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Folk/Popular Culture and Modern Cultural Heritage (LPK) – Thematic Units

HOU > Folk/Popular Culture and Modern Cultural Heritage (LPK) > Folk/Popular Culture and Modern Cultural Heritage (LPK) – Thematic Units

LPK50 Theoretical Conceptualizations and Methodological Approaches to Folk/Popular Culture

Module Code: LPK50

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Compulsory

Semester: First (1st)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

The module introduces students to the multifaceted conceptual, epistemological, theoretical, and methodological parameters of the study of popular/folk culture. Initially established as a special branch of “philological studies”, folklore focused on the study of traditional folk culture through the classification of oral monuments of speech and the customs of the rural world. In this context, folklore became a “national science”, documenting the “historical continuity” and “national homogeneity” of the Greek people. However, the introduction and establishment of disciplines such as social/cultural anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies have elevated popular culture into an interdisciplinary field. This has resulted in a new, socially critical, or comparative folklore, treating popular culture as a complex, dynamic, and heterogeneous socio-cultural system.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Distinguish different conceptualizations of popular culture.
  • Recognize the relationship of metonymic dipoles on which various conceptualizations are founded (tradition/modernity, orality/literacy, etc.).
  • Understand the theoretical and epistemological foundations of individual conceptualizations.
  • Connect different approaches to popular culture with broader cultural theories.
  • Describe the historical development, evolution, and transformation phases of folk culture studies in Greece and internationally.
  • Interpret these phases in light of the respective historical, socio-cultural, political, and ideological contexts.
  • Distinguish individual fields of popular culture and their interconnections.
  • Apply methods for collecting and analyzing ethnographic material.

Topics:

  • Theoretical conceptualizations of popular culture: tradition and modernity
  • “National traditions” and interdisciplinarity in the study of popular culture
  • The development of popular culture studies in Greece
  • The fields and places of popular culture
  • Folk culture research methods

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

 

LPK51 Modern Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage: theoretical approaches and cultural policies

Module Code: LPK51

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Compulsory

Semester: First (1st)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

This module introduces the concepts of culture and heritage as studied in humanities and social sciences (folklore, ethnology, anthropology, sociology, cultural management, etc.). It examines the conceptualizations and content of cultural heritage at an international level, especially after World War II with the creation of institutions such as UNESCO, ICOM, and ICOMOS. Emphasis is placed on tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the recent historical period (19th-21st centuries), concerning traditional and modern Greek society. Newer cultural heritage includes a set of tangible and intangible cultural manifestations, practices, knowledge, evidence, etc., preserved for future generations and contributing to the cultural identity of communities. The protection, safeguarding, and exploitation of cultural assets are managed by institutional bodies implementing international and national conventions for their promotion. Recognizing and utilizing the newest cultural heritage enhances social cohesion, organization, and economic development.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Understand different conceptualizations of cultural heritage.
  • Distinguish and understand the connection between popular/folk culture and modern cultural heritage.
  • Differentiate between tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
  • Recognize the ways and agencies of safeguarding and promoting the newest cultural heritage.
  • Interpret the importance of utilizing the latest cultural heritage for society and the economy.

Topics:

  • The concept of “cultural heritage”
  • Institutions and bodies managing the newest cultural heritage
  • Recent cultural heritage and culture policies
  • Modern cultural heritage management practices and policies
  • Cultural heritage and (local) development

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK52 Modern Material Culture and museums

