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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "COM 311-2"
COURSE NAME: "Digital Media Culture"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2023
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Lesia Kulchynska
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 8:30 AM 9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: COM 220
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides students with a number of theoretical approaches to critically assess how digital media function and their expanding and expansive role in contemporary culture. The course further investigates digital media convergence in order to develop a critical lexicon that can both chart its development and engage in intellectual interventions in its use within the transformations occuring in more traditional cultural forms such as television, film, popular music, print, and radio. Special emphasis will be placed on the specific cultural, political, economic, and social issues raised by digital media forms.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This course provides students with a number of theoretical approaches to critically assess how digital media function and their expanding and expansive role in contemporary culture. The course further investigates digital media convergence in order to develop a critical lexicon that can both chart its development and engage in intellectual interventions in its use within the transformations occuring in more traditional cultural forms such as television, film, popular music, print, and radio. Special emphasis will be placed on the specific cultural, political, economic, and social issues raised by digital media forms.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
This course provides students with a number of theoretical approaches to critically assess how digital media function and their expanding and expansive role in contemporary culture. The course further investigates digital media convergence in order to develop a critical lexicon that can both chart its development and engage in intellectual interventions in its use within the transformations occuring in more traditional cultural forms such as television, film, popular music, print, and radio. Special emphasis will be placed on the specific cultural, political, economic, and social issues raised by digital media forms.
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Digital Culture. Expanded Second EditionCharlie GereReaktion Books 20089781861893888     
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
   
Attendance & ParticipationParticipation includes doing the assigned readings and actively contributing to class discussions.35%
Midterm presentationsDetailed guidelines will be provided 20%
Final research paper and oral presentationsStudents are required to write a research paper related to the course material and present it in the class35 %
Participation to 'Digital Delights & Disturbances' (DDD) lecture seriesStudents are required to attend 3 sessions of the lecture series during the semester. A detailed calendar with dates & event description will be provided.5%
Participation to DDD workshopsStudents will have to attend one of the workshops offered by the DDD lecture series and write a short reflection on it. Calendar will be provided at the beginning of the semester.5 %

-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:
This course provides students with a number of theoretical approaches to critically assess how digital media function and their expanding and expansive role in contemporary culture. The course further investigates digital media convergence in order to develop a critical lexicon that can both chart its development and engage in intellectual interventions in its use within the transformations occuring in more traditional cultural forms such as television, film, popular music, print, and radio. Special emphasis will be placed on the specific cultural, political, economic, and social issues raised by digital media forms.
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

Digital Media Culture

 

Week 1. Introduction. What are digital media? What is culture? Can we speak of a distinctive ‘digital culture’?

Readings: 

Whole Earth Catalog, selected extracts 

Haraway, D ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twenties Century”, 1991

 

Week 2. The Beginnings of Digital Culture. 

Readings: 

Charlie Gere ‘The Beginnings of Digital Culture’, Chapter 1, Digital Culture, London: Reaktion Books; pp. 21-51

Geert Lovink. Sad by Design. On Platform Nihilism. London: Pluto Press, 2019, pp. 79-88

 

Week 3. The origins of the Internet

Readings: 

Curran, James,  'The Internet of History. Rethinking the Internet’s past', Chapter 2, Misunderstanding the Internet, eds. James Curran, Natalie Fenton and Des Freedman, London and New York: Routledge, 2016. pp. 48-76

Geert Lovink. ‘An Early History of 19902 Cyberculture’, Dark Fiber. Tracking Critical Internet Culture, Cambridge-London: The MIT Press, 2002. pp. 234-240

 

Week 4.  Software Imaginary

Readings:

Coleman Gabriella. ‘Introduction: A Tale of Two Worlds”, Coding Freedom, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 1-22

Manovich, Lev, Software Takes Command. New-York-London: Bloomsbury; selected extracts

 

Week 5. Interactivity and Participatory Culture

Readings:

Lessing, L. Remix. Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. London: Bloomsbury; selected extracts.

Dean J. Democracy and other Neoliberal Fantasies. Communicative Capitalism and Left Politics. Durham-London: Duke University Press; selected extracts.

Manovich L. The Language of New Media, Cambridge, MA:MIT Press; selected extracts

 

Week 6. Network Society

Readings:

Manuel Castells. ‘Informationalism, Networks, and the Network Society: A Theoretical Blueprint’, The Network Society. A Cross-Cultural Perspective, ed. by Manuel Castells, Cheltenham-Northampton: Edward Elgar, 2004, pp. 3-49

Geert Lovink, ‘Requiem for the Network’, in: Stuck on the Platform, Valiz, Amsterdam, 2022,

p. 53-74.

 

Week 7 Project Presentations 

 

Week 8. Platform Theory

Readings:

Benjamin Bratton, ‘Platform and Stuck, Model and Machine’, The Stack, On Software and Sovereignty, MIT Press, Cambridge (Mass.),

2016, p. 41-55 (pdf).

Tarleton Gillespie, “The politics of ‘platforms’”, in: New Media & Society, Vol. 12, No. 3,

2010, 19 pages (pdf).

 

Week 9. Platform Capitalism, Platform Cooperativism

Readings:

Nick Srnicek. Platform Capitalism, Polity Press, 2017; selected extracts

Trebor Scholz. Platform Cooperativism, New York:Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 2016;  selected extracts

 

Week 10. Social Media 

Reading:

Geert Lovink. On Social Media ideology, e-flux, #75

Luke Munn, Angry by design: toxic communication and technical architectures, in:

Humanities & Social Sciences Communication, 2020

Ganaele Langlois, ‘Social Media, or Towards a Political Economy of Psychic Life’, Unlike Us Reader. Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives, Amsterdam:  Institute of Network Cultures, 2013

Watch:

The Social Dilemma Netflix documentary: https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/

Week 11. Algorithmic Society

Readings:

Rik Peeters, Marc Schuilenburg, The Algorithmic society; Technology, Power, and Knowledge, Introduction, Routledge, 2021

Tarleton Gillespie, Algorithm, in Digital Keywords:  A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture, ed. by Benjamin Peters, Princeton University Press, 2016

 

Week 12. A.I. and the politics of datasets

Readings:

Emily Denton, Alex Hanna, Razvan Amironesei, Andrew Smart, Hilary Nicole, On the genealogy of machine learning datasets: A critical history of ImageNet, On the genealogy of machine learning datasets: A critical history of ImageNet - Emily Denton, Alex Hanna, Razvan Amironesei, Andrew Smart, Hilary Nicole, 2021 (sagepub.com)

Eryk Salvaggio. How to Read an AI Image. How to Read an AI Image - by Eryk Salvaggio (substack.com)

 

Week 13. Digital Labor and Materiality of the Digital

Readings:

Berardi, F. “The Soul at Work”, The Soul at Work. From Alienation to Autonomy, Los Angeles: SEmiotext(e); pp. 74-105

Kate Crawford. Atlas of AI, Yale University Press, 2021; selected extracts

 

 Watch:

The Cleaners, 2018 

 

Week 14 Final Projects Overview