GONZAGA-IN-FLORENCE SYLLABUS
Course:
Credits:
Instructor:
SOCI 295: Sociology of the Arts
3 Credits
Pierluca Birindelli, Ph.D.
Study Abroad, 502 E. Boone Ave, Spokane, WA 99258-0085 ● (800) 440-5391 ● www.gonzaga.edu/studyabroad ●
[email protected]
Office Hours: by appointment ([email protected]) and/or directly after class
Meeting times: Monday and Wednesday: 2:00 - 3:25 P.M.
Course Description
The aim of the course is to introduce the relationship between art, culture and society. The leading topics of
discussion will be: the meaning of art from a sociological viewpoint; the possibility to define art; the tension
between universally recognizable qualities of art and its institutionalization; the foundation, production and
consumption of art; the relationship between art forms and social structures; the relation of art to myth, religion
and ideology; the differentiation/homogenization of artistic tastes.
Course Objectives
Having clarified the shifting boundary between fine and popular arts, and pointed out the main conceptions and
approaches to the study of art, the first part of the course is dedicated to the contribution of classical sociologists:
Carl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel.
In the second part of the course we will address the relation between social structure, production and
consumption of art, with the constant attempt to construct synthetic conceptual bridges between pre-modern
(with particular attention to Renaissance), modern, and post-modern life-worlds.
Part of the course is dedicated to the theme of genius, creativity and socio-cultural milieu, with special reference
to the Renaissance artist. The course will end pointing out some emerging features of the globalization of art
and, through the phenomenon of élite/mass tourism, its relation with economy, politics and aesthetics.
Course Requirements and Learning Outcomes
Throughout this course students are expected to engage in active participation by contributing their thoughts,
ideas and questions. Thus, it is crucial to study the required readings, be ready to share opinions on the topics
discussed in class and hand in short papers following the guidelines.
Course requirements include a midterm exam and a research paper.
The midterm exam and the final exam consist in answering (essay form) one mandatory question and then pick
another among a list. Each question is worth 100 point, the final grade is given by the average. Usually each
answer should be approximately 1 to 2 handwritten pages.
The final research paper (5/10 pages) is about one of the topics discussed during the course (or linked to them).
Students should start thinking about a possible theme from the beginning of the course; the third week after the
midterm a research proposal ‒ title, short description, one source ‒ has to be formulated. In the final work,
students are expected to make reference to the interpretative concepts and methods of analysis acquired during
the course and to their autobiographical experience, as well as finding (at least) one newspaper article and one
scholarly article about the chosen theme ‒ for further information see the appendix at the end of the syllabus.
At the end of this course, the successful student is expected to be able to: 1) actively engage him/herself with the
topics brought to his/her attention (assessed in the participation); 2) understand the main cultural theoretical
perspectives and empirical findings discussed in class (assessed in the midterm exam); 3) interpret how the
experience of art has affected his/her self-identity both home and abroad (assessed in the first part of the final
research paper); 4) critically understand and apply concepts and methods learned during the course in the
research project (assessed in the final paper).
Teaching Method
The course has a seminar format. Lectures will introduce the main topic, with the support of slides synthesizing
concepts, paradigms, theories and examples extracted from the readings. Film screening and consequent
discussion will take place in order to help students familiarize themselves with to certain artistic features of
Italian and European culture and society. Sometimes students will to carry out in-class exercises (individually or
in groups) and report on them. Then social and cultural experiences will be used to elaborate concepts raised
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throughout the course. A teaching method is efficient if the students prepare the right way. Students are also
partially responsible for the success of the teaching method, as the pedagogical value of a method has to be
enacted by each participant in the process.
Teaching Commitment
My primary goal is to foster students’ critical thinking and imagination. I believe that the best way to obtain this
objective lies in the capacity to construct a dialogic environment, where is crystal clear that learning together, the
best we can, is our mission (nothing more, nothing less). Students shall never censor themselves, but always
express their opinions upon any theme ‒ discussion about sensitive themes shall never be avoided in a social
science class ‒ keeping in mind that reading, studying and being curious is the only way to construct thoughtful
interpretations. Students should also try to take the challenge of exploring unknown cultural territory, not
expecting to receive the “perfect map” ‒ you go from A to B and then to C and so on ‒ in advance. I believe
knowledge has little to do with the practice of reassuring ourselves each step we take; I prefer to wander a bit in
the forest of cultural symbols and only afterwards find our way out. In our learning itinerary, students shall never
be scared of making mistakes; mistakes, in the narrow sense of it, do not exist.
