Culture and Social Life in the 21st Century

This course examines what it means to be living in a 'global village'. What is changing and what is continuing in the contemporary world? How does this affect the ways in which people organise their lives and interact with each other? The course pays particular attention to the effects of cultural globalisation. Topics will be drawn from a range of issues and processes including: cultures of consumption; the media; changing family forms and norms; sexuality, gender, age and class relationships; identity; religious and other beliefs; control and access to knowledge and knowledge dissemination; and political engagement, mobilisation and struggle around aspects of cultural globalisation.

DP requirements: Completion of all written tests, essays and assignments.

Assessment: Coursework counts 50%; one two-hour examination counts 50% of the final mark.

The University of Cape Town awards credits based on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) to determine course and contact hour recommendations per course. 1 NQF credit represents roughly 10 notional hours of work which includes study time, assignments and examinations. Notional hours may very per courses depending on the course level and modality therefore, CEA recommends using NQF credits as a basis to determine U.S. equivalencies (1 NQF=.222 semester credits)