Research methodology

general courses

The course aims to acquaint students with forms of the presence of ancient heritage in the culture of Central Europe and to develop their ability to analyse and interpret texts of culture.

Familiarity with the European reception of the heritage of Greek and Roman culture is an essential element of Mediterranean studies.

Knowledge: students completing the course will be familiar with and understand

- different disciplines related to cultural studies, together with their distinctive subject matter and methodologies

- the basic terminology of literary studies and cultural studies

- the basic terminology of cultural anthropology

- the theories and methodologies of disciplines dealing with cultural studies

-the links between humanities disciplines and the unique relations between different disciplines connected with cultural studies; they will acquire the basics of an interdisciplinary approach in cultural studies

- contemporary directions of cultural studies

- the latest achievements in developing interdisciplinary research methods in cultural studies and possible new directions of this research

- the basic methods of interpreting a literary text and a textual historical source

- the basic methods of interpreting a work of visual art, including iconographic and stylistic analysis

- the basic analysis methods typical of cultural anthropology, including the most important theories and traditions of different schools that emerged during the discipline’s development

- the importance of the complex nature of language in philological and cultural studies research, be familiar with the principles of the semiotics of language and culture

Skills: students completing the course will be able to

- retrieve and interpret information using different sources, including Latin and Neo-Latin sources, literary and historical texts, anthropological sources

-acquire research skills enabling them to formulate and resolve research problems of cultural studies; to this aim, they will be able to perform basic analyses with the help of interdisciplinary research methods and tools

- resolve research problems and produce studies on research topics while applying the main theoretical approaches and paradigms from knowledge on culture, including cultural anthropology, philology, history and the semiotics of culture

- take part in discussions on cultural studies topics, including presenting logical argumentation and drawing critical conclusions

- present the results of their own analysis of a simple research problem in written and oral form

- autonomously identify the main theses of an oral presentation / written text in Polish and in a selected language of the Mediterranean area

Social competences: students completing the course will be ready to

- work in a group, both as a moderator and a member performing a given task

- carry out the work plan of their contribution to a class, according to the teacher’s guidelines

- understand the main challenges related to research on culture and inter-civilizational relations

- take part actively in discussions in Polish and a selected Mediterranean language, respecting the views of their partners