Conceptualising Cultural Environments Seminar 10: circuits of culture

Presentation Feedback  On the whole presentations were of a high standard  Remember to underpin with academic theory  You need to work together as a group to make the presentation flow

Circuits of Culture  In 2007 Glasgow won the bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014  Why do you think Glasgow chose to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and who do you think was involved in making this decision?  What economic benefits do you think that hosting the Games will bring?  What political benefits do you think hosting the Games might bring?  What social benefits do you think hosting the Games will bring?

Circuits of Culture  Do you think there will be any negative aspects of hosting the Games?  What impact do you think hosting the Games will have on the local community?  Do you think the whole of Scotland will benefit from hosting the Games?

Individual Essay  Worth 60% of the final mark for the module  Your essay should be 1500 words long  Due by 12 noon on Friday 20 th April  Hand in to W108  The full assignment brief can be found on the blog

Questions  You should answer ONE of the following questions in your essay (please make sure you indicate on your front cover which question you are answering) 1.Critically discuss the economic and political significance of cultural consumption with specific reference to the role of culture and events in city marketing/branding strategies. You should select one city to focus your essay on. 2.Critically discuss the ways in which developments in the media have shaped the way in which people consume and utilise events to shape their individual identities. 3.Critically debate whether people’s cultural consumption choices continue to be impacted upon by lifestyle issues such as gender and lifecycle. 4.Critically review the historical development of cultural consumption and examine the impact which this continues to have on our consumption of such services. 5.Critically debate the notion that while we may appear to be free in our leisure time we are actually highly controlled by various written rules, codes and norms of behaviour. It is suggested that you select one area of events or entertainment with which you are familiar to draw upon in your answer

Tips  In your response, you must bring together theory and practice. It is expected that you would draw upon materials utilised within the module but also source academic materials outwith this. Your essay should include at LEAST four different academic references.  You should utilise the Harvard style of referencing with a full reference list given at the end of your essay. You can find a guide on how to do this on the library website.  Your essay should include a front cover with your name, matriculation number, module title, word count and the question that you have answered.

Tips: finding academic sources  You must underpin your essay with academic references  You should use the set books for the module but do not rely on these too much  You will have to go to the library and get other books out!!  By academic sources we mean books and journals (not websites, wikipedia, etc!)  Look at the reading list in the module handbook  Search the library catalogue (and go to the library and look on the shelves!)  Google scholar is a great tool for finding journal articles  Use at LEAST four different academic sources

Tips: referencing  You must make sure that you reference your academic sources correctly  You should use the Harvard style of referencing  Full details of how to do this can be found at  When using a direct quote in the essay you must include the author’s surname, year of publication and page number  (Flinn, 2012: 13)  When paraphrasing (i.e. putting it into your own words) you should include the author’s surname and year of publication  (Flinn, 2012)

Homework!  In preparation for next week’s class you should:  Decide which question you intend to answer  Source at least two academic sources other than the set books  Develop a rough plan for your essay  We will look in more detail at essay writing next week and help you to develop your ideas…