Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies

The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was a key innovative teaching and research establishment at the University of Birmingham that contributed to the beginnings of the field of Cultural Studies. Established initially as a postgraduate center in 1964 to promote academic scholarship around the neglected subject of contemporary mass culture, the CCCS, until its closure in 2002, was revolutionary in challenging the canon of traditional academia, which seemed to focus narrowly on elite high culture.

Those affiliated with the CCCS recognized the sociopolitical importance of researching popular mass culture and everyday life using a theoretical lens and with an inclusive, egalitarian, and nonreductionist vision. A broad definition of culture was advocated as all forms of culture were regarded as important to study whether they were ...