Module Code: LPK52

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Compulsory

Semester: Second (2nd)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

Material culture is studied by various scientific fields (archaeology, history, folklore, ethnology, anthropology, industrial archaeology, museology, etc.), focusing on the relationship between objects, society, and culture. This module examines material culture’s conceptualizations and content through different theoretical currents and methodological approaches. The latest material culture and evidence (objects, tools, utensils, machines, buildings, etc.) of pre-industrial and proto-industrial society are analyzed concerning production processes, empirical knowledge, everyday life, and consumer practices. Emphasis is placed on areas such as nutrition, gastronomy, architecture, habitation, clothing, and industrial heritage, linked to symbolic and mnemonic practices. The development of museums, including different types of museums and ways of presenting exhibits, is explored. Specific types of museums (folklore, ethnographic, open-air) are studied for their focus on modern culture and their methods of communication with social and educational groups.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Understand theoretical currents and different conceptualizations of material culture.
  • Distinguish material culture as a knowledge object of different scientific fields.
  • Recognize various sub-themes and methodological approaches in their study.
  • Appreciate the importance of the latest material culture as cultural heritage and its preservation and promotion.
  • Utilize knowledge in cultural activities within their community.
  • Understand the broader theoretical and ideological currents in the creation of museums.
  • Recognize stages of museum practice (collection, museological study, museographic application, communication).
  • Distinguish different types of museums of modern culture.
  • Apply methods of communication and museum pedagogy.
  • Utilize the latest cultural wealth (material and immaterial) in museums or museum exhibitions.

Topics:

  • Theoretical and methodological approaches to material culture: conceptualizations and theoretical currents
  • Material culture and everyday life: diet, clothing, housing, and forms of consumption
  • Material culture, symbolic and mnemonic practices
  • Folk art and craft – Folk architecture – Industrial heritage
  • Types of folklore and popular culture museums
  • Organization and management of museum and archival collections
  • Museological approaches and museographic practices
  • Popular culture and museum-pedagogical practices

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK53 Folk/Popular Culture, “Community”, and ethho-local Identities

Module Code: LPK53

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Compulsory

Semester: Second (2nd)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

The focus is on the relationship between popular culture and ethno-local identities. The individual local, regional, and/or ethno-cultural traditions shaping modern Greek popular culture are mapped. Processes of composition, prioritization, diffusion, and interaction of these traditions and their integration into national popular tradition are examined. Traditional Greek folklore has historically treated ethno-cultural diversity within a unified Greek culture, often ignoring or downplaying cultural differences. However, interdisciplinary shifts have led to new orientations that highlight cultural differences and the dynamic nature of ethno-local identities. Recent research examines these identities in the context of globalization, with the term “glocalization” describing the interaction between local and global influences. Popular culture is increasingly seen as a key factor in socio-economic development, with elements utilized in alternative tourism and local knowledge used for sustainable development.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Understand the basic concepts of locality, community, ethno-local/ethnic group, ethno-cultural identity/otherness, diasporic/multi-local community, ethno-local network, ethnolocality, and cultural hybridity.
  • Analyze popular culture in the light of locality, ethnicity, and nationalism theories.
  • Distinguish individual local, regional, and ethno-cultural traditions in Greece.
  • Investigate the interactions between local, regional, ethnic, and national cultures.
  • Examine methods for managing ethno-cultural diversity in Greece.
  • Interpret changes in cultural identity in light of socio-cultural and political-ideological contexts.
  • Recognize cultural differences within ethno-local groups.
  • Examine geographical diffusion, multi-local networking, and symbolic reproduction of ethno-topical groups.
  • Understand the importance of inter-local and inter-ethnic interactions in the formation of Greek popular culture.
  • Recognize the role of popular culture and cultural identity in local development.

Topics:

  • Popular culture and ethno-local identities
  • From “culture” to “cultures” of the community
  • Regional identities, ethno-cultural differences, and effects of Greekness
  • Global-local identities and popular culture: ethno-community networks, ethnolocality, and hybrid cultures
  • Popular culture and “local development”

 

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK60 Intangible Cultural Heritage

Module Code: LPK560

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Third (3rd)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

