Luxury, Media and Marketing
This course is the first and only academic course in Sweden to explore the global expansion of the luxury industry. Taught in English, MA-level.
Change to English subtitles in the video above: click settings icon.
The course aims at introducing you to the study of luxury as historical and socio- cultural phenomenon that has affected western societies in various ways.
The course enables you to understand the history of luxury, its tangible and intangible aspects and how its meaning is created in media as much as in the physical shop. Besides using philosophical and sociological theories that can help framing luxury in a larger sociocultural context, the course also engages you as student in different fieldworks that enable you to apply abstract concepts on the personal experience of luxury.
Research in the field of luxury has been early established as part of Fashion Studies at Stockholm University. An ever-growing research field.
What did the students think?
Quotes from course evaluation Fall 2024.
I loved the course. I have long been searching for a course like this and it fulfilled everything I was searching for
This was by far the best course during my erasmus at SU
It was so interesting to learn more about luxury and get a new perspective on this subject
-
Course structure
Since the 20th century, the luxury industry has been using different marketing strategies that have helped brands and houses to create and perpetuate a myth around their products.
Central to the course is to explore the effects of media, including social media, on the creation of luxury as a branded reality.
The course highlights also the tensions surrounding luxury today, being both a product of giant conglomerates and an individual gratifying experience. Meaning and creation of value of products will be seen through the lens of different sociological theories that can help framing luxury in a larger socio-cultural context.
The course puts forth the fundamental view of luxury as having both material (the tangible handicraft) and immaterial (ontological) elements which will be examined through different empirical material.
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
• Explore luxury as historical and socio-cultural phenomenon
• Analyze the role of different media in shaping aesthetics and taste in society
• Examine how the meaning of a brand identity is constructed through marketing strategies
• Critically reflect on the duality of luxury as a material industrial reality and immaterial and metaphysical expressionTeaching format
Teaching and Learning Activities
The course consists of a combination of lectures, seminars and group work.
The language of instruction is English.
Assessment
The students’ presentation is graded pass or fail, while the exam is graded on a criterion-referenced seven-grade scale. In order to obtain the final grade for the course:
• the oral presentation must be graded pass
• the written exam must receive a minimum grade of E
• the student must attend at least 80% of the classes, including the students’ symposium
The written exam is written in pairs or on agreed student number with course responsible.In order to assess the individual participation in the working process, each student is required to write a separate short paper about their own contribution to the exam.
-
Schedule
The schedule will be available no later than one month before the start of the course. We do not recommend print-outs as changes can occur. At the start of the course, your department will advise where you can find your schedule during the course. -
Course literature
Note that the course literature can be changed up to two months before the start of the course. -
Course reports
-
Contact
Director of Studies Fashion StudiesPaula von Wachenfeldt
