Juri Lotman is a distinguished semiotician, literary scholar and cultural historian, versatile and innovative thinker whose ideas have had extensive impact on semiotics and humanities in general. Lotman and his fellow members of the Tartu Moscow School of Semiotics founded the semiotics of culture as a study of the semiotic structures and mechanisms that constitute culture as a dynamic semiotic system. The aim of this program is to give an introduction to Lotman’s semiotic theory of culture, its theoretical background and context, core concepts and approaches as well as new developments and applications of his theory in current semiotics and cultural sciences. The program offers a deeper understanding of semiotic mechanisms of culture and a set of tools for practical analysis of culture that would afford new insights into contemporary cultural dynamics.
The first part of the course gives an overview of the theoretical foundations of the semiotics of culture developed by Juri Lotman and the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School. The focus is on the main theoretical views and concepts of Juri Lotman’s semiotic theory of culture.
The 8-week program is for those who want to introduce themselves with the core ideas of Juri Lotman’s cultural semiotics and their theoretical context.
The second part of the course focuses on the contemporary applications of Juri Lotman’s ideas in various research areas from arts and media to education and human-environment interactions. The 2-week program is for those interested in practical semiotic analysis as well as deeper understanding of contemporary culture based on insights from Juri Lotman’s semiotics.
Although we encourage our participants to take part in the full program, it is also possible to choose either of the parts separately.
The students will engage in seminars, group-works and individual assignments under the guidance of our best professors.
Course leader
Ms. Kristel Pedassaar
Target group
The programme is designed for BA and MA level students with study background in humanities and cultural studies, history, linguistics, creative and visual arts, communication science etc. But we welcome applications from all adults including university students, professionals and other experts, regardless of educational background
Course aim
The aim of this program is to give an introduction to Lotman’s semiotic theory of culture, its theoretical background and context, core concepts and approaches as well as new developments and applications of his theory in current semiotics and cultural sciences. The program offers a deeper understanding of semiotic mechanisms of culture and a set of tools for practical analysis of culture that would afford new insights into contemporary cultural dynamics.
Fee info
EUR 600: The students will engage in seminars, group-works and individual assignments under the guidance of our best professors.
EUR 600: Without accommodation.
For further information, please click the "LINK TO ORIGINAL" button below.