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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "CMS 326"
COURSE NAME: "Meme Culture and Aesthetics"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2023
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Valentina Tanni
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 11:30-12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: COM 220
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will offer an overview of the history and aesthetics of Internet memes, a cultural phenomenon that is getting more and more relevant by the day. Born in the mid-Nineties in the context of the newly founded World Wide Web, it rapidly evolved from being just a form of humorous, viral-prone type of content, to a more nuanced, complex, and rich language. Memes today can in fact be considered an art genre: collective, performative, and often ephemeral. The course investigates the different formats and approaches to meme production and tries to contextualize them within the history of image-making and artmaking. Special emphasis will be placed on the analysis of relevant case studies chosen from different contexts and time periods.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course will start by exploring a few possible definitions of Internet memes, using a wide array of texts from different scholars. Subsequently, a few lectures will be dedicated to the topic of digital images, with the goal of understanding their specific nature, also in relation to analog ones. In the final part, the course will analyze some specific trends that are very widespread in Internet cultures, such as weirdness, absurdism, and performativity.

Lectures and discussions will be supported with several multimedia contents. Students are strongly encouraged to propose their own case studies and other useful media material for the class. Readings include texts by influential theorists such as Henry Jenkins, Ryan Milner, Limor Shifman, Hito Steyerl, Kenneth Goldsmith and Joshua Citarella, among others.

All studying materials (slides and essays) will be available in digital format.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course students will be able to:
1. understand and analyze the language of internet memes
2. understand and recognize the main aesthetics born in the context of internet culture
3. recognize the influence that internet memes have on contemporary culture at large
4. contextualize internet memes within the larger history of image making and communication
5. advance one’s ability to work in team and produce qualitative research reports and papers
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
ParticipationParticipation includes doing the assigned readings and actively contributing to class discussions. 10%
Midterm examDetailed guidelines will be provided.25%
Final research paper & Oral presentationStudents are required to write a research paper related to the course material. Detailed guidelines to be provided.40%
Group ProjectAt the beginning of the semester, students are required to set up a web page or a social media account and use these digital spaces to share links, images, videos and texts on the course’s topics. Materials must be uploaded at least once a week and will be commented on in class. This is a group project.25%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

PART I – WHAT IS A MEME?

 

Week 1. Introduction and course overview: contextualizing memes

 

Reading:
Henry Jenkins, Introduction: “Worship at the Altar of Convergence”, in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 2006.
Richard Dawkins, Memes: the new replicators, in The Selfish Gene, 1976.

Watching:
Larry Lessig - Laws that choke creativity, TED Talk, 2007

Just for Hits - Richard Dawkins, YouTube video, 2014
Susan Blackmore - The Idea of Memes, YouTube video, 2000

Week 2. Defining and analyzing memes

Reading:
Mike Godwin, Meme, Counter-Meme, Wired Magazine, 1993.
Limor Shifman, Defining Internet Memes, in Memes in Digital Culture, MIT Press, 2013.

Watching: Leave Britney Alone! YouTube video, 2007

 

 

Week 3. Defining and analyzing memes II

Reading:
Bradley E. Wiggins, The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture, Routledge, 2019.
Ryan Milner, Logics: The Fundamentals of Memetic Participation, in The World Made Meme. Public Conversations and Participatory Media, MIT Press, 2016

Watching:
Bernie Sanders meme goes viral, YouTube video, 2021

 

Week 4. The world of images in the digital age

Reading:
Valentina Tanni, The Unstable Image, in Memesthetics. The Eternal September of Art, 2020
Hito Steyerl, In Defense of the Poor Image, 2009

 

Watching:
Oliver Laric, Versions, artist video, 2010-12

 

 

Week 5. Remixes and Détournements

 

Reading:
Eduardo Navas, Remix[ing] Sampling, in Remix Theory: The Aesthetics of Sampling, 2012

Guy Debord and Gil Wolman, A User's Guide to Détournement, 1956

Watching:
Kirby Ferguson, Everything is a Remix, Documentary, 2012-2023


PART II – MEME AESTHETICS

Week 6. Brief History of Internet Memes

 

Reading:
Linda Börzsei, Makes a Meme Instead: A Concise History of Internet Memes, 2013

Watching:
iDubbbz explains irony, post-irony & meta-irony, YouTube video, 2022
How 'Kilroy Was Here' Was the First Meme Ever, 2021


Week 7. Midterm examinations

 

Review / Test

 

Week 8. Meme Genres: Case Studies Analysis

 

Reading:
Limor Shifman, Meme Genres, in in Memes in Digital Culture, MIT Press, 2013
Caspar Chan, Pepe the Frog Is Love and Peace: His Second Life in Hong Kong, in Chloë Arkenbout, Jack Wilson and Daniel de Zeeuw (edited by), Critical Meme Reader: Global Mutations of the Viral Image, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2021.

 

Watching:
Feels Good Man!, Documentary, 2020

 

Week 9. Weird content: Nonsense and Absurdism

 

Reading:

Valentina Tanni, The age of non-sense, in Memesthetics. The Eternal September of Art, 2020
Tristan Tzara, Dada Manifesto, 1918

Matthew Barad, Millennial Desperation: A Tale Told in Memes, 2017

Watching:
Dada and Surrealism: Europe After the Rain, Documentary (1978)


 

PART III – PERFORMATIVITY

 

Week 10. Fail again, fail epic

 

Reading:

Emma Cocker, Over and Over, Again and Again, 2010 - in Lisa Le Feuvre, Failure, 2010
Valentina Tanni, Fail again, fail epic, in Memesthetics. The Eternal September of Art, 2020
Nick Douglas, It’s Supposed to Look Like Shit: The Internet Ugly Aesthetic, Journal of Visual Culture, 2014

 

Watching:
Bas Jan Ader, selection of performances, various dates
Ecce Homo, The Fresco Fiasco, the "botched restoration", Documentary, 2020

Week 11. Conceptualism in the wild

Reading:

Kenneth Goldsmith, The Writer as a Meme Machine, 2013
Valentina Tanni, Bodies on the Screen. A Short Essay on Performative Memes, in Memenesia, 2021


Week 12. Performance and self-expression

 

Reading:
Mat Gleason, Is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Art?, 2014
Micheal Wesch, YouTube and You. Experiences of Self-Awareness in the Context Collapse of the Recording Webcam, 2009

Watching:
TIKTOK Skateboard Dreams Vibe, Video, 2020

 

Week 13. Memes and Politics

Reading:
Limor Shifman, May the Excessive Force Be With You: Memes as Political Participation, in Memes in Digital Culture, MIT Press, 2013
An Xiao Mina, Behold, The Llamas, in Memes to Movements: How the World's Most Viral Media is Changing Social Protest and Power, Beacon Press, 2019
Joshua Citarella, Politigram and the Post-Left, 2018-21, excerpt

 

 

Week 14. Wrap up/final discussion