Populism/s
'Populism' is omnipresent: at issue in television talk shows and political discussions, in play across a range of popular as well as academic contexts, and practiced on social media in a range of emphatically short (TikTok) and immersive long forms (podcasting and streaming). But does all this activity in and around the concept necessarily equal a better understanding of the phenomenon? We suspect that the opposite might be the case. Thus, in this summer semester, the Cultural Studies Colloquium is taking the opportunity to more carefully assess populism as a term that captures a complex articulation of strategies and dispositions that not only relates to developments in the UK and the US, but also in Germany, Eastern Europe, and societies across the globe.
To create a committed and cohesive thinking community, we ask prospective participants to compose a brief (productive or even provocative) statement of purpose (of 1 to 1,5 pages) in which they (1) introduce themselves and (2) outline their interest/s in this semester's topic. In particular, we encourage prospective participants to explain their interest in the seminar (and to sketch the questions they are bringing to the seminar) by referencing a concrete cultural and/or political phenomenon (such as an image, a video clip, a quotation, etc.). – Please mail your statement of purpose to culturalstudies@uni-wuerzburg.de by 27 March. We will respond to statements of purpose by 01 April. There is no open enrollment for this course.
Course Preview
