UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI
CENTRE FOR THE STUDY AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES
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Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Sustainability
Duration of the Programme
The Programme is expected to be completed in a minimum of six semesters and a maximum of ten semesters.
Admission Requirements
The PhD candidate is expected to have minimum of Second Class Lower Degree and Master Degree with at least CGPA of 3.5 in the Arts, Social Science, Management Science or any related area of specialization acceptable to the University of Maiduguri. The candidate must also have a minimum of five credits at O’ Level including English and Mathematics.
Programme Requirements
To earn a PhD Degree in Cultural Sustainability, students will pass the prescribed courses of 30 Units, present at least 5 seminars and satisfactory submission and defense of thesis of 30 Units during the course of study.
- List of Courses:
CCS 900 Advanced Seminar in Cultural Sustainability 3 Units
CCS 901 Advanced Seminar in Cultural Policy 3 Units
CCS 902 Advanced Research Methodology 3 Units
CCS 903 Culture, Communities and Tourism 3 Units
CCS 904 Culture and Political Economy 3 Units
CCS 905 Visual Culture 3 Units
CCS 906 Managing Natural Disaster 3 Units
CCS 907 Conflict Analysis and Resolution 3 Units
CCS 908 Issues in Community Sustainability 3 Units
CCS 909 Facilitative Leadership 3 Units
CCS 999 PhD Thesis 30 Units
- Course Description:
CCS 900: Advanced Seminar in Cultural Sustainability (3 Units)
Students are required to present a seminar in any topic of their choice on cultural sustainability.
CCS 901: Advanced Seminar in Cultural Policy (3 Units)
Students are required to present a seminar in any topic of their choice on cultural policy.
CCS 902: Advanced Research Methodology (3 Units)
The course provides an overview of qualitative research strategies, discusses good and bad cases and provides deep insights into four selected qualitative strategies within the social sciences: ethnography, grounded theory, case studies and action research. It provides theoretical arguments and rationale for adopting an approach and discusses differentiating characteristics and similarities, the practical advantages and limitations of using these strategies, ethical considerations, as well as what forms of generalization the approaches allow. The course provides the opportunity to practise choosing methodological approaches, arguing for the choice and designing research approaches. Most importantly, the students gain hands-on experience with applying the course content to their own projects while receiving critical feedback.
CCS 903: Culture, Communities and Tourism (3 Units)
This course uses a multi-disciplinary approach to explore: concepts of “culture” and “cultural landscapes;” the varied uses of terms such as culture, heritage and ecotourism; the roles of cultural institutions within communities – as economic development generators, and as part of the tourism system in international and domestic contexts; the relationship between the natural environment and human cultural expression.
CCS 904: Culture and Political Economy (3 Units)
Surveys social science and humanities classics that relate cultural production and consumption to underlying political economic conditions. Includes Marx, Lukacs, Frankfurt School, semiotic neo-Marxism, productivist theories of power indebted to Foucault, Baudrillard, Bourdieu, Harvey, Jameson, Mauss, Mill, Polanyi, Sahlins, A. Smith, and Weber.
CCS 905: Visual Culture (3 Units)
Examines theories, production, consumption, and reception of visual culture. Covers film, video, visual arts, music, display, ritual, performance, performativity, and theories of the aesthetic. While Visual Culture draws from Art History, Cultural Studies, and Film and Media Studies, it is not reducible to any of those disciplines or modes of inquiry. Furthermore, research in Visual Culture has attended not only to visual objects, but also to the act of looking itself, and to the social construction of perception. As many of the theorists we’ll read have argued, perception is far from natural and universal; rather, it is historically and culturally specific and as such has changed over time, in part as a result of the development of new visual technologies.
CCS 906: Managing Natural Disasters (3 Units)
The course looks at the meaning of disasters by analysing three disaster paradigms including dominant, alternative and mid-range in order to have a fuller theoretical and practical understanding around ‘what is a disaster?’ It also focuses on the policy and practice of disaster management by taking a nuanced approach. More concretely UN/ISDR’s Disaster Risk Reduction Framework forms the basis of the analysis. Specific case studies are drawn in order to put theory into practice.
CCS 907: Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3 Units)
The course introduces field of conflict analysis and resolution for doctoral students. It examines definitions of conflict and diverse views of resolution. The course also explores thinking about human and social systems as they relate to origins and role of conflict in violent and peaceful change. It considers appropriate response to conflict at interpersonal, intergroup, industrial, communal and international levels.
