What is cultural studies?
Cultural studies is a political endeavor that purposely attempts to evade definition. There is no agreed upon methodology, no unified theoretical approach; it is not a discipline. Utilizing an ever changing collage of theory and methodology, cultural studies eludes the sanitizing grasp of institutionalization and seeks to effect change by disrupting the regulated discourses within the academy.
Cultural studies transcends the category of discipline. It borrows theory (and theorists) from various disciplines like Anthropology, Psychology and Literary Criticism in an effort to analyze and critique contemporary culture in a holistic fashion. Cultural studies sees all forms of cultural production, whether "high art" or television sitcom, as valid locations to analyze a socio-political moment in our society.
Cultural studies brings together analyses of economic, political, and social systems in order to provide a framework with which to critique the production of culture that permeates our daily experience. Cultural studies seeks to connect compartmentalized ways of knowing, like art and science, by examining how they relate to the social and economic structure. It is by nature an extradisciplinary endeavor.
