QUILTING POINTS:

When : 4:30pm, Thursday the 25th of February, 2016 Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Main Text 1 : Gramsci (1971) Some theoretical and practical aspects of "economism" ( download ) Main Text 2 : Gramsci (1971) The study of philosophy ( download ) Supplementary Text : Hall (1988) Gramsci and Us ( download ) The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall through the theorists who informed his thought. In this session we take two excerpts from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci—arguably Hall's greatest influence. We will look at Gramsci's notion of 'common sense', which is used extensively by Hall, and touch on the concept of 'hegemony', Gramsci's most widely cited idea. As ever, Quilting Points is an inter- multi- cross- and counter-disciplinary reading group, and everyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there. QP

When : 4:30pm, Thursday 11th February 2016 Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Main Text : Althusser (1969) Contradiction and overdetermination ( download ) Supplementary Text : Sparks (1996) Stuart Hall, cultural studies and Marxism ( download ) The Quilting Points reading group is back for the second half of our Reading Stuart Hall series. Last semester we read Hall's own work, and this time we will read those who influenced him, starting with a chapter by Louis Althusser. Althusser's brand of Marxism was an important theoretical foundation of early cultural studies (see Sparks 1996), and we intend to follow the theoretical journey from those early structuralist leanings through to Hall's later encounters with Gramsci, Foucault, and others. The supplementary text by Colin Sparks offers an interesting and insightful history of the relationship between cultural studies and Marxism. As ever, Quilting Points is an inter- multi- cross- and counter...

When : 3:30pm, Thursday 3rd December Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Text : Hall (1997) The Work of Representation (ch. 3&4, pp. 39–51) ( download ) The last Quilting Points session of the semester is on Thursday the 3rd of December, for which we are reading Stuart Hall's 'The Work of Representation' (1997). Note: we are only reading chapters 3&4—although feel free to read the whole thing! Hall makes a broad analysis of theories of representation, linking the thought of Saussure, Barthes, Foucault, Marx, and Gramsci as they negotiate the relationship between language and society. This text will also prepare us for next semester's reading, in which we will look at the theorists and philosophers who influenced Hall's work. As always, everyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there. QP

When : 3:30pm, Thursday 19th November Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Main Text : Hall (1986) The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees ( download ) Supplementary Text : Karl Marx and Marxism (Video here ) The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall on Thursday the 19th, with his 1986 paper 'The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees'. To supplement the reading there is a documentary about Karl Marx and Marxism, presented by Hall. As ever, Quilting Points is an inter- multi- cross- and counter-disciplinary reading group, and everyone is welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there. QP

When : 3:30–5:30pm, Thursday 5th November Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Main Text : Hall (1980) Encoding/decoding ( download ) Supplementary Text : Stuart Hall: representation & the media (1997) (Video here , or here ) ( Transcript ) The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall with his influential essay 'Encoding/decoding'. As a supplementary text we have Hall's excellent 1997 video lecture 'Representation & the media'. As always, everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or department. We look forward to seeing you there. QP

When : 3:30–5:30pm, Thursday 22nd October Where : LHRI Seminar Room 1, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( map ) Main Text : Hall (1993) What is this "black" in black popular culture? ( download ) Supplementary Text : Stuart Hall: race, the floating signifier (1997) (Video here , here , or here ) ( transcript ) The Quilting Points reading group continues reading Stuart Hall with his 1993 paper 'What is this "black" in black popular culture?' As a supplementary text we have Hall's 1997 video lecture 'Race: the floating signifier', a brilliantly clear and engaging lecture which comes highly recommended. As always, everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or department. We look forward to seeing you there. QP

Time : 3:30–5:30pm Date : Thursday 8th October 2015 Venue : SR01, Leeds Humanities Research Institute, 29–31 Clarendon Place ( campus map ) Main Text : Hall (2011) The neo-liberal revolution ( download ) Supplementary Text : Hall & O'Shea (2013) Common-sense neoliberalism ( download ) Each year Quilting Points conducts a close and critical reading of an influential thinker, examining a number of texts and fostering interdisciplinary critique. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of discipline or background, and all are invited to join the discussion. This year we take the work of Stuart Hall: cultural theorist, sociologist, public intellectual, and figurehead of British cultural studies. Over the course of the semester we will cover a cross section of Hall’s corpus, beginning with his last peer-reviewed article ‘The neo-liberal revolution’ (2011). We will also provide supplementary texts in the form of interviews, video lectur...