CCS 908: Issues in Community Sustainability (3 Units)
Concepts, issues, and approaches central to integrated research, service and learning careers in community sustainability including sustainable tourism and protected area management. Through discussions and readings during the course, students will engage with key philosophical, theoretical and practical dimensions of sustainable development of natural resources and human communities. With this in mind, this course encourages deliberative and collaborative learning, the ability to understand and think across disciplinary boundaries, and the application of holistic (integrated or systemic) approaches to solving problems and trying to improve the human condition in a variety of contexts and settings.
CCS 909: Facilitative Leadership (3 Units)
This course provides a hands-on introduction to the practice of facilitative leadership for groups, organizations and communities. The course covers processes, skills and techniques associated with leading groups to generate and prioritize ideas, set goals, and create action plans.
CCS 999 PhD Thesis (30 Units)
Students are required to conduct in-depth research in the field of Cultural Sustainability which they will be examined through oral defense.
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Master of Arts (M.A) in Cultural Sustainability
Duration of the Programme
The Programme is expected to be completed in a minimum of four semesters and a maximum of six semesters.
Admission Requirements
The M.A. candidate is expected to have a minimum of Second Class Lower Degree in the Arts, Social Sciences, Management Sciences or any related area of specialization acceptable to the University of Maiduguri. The candidate must also have a minimum of five credits at O’ Level including English and Mathematics.
Programme Requirements
To qualify for the Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability, students will complete a minimum of 30 Units of compulsory and elective courses; and a supervised research dissertation of 10 Units leading to and oral examination.
LIST OF COURSES AND DESCRIPTIONS
- Compulsory Courses (24 Units)
- CCS 800: Cultural Sustainability 3 Units
- CCS 801: Cultural Policy 3 Units
- CCS 802: Cultural Documentation 3 Units
- CCS 803: Seminar in Cultural Documentation and Archives
Management 3 Units
- CCS 804: Principles of Cultural Mediation 3 Units
- CCS 805: Research Methodology 3 Units
- CCS 806: Festivals, Events and Performances 3 Units
- CCS 807: Organizing Communities: Advocacy, Activism
and Social Justice 3 Units
- CCS 899: Dissertation 10 Units
- Elective Courses (6 Units)
- CCS 808: Cultural Partnership 3 Units
- CCS 809: Language Preservation 3 Units
- CCS 810: Exhibits, Real and Virtual 3 Units
- CCS 811: Museums and Communities 3 Units
- CCS 812: Oral History 3 Units
- CCS 813: Culture and Calamity 3 Units
- Compulsory Course Descriptions
CCS 800: Cultural Sustainability (3 Units)
This course introduces cultural sustainability both through its interdisciplinary theoretical foundations in cultural policy, public folklore, anthropology, and community arts, and through reflection on cultural activism and inquiry. The course will help students deepen their understanding of cultural sustainability as a concept, better articulate the value of their own practice, and serve as a platform for the intellectual development of the field.
CCS 801: Cultural Policy (3 Units)
Culture matters to people, and is threatened by globalization and modernity in troubling ways. As a matter of public policy, culture has been defined and addressed in different ways. This course looks at the history of these formulations and the practices they have engendered, and suggests ways that the value of culture is of critical importance to policy makers seeking a sustainable and livable future. The course will also examine ethical issues as applied to digital and traditional sound and imagery in film, video, and photography. Includes a review of practices related to copyrighting work and control of intellectual property.
CCS 802: Cultural Documentation (3 Units)
Cultural documentation provides an orientation and foundation in the methodologies used to understand and engage with the cultural processes and assets of value to communities. This course introduces best practices in cultural documentation, the use of ethnographic fieldwork and digital media to record and understand culture, and the ethical and practical issues involved in appropriately and effectively engaging with people in a variety of community contexts.
CCS 803: Seminar in Cultural Documentation and Archives Management (3 Units)
This course enable students to present seminar on issues pertaining to cultural documentation and archival management at an advanced level. Ethical, legal, and theoretical issues surround cultural documentation; especially when the work becomes part of a community-based public archive. This course addresses the question, “How do I organize and manage a cultural documentation archive to ensure its relevancy to the community?”