This module introduces students to the field of intangible cultural heritage, a relatively new area that has seen unprecedented growth in recent years. It emerged as a global concept with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003, ratified by Greece in 2006. Since then, it has remained prominent through the actions of global organizations, states, local societies, and groups. Each nation state now compiles its own catalogues/inventories to record elements of intangible cultural heritage. According to the UNESCO Convention, intangible cultural heritage refers to the living traditions of communities and groups, which are enriched, evolve, and adapt to socio-cultural conditions. Intangible cultural heritage includes social practices, representations, knowledge, techniques, oral traditions, performing arts, etc., which communities and groups recognize as part of their cultural heritage. However, this field often faces strong critical deconstructions and local and global controversies. It is a complex and broad concept with various meanings across different languages and cultures, often without absolute identification. Generally, intangible cultural heritage refers to particular forms of heritage that must be preserved for future generations. However, a prerequisite is its living existence in the present, its transmission from generation to generation, continuous reproduction and re-creation by communities and groups, strengthening identity and continuity, respecting diversity, protecting human rights, and ensuring sustainable development. The elements of intangible cultural heritage often do not have direct material existence, visibility, or physical presence but are felt through their results. Therefore, safeguarding and ensuring its continuity is more challenging than for physical objects. Each element of intangible cultural heritage has significant weight and different meanings in terms of reception and acceptance. Preserving and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritage requires an interdisciplinary approach, institutional recognition, and active participation of collectives.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Understand the concept of intangible cultural heritage and its distinctions.
  • Explain and interpret the correlations between intangible and material heritage and popular culture.
  • Define and give meaning to the concept of intangible cultural heritage in its historical context.
  • Understand critical approaches to intangible cultural heritage and its relationship with material heritage.
  • Analyze the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and cultural management.
  • Highlight the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and tradition, considering new perspectives in the modern era.
  • Understand the relationship between modern open technologies and the management of intangible cultural heritage locally, nationally, and globally.

Topics:

  • Historical and theoretical approaches and conceptualizations of intangible cultural heritage
  • Intangible cultural heritage, tradition, and folk culture
  • Fields of detection and manifestation of intangible cultural heritage
  • Community, intangible cultural heritage, symbolic effects of identity; the relationship between the local and the global
  • Management of intangible cultural heritage and its relationship with modern open technologies

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK61 Urban popular culture

Module Code: LPK61

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Third (3rd)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

This module focuses on urban folk culture. Building on the concept of popular culture from a previous section, this module explores urban popular culture as a distinct methodological and epistemological field. It is an interdisciplinary topic, which requires various clarifications and delimitations. The unit highlights the specificity of urban folk culture and its expressions in the Greek area. The special social conditions of the early 20th century, during which unique artistic, cultural, and social expressions developed in urban centres, especially ports, are examined. These expressions, though influenced by dominant ideology, are autonomous and develop hybrid actions and resistances. Urban folk culture encompasses cultural practices and expressions of everyday culture that define specific groups distinct from the dominant culture. The unit also examines urban popular culture concepts related to scientific interest: methodological approaches, ideological references, stereotypes, and conceptualizations. International (tango, blues, fado) and Greek (rebetiko and folk song, Shadow Theater , dime novel, pulp fiction, popular cinema, other popular forms of entertainment) cultural creations will be presented and discussed concerning their composition, operation, and references to the wider cultural field.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Gain a deep understanding of the relationship between urban popular culture and popular culture in general, as well as their differences.
  • Interpret the differences between urban popular culture and mass culture.
  • Explain the significance of urban culture concerning the culture of the dependent strata.
  • Connect research approaches of urban popular culture in the Greek area with the development of social sciences’ theoretical and methodological tools.
  • Connect different approaches of urban popular culture with broader theories of civilization and culture.
  • Distinguish individual fields and expressions of urban popular culture and their connections.
  • Understand the relationship between local, national, and global aspects of urban folk culture.
  • Interpret forms of urban (sub)culture in light of modern cultural studies.
  • Explain the correlations between identity and urban popular culture forms.
  • Interpret contemporary identity forms through urban popular culture expressions (hybrids, mixed identities).

