The Institutionalization of Cultural Studies in the United States – The Case of the Doctorate in Cultural Studies of the University of California, Davis, Eight Years Into the Program

Robert McKee Irwin
rmirwin@ucdavis.edu
University of California, Davis, USA

Abstract:

This article describes the process of institutionalization of the field of cultural studies in the United States. The example of this process at the University of California, Davis, where a doctoral program in cultural studies was established eight years ago, while idiosyncratic, illustrates the kind of problem, both practical and intellectual, that this institutionalization has caused in this country. The article also points to two areas (cultural content and cultural management) that could better be incorporated into graduate programs so that this field, as it assumes the form of a discipline, can offer the best possible preparation in the training of cultural critics.

Keywords: cultural studies, pedagogy, corporate university