These are the meta-objective of the course. On my behalf, the only thing I can guarantee 100% is intellectual
honesty.
Grading
 Attendance and participation: 30%;
 Mid-term exam: 30%;
 Final research project: 40%.
Grades
94-100 % A
90-93.9% A86-89.9% B+
83-85.9% B
80-82.9% B76-79:9% C+
72-75.9% C
70-71.9% C65-69.9% D+
60-64.9% D
Below 60% F
Attendance, academic honesty, decorum and other policies
It is required to observe Gonzaga University’s policy regarding absences and academic honesty.
Students are expected to behave properly and to show self-respect and respect for others. Please be advised that
laptops are allowed only to take notes during the lecture. You may not use your computer to surf the Web or for
any other personal purpose. Regarding the use of laptops, smartphones etc. in class, my opinion is expressed in
the following post: Laptop in Class.
Documented learning disabilities or other medically certified problems that need special accommodation for any
of the student's expected academic performances will be treated with the due attention.
Required Readings
A course pack in PDF format (no charge) will be made available in Florence
 Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Introduction, Chapter 1: 1-31.
 Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. What is art?, 1-18.
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Marx, K. (Extracts): Marx and Engels on Literature and Art. Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1976, Original
publication 1859: Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy: 41–42; The German
Ideology: 42–44, 70–73; Grundrisse and 18th Brumaire: 82–84, 79–81.
Weber, M. (Extracts) The religious rejections of the world and their directions, in H. Gerth and C. Wright
Mills (eds), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York, Oxford University Press, 1946, 340–343.
Economy and Society. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1968, 607–610. The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1930, 13–17, 25–26.
Simmel, G. (Extracts) Sociological Aesthetics. From K. P. Etzkorn (ed.), Georg Simmel: The Conflict in
Modern Culture and Other Essays. New York, Teachers College Press, 1968, 71–76.
Durkheim, E. (Extracts) The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, trans. J. W. Swain. London, George
Allen & Unwin; New York, The Free Press, 1965, 134–140, 148–149, 236–264,
Tanner, J. (2003) The Sociology of Art. London: Routledge, 27-37.
DiMaggio, P. (1987) Classification in the arts. In “American Sociological Review”, 5: 440-45.
Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Patronage: the church, the monarchy and
the nobility; Art markets in early modern Europe; The state and the market in twentieth-century arts
fundings, 71-82.
Becker, H. S. (1974) Art as Collective Action, from “American Sociological Review”, 39: 767–76.
Bourdieu, P. (1993) But who Created the ‘Creators’?, From Sociology in Question. London: Sage, 139–48.
Hauser, A. (1951) The Social Status of the Renaissance Artist. From The Social History of Art, vol. II:
Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque. London, Routledge, 1951, 46–57, 61–63.
Heinich, N. (1996) The Van Gogh Effect. From The Glory of Van Gogh: An Anthropology of Admiration.
Princeton, University Press, 1996, 140–50.
Elias, N. (1993) Craftsmen’s Art and Artists’ Art. From Mozart: Portrait of a Genius. Cambridge, Polity
Press, 1993, 42–49.
Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. Artists, 131-151.
Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Kantian aesthetics; Aesthetic autonomy;
Art and cultural capital; Art consumption in the US ; Sociology of taste : 83-110.
Bourdieu, P. (18968) Outline of a Sociological Theory of Art Perception, in “International Social Science
Journal”, XX.4: 589–612.
Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin. Ch1: 7-34
Peterson, R.A. and R.M. Kern (1996) Changing Highbrow Taste: From Snob to Omnivore. In “American
Sociological Review”, Vol. 61, No. 5: 900-907.
Baxandall, M. (Extracts,1988) Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy. Oxford: University Press.
Excerpts.
Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. The Art Itself, 251-272.
Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. Globalization, 157-171.
Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Globalization and the arts, 201-206.
Wu, C. (2007) Worlds Apart. Problems of Interpreting Globalised Art, in “Third Text”, 21(6): 719-731.
Boltanski, L. and E Chiapello (2005) The New Spirit of Capitalism. In “International Journal of Politics,
Culture, and Society”, Vol. 18, No. 3/4: 161-188.
Recommended additional resources
Data and conceptual tools for the overall course and the research paper are available on my blog: Pierluca
Birindelli . Examples of research paper are available here: Interpreting Cultural Experiences: Travel and
Knowledge
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Course outline & schedule (The order and content can be changed if necessary-useful)
Week 1:
Art and social theory: conceptions and approaches
 Metaphysical conceptions: Beauty, Imitation of Nature, Aesthetic experience
 Sociological conceptions: Humanistic art history, Marxist social history of art
 Cultural studies, Anthropological studies, Analytical Philosophy; Modernism and Postmodernism
 Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Introduction, Chapter 1: 1-31.
 Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. What is art?, 1-18.
Introduction to the research paper
Week 2:
Marx: art and ideology
 Extracts from: Marx and Engels on Literature and Art. Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1976, Original
publication 1859: Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy: 41–42; The German
Ideology: 42–44, 70–73; Grundrisse and 18th Brumaire: 82–84, 79–81.
Week 3:
Max Weber: art, religion and rationalization of the Western world
Extracts from:
 The religious rejections of the world and their directions, in H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (eds), From Max
Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York, Oxford University Press, 1946, 340–343.
 Economy and Society. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1968, 607–610.
 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1930, 13–17, 25–26.
Week 4:
Georg Simmel: aesthetics and social organization
 Extracts from: Sociological Aesthetics. From K. P. Etzkorn (ed.), Georg Simmel: The Conflict in Modern
Culture and Other Essays. New York, Teachers College Press, 1968, 71–76.
Week 5:
Emile Durkheim: symbolic meaning and objectification
 Extract from: The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, trans. J. W. Swain. London, George Allen &
Unwin; New York, The Free Press, 1965, 134–140, 148–149, 236–264,
Week 6:
From classical sociology to the classification of art
 Tanner, J. (2003) The Sociology of Art. London: Routledge, 27-37.
 DiMaggio, P. (1987) Classification in the arts. In “American Sociological Review”, 5: 440-45.
Review
Week 7: Mid-term exam
Week 8:
Social structure and the production of art
 Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Patronage: the church, the monarchy and
the nobility; Art markets in early modern Europe; The state and the market in twentieth-century arts
fundings, 71-82.
 Becker, H. S. (1974) Art as Collective Action, from “American Sociological Review”, 39: 767–76.
 Bourdieu, P. (1993) But who Created the ‘Creators’?, From Sociology in Question. London: Sage, 139–48.
Deadline for the choice of the research paper topic
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Week 9:
Genius, creativity and the sociology of the artist
 Hauser, A. (1951) The Social Status of the Renaissance Artist. From The Social History of Art, vol. II:
Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque. London, Routledge, 1951, 46–57, 61–63.
 Heinich, N. (1996) The Van Gogh Effect. From The Glory of Van Gogh: An Anthropology of Admiration.
Princeton, University Press, 1996, 140–50.
 Elias, N. (1993) Craftsmen’s Art and Artists’ Art. From Mozart: Portrait of a Genius. Cambridge, Polity
Press, 1993, 42–49.
 Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. Artists, 131-151.
Week 10:
Aesthetic autonomy and the sociology of taste
 Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Kantian aesthetics; Aesthetic autonomy;
Art and cultural capital; Art consumption in the US ; Sociology of taste : 83-110.
 Bourdieu, P. (18968) Outline of a Sociological Theory of Art Perception, in “International Social Science
Journal”, XX.4: 589–612.
 Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin. Ch1: 7-34
 Peterson, R.A. and R.M. Kern (1996) Changing Highbrow Taste: From Snob to Omnivore. In “American
Sociological Review”, Vol. 61, No. 5: 900-907.
