Aim of the course is to (i) recap the fundamental concepts related to a study of culture, social and cultural processes, (ii) explain and discuss the socio-cultural transformations of the contemporary world in terms of their spatiotemporal scale and dynamics, and (iii) demonstrate the close links between the natural environment and human society through specific field researches. The particular emphasis will be given to globalization as a fundamental phenomenon of cultural change. Selected divergent and convergent processes will be monitored at various scales to identify and critically view key socio-cultural problems including the increasing multipolarity of the world. The concrete examples will demonstrate the transformation of the cultural diffusion and generation changes, which are subsequently reflected in national policies. Competencies (students will be able to): - explain the key concepts of culture and its dynamics - identify and explain globalization processes and key socio-cultural problems of the contemporary world, including their manifestations at different scales - describe, classify and generalize the reasons for cultural differentiation and cultural change in different regions of the world - apply the above mentioned in a specific region or location - explain the role of cross-cultural standardized samples in research on cultural change Content: - theories and concepts of culture, factors of cultural change (dynamics and development of culture), spatiotemporal character of socio-cultural phenomena - regionalization of the world and cultural regions, cultural identity, development of local and regional culture - selected socio-cultural problems of the world - cultural diffusion - generational changes and generational gaps
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