Course number

G-ECON31 6A637 LE43 G-ECON31 6A637 LE44 G-ECON31 6A637 LE45
G-ECON31 6A637 LE39

Course title(and course Critical Consumption Studies
title inEnglish)

Instructor's
name, job title,and departmentof affiliation

Critical Consumption Studies

Target year

1st year students or above Number of credits 2

Days and periodsFri.2,3 隔週開講Class style

LectureGraduate School of Economics
Professor,HISANO SHUJI
Part-time Lecturer,HISANO AI

Year/semesters 2023/Second semester

Language of instruction English[Overview and purpose of the course]This course examines the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of consumption broadly conceived.
Theoretical and empirical studies on consumption have attracted scholarly attention from various disciplines
ranging from sociology, anthropology, history, geography, business, and marketing studies, to agri-foodstudies. This course provides the overview of the interdisciplinary discussion on consumption -- not simply as
the purchasing of goods but also as a political and social practice. It asks, for example, how have scholars in
different disciplines understood and theorized consumption?; how does the consumption of food, clothes, andother consumer products affect social, economic, cultural and environmental sustainability?; and who aremain actors and how they interact each other in these processes?
[Course objectives]
This course aims to foster students' better understanding of theories, approaches and practices concerning
consumption. It particularly helps students to identify key theoretical studies and concepts on the issue and tocritically analyze consumption from comparative perspectives.
[Course schedule and contents]
Classes are held every other Friday in the 2-3 period.
Instructors: Shuji Hisano (SH), Ai Hisano (AH)
Week 1 (Oct. 6) - Introduction [SH/AH]
Week 2-3 (Oct. 13) - Sociology, Political Economy, and Geography of Consumption [SH]Week 4-5 (Oct 27) - Sociology, Culture and History of Consumption [AH]
Week 6-7 (Nov. 10) - Place and Identity in Food Consumption [SH]Week 8-9 (Nov. 24) - Consumption and Consumers / Emotions and Senses in Consumption [AH]
Week 10-11 (Dec. 8) - Political Economy of Sustainable and Healthy Food Consumption [SH]Week 12-13 (Dec. 22) - Consuming Gender and the Body / Ethics and Sustainable Consumption [AH]
Week 14-15 (Jan. 19) - Final Discussion [SH/AH][Course requirements]
No prerequisite knowledge or skill required other than English language ability sufficient to interact activelyin class.

Continue to Critical Consumption Studies(2)↓↓↓

Critical Consumption Studies(2)[Evaluation methods and policy]
Grading will be carried out on a basis of active class participation (60%) and a final paper (40%).
[Textbooks]
Instructed during class
Reading materials will be made available in PDF through a Cloud system (Google Drive or Dropbox). All
readings will be labeled depending on their importance: (a) Required, (b) Suggested, and (c) Optional. The
list of readings will be distributed in advance of the start of the class.
[References, etc.]（Reference books）
Introduced during class
Reference literature will be made available on the Cloud system (Dropbox). They will be labeled "Reference",
and are useful for students wishing to dig deeper into a specific topic.
[Study outside of class (preparation and review)]
Students are expected to complete all assigned readings to come prepared to discuss them in class.
（Other information (office hours, etc.)）
By appointment*Please visit KULASIS to find out about office hours.