Culture and Communication

Culture and Communication

During the past year “cultre” and “communication” has seen a rise in the public perception, be it during debates concerning intercultural connections due to globalization, discussions about the cultural foundations and boundaries of society, the organization of business enterprises or social change due to digitalization. Culture is everywhere and communication is a central element and component of social change. But what is “culture”? How are culture and communication essential part of the social world?

“Culture” is everywhere but very hard to define. Sociologists define different dimensions of the social world trough “culture”. It can characterize a difference between nature and society as well as different lifetyles (for example youth culture). This includes different behaviours (like habits, living together in families and organisations) and interpretation patterns and discourses (like self- and external-image).

“Culture and Communcation” at the institute of sociology at Erlangen introduces students into the base understanding, central conception and current discussion conercning the sociology of culture, media and communcation with the help of  introductional seminar. If interest in the subjects continues further seminars introduce the student into current aspects, issues and discussions. Students can profit of the multitude of research knowledge including the topics globalization, transculturalism, strereotyping, change of digital media, the constitution of social memory and the cultural significance of pictures and things. Newer topics of research include cultural framewprk and the social imprint of emotions.