historical, intellectual and cultural frames of reference that this work invokes.

CLMD 6908 [1.0 credit]

Comprehensive II

A discipline-specific examination in a specialized area of study chosen by the student in consultation with the graduate supervisor. Students will choose from one of the following comprehensive areas: Literary Studies; Visual Culture; Musical Culture; New Technologies.

CLMD 6909

Ph.D. Thesis