CCS 804: Principles of Cultural Mediation (3 Units)
Without the recognition of difference of opinion, viewpoints, and individual value systems, conversations around divisive issues can often be dominated by polarized and destructive debate. Creating a space for dialogue can allow for these multiple viewpoints to be shared. Students will reflect on how their own cultural background frames their understanding of themselves and others, and will develop an understanding of how intercultural dialogue and mediation can be utilized to work successfully and ethically in partnership with communities.
CCS 805: Research Methodology (3 Units)
The course is basically qualitative research methodology. At the heart of cultural sustainability is the ability to appropriately perceive need, value, cultural knowledge, meaning, and voice from the emic (insider’s) perspective. Ethnography is a qualitative research strategy that engages cultural workers with community members to explore and represent cultural phenomena. This is community-action research. Literally, ethnography is a means to represent graphically (in writing, photography, film) the culture (ethno) of a people.
CCS 806: Festivals, Events and Performances (3 Units)
How and why do people celebrate? How can festivals construct a “separate space” outside the “everyday.” What are the transformative, transgressive, subversive and communal possibilities for the employment of the “festive vocabulary?” How can a festival create a sense of what Victor Turner called “Communitas?” In this course, students will explore these questions; learn the basic elements of the festival; identify its history, motivation and multi-vocal meanings; learn the different elements of the “festive landscape;” provide analysis of community festivals in social and historical context; and, develop a festival program, including key thematic elements such as music, craft, and narrative components.
CCS 807: Organizing Communities: Advocacy, Activism, and Social Justice (3 Units)
This course introduces students to the methods and perspectives of community organizing. Cultural sustainability is often a matter of social justice and self-determination, and knowledge of community organizing strategies provides a critical tool for Cultural Sustainability practitioners. Organizing, advocacy, and action strategies will be shared and assessed particularly as they pertain to matters of cultural democracy.
CCS 899: Dissertation (10 Units)
The students are required to write a dissertation on a topic of their choice related to Cultural Sustainability.
- Elective Course Descriptions
CCS 808: Cultural Partnership (3 Units)
What are effective strategies for scholars and organizations to work with communities to help develop the capacity for those communities to make choices about what matters to them? This course explores ways that effective enduring partnerships and programs can be developed to reflect the voices and aspirations of communities, their stakeholders, and the cultural organizations that serve them.
CCS 809: Language Preservation (3 Units)
Language is one of the most salient and identifiable aspects of human culture. Human languages are important aspects of a culture’s identity and sovereignty. Throughout the world communities are facing unprecedented language endangerment and half of the world’s languages may become extinct in the next 100 years. This course provides an introduction to the practical and theoretical causes of language shift and what this shift means for impacted communities. Selected case studies provide a global perspective on the discourse.
CCS 810: Exhibits, Real and Virtual (3 Units)
Museum exhibitions, publications, websites, and other media provide powerful tools for sustaining, strengthening, and showcasing the cultural assets and practices of communities for purposes of education, advocacy, and preservation. Students explore the use of text, image, video, and sound in effectively telling the story of themes and issues that matter to communities.
CCS 811: Museums and Communities (3 Units)
Today’s museums are re-considering their civic missions and practices, the ways they engage new partners and audiences, and, therefore, their priorities. Many believe that the health of museums depends on becoming more civically engaged with a range of communities. Successful museums engage in dialogue about civic empowerment and often center on issues of how and where citizens seek and engage each other, about their senses of power, trust, and agency. This cornerstone course encompasses the unique and critical issues of working in today’s museums, and offers strategies for connecting museums with communities in ways that position them as principal players in cultural sustainability.
CCS 812: Oral History (3 Units)
This course provides training in best practices in oral history documentation. Through hands on instruction and mentorship with oral history practice, students will develop the knowledge and skills to professionally conduct oral history research.
CCS 813: Culture and Calamity (3 Units)
There are physical, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions to upheavals in community life, whether caused by war, economic or environmental devastation, forced displacement, or even policy. Human expression, even in the most authoritarian states and in the direst hours of crisis, cannot be silent. This course will examine the cultural and artistic aspects of upheaval and conflict around the world, including the destruction of traditional culture and emergence of new forms and voices. Case studies and readings will examine culture as a reflection and record of upheaval and as a creative response to it.