Canada Research Chair
I was appointed Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta in July 2009.
As CRC, my aim is to examine the continuing impact of globalization on culture, and to produce new theories to account for changes in how we experience and theorize culture. I hope to understand the social and political significance of the changes that have taken place in/to global culture and to help create new models and theories for cultural study.
Here’s the brief description of my CRC that is posted on the Canada Research Chair Program’s website:
The Politics of Culture in the 21st Century
Can an encounter with an artwork change how someone views the world? Is there an intrinsic difference between culture created for free and culture created for commercial purposes? Do documentary films change how we view political events? What is the appropriate role of governments in sponsoring and promoting cultural production?
By addressing questions like these, Imre Szeman’s research probes the increasingly complex and multifaceted ways in which we understand culture in the 21st century. The enormous changes in the speed and scale of everyday life in the era of globalization have created new challenges for the study of culture. Existing ideas about the spaces and places of culture have been upended; innovative technologies have created new forms of culture, including novel means of transmitting and reproducing cultural forms, old and new; and culture has now become an important engine of development, whether through “creative cities” initiatives, cultural tourism or the expansion of the global entertainment industry.
Szeman’s research studies the impact of these developments on both cultural practices and the theories used to study culture. His research will produce new models for the investigation of culture, and will explore the dynamics and significance of contemporary culture production in the new century.
His research will establish Canada as a leading nation in the study of contemporary culture and will help train a new generation of humanities scholars.