Thinking Activity on Cultural Study

This Blog-post is a response to a thinking activity on 'Cultural Study' given by our professor Dr.Dilip Barad Sir. To know more about this task, CLICK HERE. 

Cultural Studies is interdisciplinary fieldwork to study the current field with tradition or the routine of looking at a particular field. The study of any field should be covered by different disciplines. This inter-connection converts the exact meaning of 'Cultural Study.' As an academic field, it originated in the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies(UK) and through famous critics like Raymond Williams, Richard Hoggart, later Stuart Hall, Tony Bennett, and others. They define that, Cultural Studies is a discipline between disciplines.  

In short, Cultural Studies is a composition of Marxism, race, feminism, anthropology, gender studies, film theory, urban studies, popular culture, public policies, and postcolonial studies, which led to the social and cultural force that either create community or causes division and alienation. This can be considered as Umbrella Term. (From:Sejalvaghela Slidshare)

•  Power in Cultural Studies: 

In Cultural Studies, Eric Lui mentioned that Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do. In a democracy, it is believed that Power is in the people. However, in Authoritarian rule, the rule over the democracy will be in the Power. These all relations are defined by Power Dynamics. It focuses on Civic Arena which means, "to getting a community to make the choices and to take the action that you want"

• Importance of Media Studies in digital culture:

As Noam Chomsky mentioned in "Manufacturing Consent- The Political Economy of the Mass Media" behind every decision, investment, and production first it looks that who is in a position of making decisions. It argues that the mass communication media of the U.S. "are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion", using the propaganda model of communication.

Media serves the audience and viewers that is exactly from them who is in a power. A good viewer or observer might learn how to analyze and marginalised the source. It is the same as in 'Post-truth' which directly connects with emotions and it comes from the power dynamics and use of those power positions. 

• Who can be considered a 'Truly Educated Person'?

As Noam Chomsky mentioned,

To be truly educated means to be resourceful, to be able to “formulate serious questions” and “question standard doctrine, if that’s appropriate”…. It means to “find your own way.

As he said, truly educated people might follow their own roots in researching by their own findings. And one should deal with counter-questioning rather than believing what was said. This might the real truth of 'Post-truth.'