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Cultural Mediations

201 St. Patrick's Building
Telephone: 613-520-2177
Fax: 613-520-2564
Email: icslac@carleton.ca

The Institute

Director of the Institute: Christopher Faulkner
Coordinator of Ph.D. Studies: Mark Phillips

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 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 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, CLMD 6106
  • 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 coordinator 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 are required to 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 and to determine the term of offering, consult class schedule at: central.carleton.ca

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
This course will examine 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 will be upon the relation between social intelligibility and textual features.
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 6106 [0.5 credit]
Issues in History and Culture
History as an object of representation and a condition of human experience. Historical approaches to print, visual, and auditory culture in relation to theoretical texts and specific periods and genres. Topics may include history and the novel, visual culture in history, and historiography.
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
This in-class course offers selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings.
CLMD 6903 [0.5 credit]
Special Topic in Cultural Mediations
This in-class course offers selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings.
CLMD 6904 [0.5 credit]
Special Topic in Cultural Mediations
This in-class course offers selected topics in interdisciplinary studies of culture not available in the regular course offerings.
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

Master's Level Courses

Students may take the equivalent of 1.0 credit at the Master's level.

Other Programs

Students may take the equivalent of 0.5 credit in a related program. Students should contact the supervisor of graduate studies for approval.