Prospectus

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Seminar BA2: Digital Cultures, Digital Lives

Course
2018-2019

Admission requirements

2nd year students AMS

Description

Digital, networked and mobile technologies, technological convergence, the digitalization of several domains of practice in combination with the prominence of data and algorithms in society, have significantly altered the ways we learn, work, communicate and interact with each other.

In this course, we will consider the key technological elements of digital information and communication technologies alongside the theorists that contextualize them. We will examine the economic, political and social implications of digital and new media while being attentive to the economic, political and social contexts in which these developments occur (capitalism, globalization, etc.). This course will look at digital culture as an important component of how our mediatised world functions and how contemporary society can be understood.
We will analyse how specific cases of pertaining to digital culture (e.g. games, social media, digital photography, hacking, big data, smart cities) can be analysed. We therefore will be looking at the main concepts used in the field of digital media (theory), but also at how we can approach digital culture (methodology). By looking at phenomena such as mapping, urbanism, networks, virtual reality and mobility, more knowledge will be gained about our digital culture and how it is intricately related to the arts and society.

The course will entail a general part in which the most important theoretical and historical framework for understanding digital cultures will be discussed, but it will also pay attention to case-studies that will be used to illustrate and explore how we can study digital cultures. The course will also examine a number of propositions on possible relations between technology and society that go beyond technological determinism.

Course objectives

  • Students develop a theoretical framework to be able to understand digital culture and to be able to situate debates about digital culture within this framework.

  • Students develop the skillset necessary to analyse case studies from a cultural and (trans)media perspective

  • Students learn to reflect on the social and cultural significance of digital culture.

  • Students learn to reflect on the social and cultural significance of digital culture as part of our mediatised society

  • Students develop the skills to work in teams.

Timetable

The timetable is available on the Arts, Media and Society website

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar

Course Load

Course load in summary: 5 ects (140 hrs)

  • 24 hours: Attendance of the seminars: 2 hrs weekly x 12 weeks

  • 24 hours: Seminar preparations

  • 40 hours: Required readings (approx. 280 pages à 7 pages/hr)

  • 18 hours: Preparing Group Presentation

  • 34 hours: Preparation of final essay —
    140 hrs

Assessment Method

  • Group presentations (30%).

  • Essay (70%).

Compensation: The weighted average of the (constituent) examinations must be at least 6.0 (= a pass). The mark for the final examination (or the main assignment) must be at least 6.0 at (= a pass). For the group presentations a mark below 5.0 is not allowed.

Resit: A resit/ rewrite can be done for constituent examinations which are failed. As far as applicable all resits/ rewrites take place at the same time, after the final (constituent) examination.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used to make course materials accessible.

Reading list

A selection of articles and book chapters (to be announced).

Registration

Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.

General information about uSis is available on the website

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable

Contact

Prof. Dr. S. (Sybille) Lammes

Remarks

None.