GEN152 Affect: Understanding Emotions

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr.art. Zuzana Kepplová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Kateřina Nedbálková, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 15:15–16:45 PC25
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 35 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/35, only registered: 0/35, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/35
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course aims to provide students with insights into the study of a rather volatile subject: emotions. While there has been a considerable growth of interest in the subject across several fields, we will investigate only a small part relevant mainly to the fields of sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.
  • Our investigation will primarily focus on these debates: first, the notion of emotions will be presented as a 'universal language' and as a discursive construct not older than 200 years and related to the rise of secular science. Second, we will look at the discussions around whether happiness can be taught and transmitted as a good practice; we will touch upon the notion of self-help literature, positive psychology and the institution of therapy and its role in administering the modern (wo)man. Third, we will see that emotions might not be seen as individual feelings limited by the body boundaries but rather as a shared cultural practice. Even if feelings may be private and specific, the way they are channeled into practice and talking is social and culturally negotiated. In the next section, we will proceed from this proposition and witness further ways of understanding emotions as organized into narratives and discourse and thus able to circulate, for example, in the form of taped love poems or stick to particular (despised) bodies. Fourth, we will see that the world we live in is far from devoid of magic: we attach meanings and feelings to objects as if they were living people - some of us put spell on the desired ones or feel bonded with their ancestors through profound feelings of shame. Finally, emotions are not innocent and they can be evoked, managed and attached to products. Marketing and advertising targeting emotions rather than calculation may be a new invention but they deploy and co-produce those feelings we attach to magic objects or to muscles contracted in order to show teeth (an impersonal smile we purchase with a service).
    • Syllabus
    • 0) Which emotions? Why should we study them? And how?
    • 1) The happiness question: Thinking with and against positive psychology
    • 2) Emotions as a matter of cultural practice: Investigating the border of psychology and anthropology
    • 3) Talking, practicing, mediating, interpreting emotions: Perspectives on the narrative and discursive organization of emotions
    • 4) Modern magic: Beyond discourse
    • 5) Emotions for sale: commodification and the service sector
    Teaching methods
    a seminar (reading the assigned texts is a must as well as a brief written preparation for discussions)
    Assessment methods
    mini preparations for each session (a response to the studied material), a mid-term and a final reaction paper
    Language of instruction
    English
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    Study Materials
    The course is taught once in two years.
    General note: Předmět j určen přednostně studujícím bakalářských programů.
    Information on course enrolment limitations: kredity_min(50)
    • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2014/GEN152