Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies offered in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) at the University of the Incarnate Word challenges students to investigate culture and individual experiences, social relations and power structures, and discover approaches to the challenges of today’s world.
Why Cultural Studies?
With their broad understanding of culture, its drivers and its interpretations, students of Cultural Studies are students of the workings of the world. Combining the strengths of the social sciences and the humanities, Cultural Studies draws on methods and theories used in traditional disciplines such as Literary Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Economy, Psychoanalysis and Religious Studies. Cultural Studies also draws on theories and methods from the growing fields of Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Post-Colonial Studies, Feminist Studies and Media Studies. By working across the boundaries of these fields, students of Cultural Studies can address new questions and problems arising in today's world.
Cultural Studies Curriculum
The B.A. in Cultural Studies is a 124-hour degree program that offers students the most variety of courses to choose from at the University. Since Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary field, these courses reside in numerous programs, including Sociology, Art History, English, Business Marketing and History. Courses in this field explore the relations between culture, understood as human expressive and symbolic activities, and cultures, understood as distinctive ways of life.
Students in the Cultural Studies discipline will be able to investigate and articulate theories drawing from both traditional and non-traditional fields, the relationship between culture and politics, the formation of knowledge and institutions, and the nature of cultural antagonisms and crises. In short, Cultural Studies is more than a single body of theory or methods; it is a series of interrelated questions and answers drawn from numerous disciplines.
As students move through the program, they will be required to take three 1-hour credit courses, the Cultural Studies Colloquia, which will help them to apply what they are learning in their required Cultural Studies classes to their Cultural Studies electives. Taken together, this coursework will prepare students to complete a culminating research project in their senior year, synthesizing the knowledge they gained throughout their course of study. A second major or minor is highly recommended.
Elective Options
There are a myriad of ways that students of this degree program can tailor their academic experience. Cultural Studies includes over 100 electives such as: Art History, History of Photography, Modern Art of Mexico, Technology and Society, Media Ethics, Film Studies, Literary Theory, American Literature, Psychology of Clothing, Fashion Merchandising, Colonial Latin America, Politics of Sugar and Coffee, Latin American Economics, Consumer Behavior, Feminist Philosophy, Asian Philosophy, Latino/a Spirituality, Liberation Theology, Environmental Theology and Ethics, Social Issues Through Cinema, Crime and Delinquency.
Careers in Cultural Studies
The critical thinking, writing, and interpersonal skills developed in the program prepare students for a competitive and highly diverse marketplace. Graduates of UIW's Cultural Studies program have gone on to work in a variety of areas, including higher education administration, nonprofit organizations, radio and music, and international business. Add to those options K-12 education, museums, advertising and marketing, and publishing. Others have gone to graduate school, law school or started their own business.