Case Study: The Renaissance Way of Seeing
 Baxandall, M. (1988) Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy. Oxford: University Press.
Excerpts.
 Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. The Art Itself, 251-272.
Hand in of the index, introduction and first development of the research paper
Week 11:
Globalization of Art: the new Medici and the spirit of capitalism
 Alexander, V.D. (2003) Sociology of the Arts. Oxford: Blackwell. Globalization, 157-171.
 Harrington, A. (2004) Art and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. Globalization and the arts, 201-206.
 Wu, C. (2007) Worlds Apart. Problems of Interpreting Globalised Art, in “Third Text”, 21(6): 719-731.
 Boltanski, L. and E Chiapello (2005) The New Spirit of Capitalism. In “International Journal of Politics,
Culture, and Society”, Vol. 18, No. 3/4: 161-188.
Week 12: Final paper hand in
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Appendix: Final research paper guidelines and format
Sociology of the Arts
Prof. Pierluca Birindelli
Your Picture
Your name and last name
A title for the overall work
Submission date
Name of the peer-reviewer
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0. White page: start writing
Index
Premise
Introduction
1. Title of the first chapter
2. Title of the second chapter
…
Conclusions (with a title)
Bibliography
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Autobiographical Premise
Report the and review ‒ adding a brief comment about the confirmation/change of your point of view ‒ the
autobiographical account about your relationship with arts. The premise might seem detached from the rest of
the papers. This is done on purpose, in order to recognize your personal conceptual framework.
Introduction
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Use the summary you already wrote and expand on it.
Point out possible changes in the topic/subtopic and method ‒ a very short story of the refinement of your
theme and how you investigated it.
Indicate why you think this is in general an interesting theme to explore. Also, explain how it is linked
(directly or indirectly) to one of the topics of the course1 as well as the possible connections to your
experience abroad (and/or past biography2).
Your thesis (claim, argument, interpretation, viewpoint) upon the topic.
Concisely anticipate what you found and your interpretations.
Body: theme(s), method, theories, concepts, findings
In the body (development) of the paper, you shall use at least one concept (theory, point of view, etc.) that is
present in our readings, slides or that we have discussed in class (or in our individual meetings/emails). You
shall also use at least (minimum) one scholar article (or chapter in a scholarly book) and one newspaper article.
A simple example (I repeat: example) of a structure for the use of scholars’ ideas, concepts, findings etc. is the
following:
1)
 Geertz says X and it is a useful (effective) concept to interpret this theme because…
 Weber says X; Bauman says Y.
 They both point in the same interpretative direction with different approaches / focusing differently the
theme…
 Weber’s ideas help more than Bauman to…
2)
I believe I found this: your argumentation about the theme ‒ supported by your interpretations, findings (in your
personal experience abroad / fieldwork / analysis of other sources).
Conclusions: concluding point(s) about the theme you have researched.
Bibliography (examples). APA or MLA… The important thing is that you let the reader know Who wrote What,
When, Where (not for articles).
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Take again a look to: the description of the course; the outline of the course content; the readings; the slides; the notes you
took about class discussions.
2
For students who are writing a research paper with a biographical cut: try to point out possible links between themes you
are exploring and your generation, or at least a group of young people (transcend and sociologically imagine yourself). Ex.
“At the end of the semester I am a bit homesick because… I believe that all my peers are homesick too… I believe my
generations compare to previous (parents, grandparents)”…
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Books
– Last name of the author(s), initial of the first name (year) Title of the book. City: Publisher.
Ex.
– GEERTZ, C. (1973) The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic.
Articles
– Last name of the author(s), initial of the first name (year) Title of the article, “Name of the Journal”, Number
of the Journal: number of the pages.
Ex.
– SCHUDSON, M. (1989) How culture works: perspectives from media studies on the efficacy of symbols, in
“Theory and Society”, Vol. 18, No. 2: 153-180.
Format
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Use this format
Submit the paper respecting the deadline.
5/10 pages double space (cover, index and bibliography excluded)
Use a Times New Roman 12 (or similar).
If you are using figures or tables, put the number and the description (Fig.1. Description; Tab.1.
Description).
