Free Online Course from Future Learn: Introduction to Cultural Studies

Future Learn Platform offers a free online course: Introduction to Cultural Studies. The course examines an aspect of marketing through the ways branding makes use of cultural stereotypes to promote products or places. On the course you’ll consider the effects this might have on national and cultural identity and explore how some products are becoming decoupled from their culture of origin to influence the behaviour of people across the globe.

This course is intended for:

The course is for anyone with an interest in the concepts of culture and interculturality, you don’t need any previous experience.

Course duration:

2 weeks, 5 hours

Course topics:

• Branding and identity – how companies might adapt products in order to successfully introduce them into new markets
• Nation branding - how countries attempt to portray and market themselves
• The movement of products - how globalised products are received in different contexts
• Localising products - the reasons why companies adapt products for audiences in different local environments
• Soft power - how countries promote what they perceive to be their own cultural values to other nations
• Cultural imperialism – the extent to which global marketing and the selling of products can be seen as an attempt to impose the values of the producing nation

Course objectives:

By the end of this course learners will be able to:

1. Explore how national and regional identities are exploited to market goods and services
2. Investigate the effects of using national identity to market products
3. Compare the ways in which globally available products are localised for different markets
4. Evaluate how soft power is derived from the spreading of cultural products and practices
5. Assess the extent to which globalisation facilitates cultural imperialism
6. Discuss the reasons for adapting products for local cultures

About Future Learn:

They offer a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and cultural institutions from around the world. These are delivered one step at a time and are accessible on mobile, tablet, and desktop, so you can fit learning around your life. Also, they believe learning should be an enjoyable, social experience, so their courses offer the opportunity to discuss what you’re learning with others as you go, helping you make fresh discoveries and form new ideas.

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