Virtual Lecture Series
The Association for Cultural Studies is delighted to announce its Virtual Lecture Series: an ongoing programme of online presentations by cutting-edge cultural studies theorists and practitioners.
The next talk in this series, by Clare Birchall (King’s College London), titled ‘Trump’s Haute Baroque Bling: Style, Taste and Distinction in the Study of Populist Conspiracism’ (followed by a Q&A), will take place on November 19th, 4 PM GMT (more information underneath). NOTE: THE TALK WILL NOT BE RECORDED
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Clare Birchall (King’s College London) – ‘Trump’s Haute Baroque Bling: Style, Taste and Distinction in the Study of Populist Conspiracism’
November 19th, 2024
4 PM GMT
NOTE: THE TALK WILL NOT BE RECORDED
Abstract: This talk seeks to account for the differential treatment right-wing and left-wing populist conspiracism receives in both academia and cultural commentary. Taking Donald Trump as the main reference point, it suggests that aesthetic disposition – specifically processes of distinction and taste – might operate as an under-examined factor in why, at least in the limited context of British and American liberal milieus, right-wing populist conspiracists garner more ire and airtime than left-wing counterparts. In the endeavour to approach populist conspiracism as an embodied and mediated signifying practice, the talk draws on existing literature that approaches populism as a style. Behind the depiction of right-wing populist conspiracists as emblematic of “bad taste”, the talk argues, is a form of boundary maintenance between “legitimate” and “illegitimate” knowledge.
Bio: Clare Birchall is professor of contemporary culture at King’s College London and currently a visiting fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. She is the author of Radical Secrecy: The Ends of Transparency in Datafied America and Knowledge Goes Pop: From Conspiracy Theory to Gossip; and the co-author of Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Covid-19. Clare is the PI on a three-year EU CHANSE funded project on digitalisation and contested knowledges across Europe and Co-I on a three-year AHRC funded project on what difference the internet has made to conspiracy theories.
Upcoming VLS events (more details TBA):
December 16th, 2 PM EET/ Eastern European Time (GMT +2) – Johanna Turunen (University of Jyväskylä), ‘Museums as sites of Epistemic Agency and Transformative Learning’
Abstracts and links to the recordings of the past talks can be found here
Abstracts of the upcoming talks
Johanna Turunen (University of Jyväskylä) – Museums as sites of Epistemic Agency and Transformative Learning
December 16th, 2024
2 PM EET/ Eastern European Time (GMT +2)
Abstract: Museums are central societal actors and arenas of public learning. Since the turn of the millennium museums have been faced with increasing pressure to change the way they carry out these central duties. Many museums have adopted a more active – or even an activist – role. They have chosen to act as safe spaces for difficult societal discussions, community empowerment and cultural dissent. In this talk I want to think what such societal agency means in terms of learning. The talk is composed of three parts. First, I will define what I mean by the societal role and epistemic agency of museums and art. Second, I will talk about the basic principles of transformative learning. Finally, I will draw on some examples especially from art museums and art and go deeper into the transformative cognitive and affective potential that museums hold.
Bio: Johanna Turunen (PhD) works as a postdoctoral researchers of contemporary culture studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research is focused on the intersection of cultural studies, museology and critical heritage studies. She is currently leading the Uncomfortable museum -project (Kone foundation 2023-2027). The project examines the ways museums engage with difficult societal topics, such as racism, colonialism or climate crisis. The project seeks to open a new frontier for the study of the societal impact of museums and art by analysing ways to transform uncomfortable feelings into reparative action.