Topics

  • Theoretical conceptualizations of urban popular culture and mass culture
  • Forms of popular culture in urban spaces
  • Forms of urban popular culture in Greece
  • Formation of identities within urban popular culture contexts; contemporary urban (sub)cultures

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK62 Folk/Popular Culture, Public Discourse, and Education

Module Code: LPK62

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Third (3rd)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

This module examines the processes of composition and reproduction of public representations and practices surrounding popular culture in Greece. It focuses on the importance of cultural, educational, and self-governing institutions, intellectuals, and media, as well as their interactions on three interrelated levels: a) thematic standardization and ideological crystallization of the Greek folklore canon, b) political practices for consolidating and reproducing this rule, and c) procedures for recording and disseminating it in public discourse. Although these fields form a hegemonic institutional framework around popular culture over time, today they are not completely defined, hierarchical, or coherent. This paves the way for the emergence of different discourses and practices about popular culture in the public sphere. These “alternative” narratives usually do not translate into organized policies but express a tendency to enrich, renew, and re-interpret individual aspects of the national folkloric norm. In recent years, innovative educational projects have treated popular culture dynamically, connecting it to contemporary social issues (globalization, inter-culturalism, environment, gender relations, etc.). These programs link to the increasing networking of school units through the Internet or their participation in local, supra-local, or transnational educational and cultural networks. This interaction offers school communities multiple, heterogeneous, and less hierarchical sources of folklore knowledge, allowing for multi-faceted readings, interpretations, and pedagogical uses of folk culture.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Understand the terms institutional network, national ideology, folklore norm, and public folklore.
  • Distinguish institutions and fields involved in forming, public diffusion, social and symbolic validation, or negotiating hegemonic representations of popular culture.
  • Examine the interactions of individual institutional discourses and practices within the above procedures.
  • Interpret socio-cultural dynamics and changes related to the above.
  • Distinguish the ways of integrating the national folklore norm and public folklore into education.
  • Examine how education can renew and rename popular culture and vice versa.
  • Evaluate, design, and implement contemporary reflective teaching programs using popular culture.
  • Critically use relevant public narratives in teaching popular culture.

Topics:

  • Institutional grid of popular culture reproduction: public institutions, intellectuals, and media
  • National ideology, folklore canon, and public folklore
  • Education as a field for reproducing and negotiating the public folklore norm
  • Teaching popular culture and reflection

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

LPK63 Popular culture, visual and digital culture

Module Code: LPK63

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Fourth (4th)

Language: Greek

Objectives – Description of the Module:

The field of popular culture and its close relationship with visual and digital culture has undergone a major boom in recent years. Popular culture is a multifaceted and complex concept that is often combined with traditional culture and popular and/or mass culture. Today, the popular culture of dependent strata (subaltern) is considered an autonomous field, which deals with issues of transition and transformation in the field of social and cultural processes in modern multicultural societies. Emphasis is placed on the lived experience and the everyday life of the subjects, considering popular culture as an overall way of life and action, with the production of cultural practices and meanings characterized by ideological dominance, hybridization, resistance and exclusion. Visual Culture refers to a set of perceptions and practices in terms of representation and their visual documentation. It examines the social and cultural dimensions of visual representations, emphasizing popular culture and everyday practices. Folk culture as a whole is visualized and rendered in various forms and ways for many decades. From the traditional society to the postmodern and digital society, the representations of this visualization have been carried out with various means (photography, ethnological cinema, analogue and digital video etc.). Digital Culture refers to the massification of contemporary internet technologies and their impact on the body of contemporary popular culture. Like visual culture, it is an interdisciplinary field that explores the imprints and effects of the modern digital world, decisively highlighting the cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, and ensuring the formation of a digital strategy in the field of culture through the use of modern technologies. Both visual and digital culture contribute, especially in recent years, to the recording, transmission and display of popular culture, thus utilizing valuable information in the field of memory. The available technology has helped in this since it has become easy to use, particularly in the process of recording in the field of oral history as well as in the field of recording ritual and performative practices. These recordings are now carried out in the context of an interactive, reflective and open use of both the knowledge and the means of recording and reproduction by all participants (academics, researchers, representatives and members of local communities).