General suggestions
Sources
Search for sources using my blog and you library account. Besides database as “Academic search
complete”, “JStor”, “Google Scholar”, another simple and effective way to move ‒ whenever you are
not sure if you are using a term in a correct way, or you want to check further meanings ‒ is to search
the “Oxford Reference Online Premium”. Among many, you can search the Dictionaries of:
Sociology, Social Sciences, Companion of the Mind, Critical Theory, Companion to Philosophy etc.
Form
When you think you have finished your paper, take a one/half-day break. Afterwards, reread your essay
and make all the changes and/or additions. Then go through a final review of the form (spelling and
syntax) ‒ printing out the paper normally allows you to see mistakes that you were not able to spot on
your laptop screen. Hand over the paper to your peer, giving him/her enough time to read it. Go
through all his/her observations and comments ‒ preferably in a face-to-face meeting.
For more information, a useful online source is the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Getting to the point: pay attention both to the content and the form; that is: do a good and neat job.
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Suggested Readings
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Becker, H.S. (2003) New Directions in the Sociology of Art. Speech given at the ESA Conference, Paris,
April.
Benjamin, W. (1969) “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, 217-251 in Illuminations,
edited by Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken Books.
Bergesen, A. (1984). “The Semantic Equation: A Theory of the Social Origins of Art Styles.” Sociological
Theory 2: 187-221.
Bourdieu, P. (1993) The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Reproduction, in Culture, Education, Society. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Bourdieu, P. (1984) Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1985) The Field of Cultural Production, or: The Economic World Reversed, in “Poetics”, 12:
311-56. .
Bourdieu, P. (1985) The market of symbolic goods. In “Poetics”, 14: 13-44.
Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital. In: J.G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the
sociology of education, 241-258. New York: Greenwood.
Bourdieu, P. (1991) Photography: A middle-brow art. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1992) The Rules of Art. Genesis and structure of the literary field. Stanford: University Press.
Bowler, A.E. (1994) “Methodological Dilemmas in the Sociology of Art”, 247-266 in The Sociology of
Culture: Emerging Theoretical Perspectives, edited by Diana Crane. Oxford: Blackwell.
Clignet, R. (1979) “The Variability of Paradigms in the Production of Culture: A Comparison of the Arts
and Science”, in American Sociological Review 44: 392-409.
DeNora, T. (1995) Beethoven and the Construction of Genius: Musical Politics in Vienna 1792-1803.
Berkley: University of California Press.
DeNora, T. (2003) Beyond Adorno: Rethinking Music Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Griswold, W. (1987) “A Methodological Framework for the Sociology of Culture”, in Sociological
Methodology, 17: 1-35.
Marcuse, H. (1978) The Aesthetic Dimension: Toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics. Boston: Beacon
Press.
Mohr, J. (1998) “Measuring Meaning Structures”, in Annual Review of Sociology, 24: 345-370.
Ostrower, F. (1998) The Arts as Cultural Capital among Elites: Bourdieu’s Theory Reconsidered, in
“Poetics” 26: 43-53.
Paul, J. (2005) Art as Weltanschauung: An Overview of Theory in the Sociology of Art, in “Electronic
Journal of Sociology”, ISSN: 1198 3655: 1-18.
Peterson, R.A. (1997) The rise and fall of highbrow snobbery as a status marker, in “Poetics”, 25: 75-92.
Schutz, A. (1951) “Making Music Together: A Study in Social Relationships”, in Social Research 18: 7697.
Simmel, G. (1957) “Fashion”, in American Journal of Sociology, 62: 541-558.
Vasari, G. (1568/1998) Lives of the artists. Oxford: University Press.
Weber, M. (1958) The Rational and Social Foundations of Music. Carbondale, IL: Southern University
Illinois Press.
Witten, R.W. (2000) “Why Did Adorno ‘Hate’ Jazz?” , in Sociological Theory 18: 145-170.
Wolff, J. (1983) Aesthetics and the Sociology of Art. London: Allen & Unwin.
Zangwill, N. (2002) Against the Sociology of Art, in “Philosophy of the Social Sciences” 32(2): 206-218.
Zolberg, V. (1990) Constructing a sociology of the arts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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