ABSTRACT

This chapter examines Raymond Williams's notion of what constitutes 'the heart' of Cultural Studies and argue that 'new' education conjunctures have emerged as changing historical, political, and economic conditions manifest in different ways in different places. It argues that contemporary historical conditions open up new questions and possibilities for Cultural Studies projects to intervene actively in/initiate transformations in both disciplinary arrangements and pedagogical practices in higher education. Tracing the trajectory of Cultural Studies in his own and others' work back to the 1930s, Williams cited his teaching in adult education and later in the new universities and polytechnics, rather than any texts, as the site from which his Cultural Studies practice emerged. The chapter considers implications for knowledge and pedagogy of the presence of new 'world'-travellers in undergraduate Social Science and Sociology classrooms in New York City.