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the Module, students are expected to:

  • Recognize the close relationship of folk culture with popular culture and to distinguish the correlations with the field of tradition and popular culture in general.
  • Define and attribute meaning to the concept of popular culture in its historical trajectory. To understand the use of different definitions (folk, popular, mass, traditional etc.) as well as the relationship between culture and civilization.
  • Articulate scientific reasoning regarding the distinctions between mass / popular culture and high art as well as the reasons for constructing these distinctions.
  • Understand and distinguish the different concepts of visual and digital culture.
  • Grasp the theoretical and epistemological foundations of digital and visual culture.
  • Understand and distinguish the methods of collecting and analyzing visual and digital material.
  • Explain the close relationship between culture, popular culture and image.
  • To interpret the differences regarding the visual field across various cultures.
  • To explain the effect of recording technologies on the perception that societies shape historically vis-à-vis representation and visuality.

Topics:

  • Theoretic concepts of popular culture and the relationship between tradition and popular (pop) culture
  • The field of digital culture and its relationship with popular culture
  • Folk culture in Greece and the development of visual and digital culture

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this Module

Evaluation: Completion of written assignments during the academic semester which constitute a 40 percent of each student’s grade, if a pass is obtained in the final or repetitive examination. Final exam grades constitute a 60 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Teaching Method: Distance learning using the HOU’s e-learning platform and conducting group counselling meetings (tele-GCM).

 LPKPA Internship programme

Module Code: LPKPA

ECTS Credits: 15

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Fourth (4th)

Language: Greek

Description: The internship is offered as an option in the 4th semester and aims to introduce and bring students into contact with organizations (research centers, museums, public organizations, local government organizations, etc.) whose activity is the research, protection, utilization and management of issues of popular culture and elements of the modern political heritage. The employment of students through the Internship in the context of their post-graduate studies aims at the substantial utilization of theoretical knowledge and skills and the acquisition of experience in the working environment, creating a two-way relationship between academic education, research and professional employment.

Learning results:

After completing the Internship, students are expected to:

  • They have come into direct contact with the working reality as it is carried out in agencies, institutions and services.
  • Combine the theoretical knowledge they acquire in the MA with the production process, i.e. the research, exploitation and management of issues of popular culture and modern cultural heritage
  • To assimilate the scientific knowledge in the maximum possible way and to utilize it in a work-professional environment
  • They expand and target their professional integration

Teaching Method: The Internship of the students is carried out with the cooperation of the academic institution and the selected organization under the supervision of the teacher (SEP member). It ends with the submission of a written report by the student.

E.P.A implementation bodies: Bodies and services in which the Internship can take place/carry out include the following:

  • Research Centers ( e.g. Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, Academy of Athens)
  • Services of the Ministries of Culture and Sports ( e.g. Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage, Directorate of Museums, etc. ), Tourism
  • Museums of Modern Cultural Heritage ( e.g. Museum of Modern Greek Culture, Benaki Museum, Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics-G. Psaropoulos Foundation, Folklore and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace, Ethnological Museum of Thrace, Basil Papadoniou Foundation, Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, etc. )
  • Services of Local Government Organizations (Municipalities, Regions, Cultural organizations, etc. )

Deliverable: Internship (3 months) with a written report of 4,000-5,000 words.

LPKDE Master’s Thesis

Module Code: LPKDE

ECTS Credits: 30

Module Type: Elective

Semester: Fourth (4th)

Language: Greek

Description: Elaboration of a thesis of 20,000-25,000 words, with elements of theoretical and original argumentation and/or composition.

General Regulation for the Preparation of Master’s Diploma Theses in MA Programmes with six-month module duration

For more information regarding the Specifications – Useful Material for writing Master’s Thesis and uploading of Thesis in the EAP Repository, you can visit the Digital Education Space http://courses.eap.gr and especially to the Curriculum section.

Learning outcomes:

With the successful completion of the Master’s Thesis, students are expected to:

  • be well-acquainted with all the basic teaching material of all MA modules
  • understand and appreciate basic concepts key to the study of popular culture and modern cultural heritage
  • recognize elements and issues of popular culture and modern cultural heritage
  • conduct research and produce original academic texts
  • utilize knowledge in the management of issues of popular culture and modern cultural heritage
  • design innovative programs and use cutting-edge technologies for their implementation
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