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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "COM 311-2"
COURSE NAME: "Digital Media Culture"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2015
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Lorenza Parisi
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 10:00 AM 11:15 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: COM 220
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment
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:
The course will attempt at first to define the domain of Digital Media, proposing it as the amalgamation of different traditional media forms into new digitally based varieties. Subsequently the course will analyze the various forms which Digital Media has assumed and concentrate on the specific issues –cultural, political, economic, technological and social—that the various forms raise.

This is a lecture and discussion course. We will shift back and forth between discussing theoretical and practical issues in relation to digital media culture media and their relation to society. Lectures and discussions will be supported with several multi-media content. Students are strongly encouraged to propose their own choice of media material for the class.

There is not textbook for the class.  Readings include essays and papers by influential scholars such as: Chris Anderson, Nancy Baym, Yochai Benkler, Vannevar Bush, danah boyd, Manuel Castells, Nicole Ellison,  Christian Fuchs. Henry Jenkins, Sonia Livingstone, Tim O'Reilly, Barry Wellman among others.

All reading materials will be distributed through the class Moodle Course and will be available in digital format online.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1.  understand and analyze the corresponding influences that traditional media and digital media are having upon each other.

2. understand and analyze how digital media use contributes to shape personal identities and social relationships.

3.  recognize the influences that digital media is expressing in the cultural, social, economical and political spheres.

4.  learn the following critical terms: digitization, hypertextuality, interactivity,  remediation, Internet, network society, privacy, collective intelligence, online/offline, web 2.0, algorithm etc.

5.  Advance one’s ability to work in team and produce qualitative research report.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Attendance and ParticipationClass participation consists of your contributions to class discussions and other activities. Classroom participation is encouraged and emphasized. Students are required to come to class having completed the assigned readings. For Attendance see below.15%
Midterm5 short answers and one final essay question.25%
Final exam5 short answers and one final essay question.25%
Group project & individual reportA formal assignment will be handed out before Week 4. The completed group projects are due on the last day of classes. [Group presentation and report: 25%; individual report on the teamwork (1,500 words): 10%].35%

-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 cours
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:
Please note that frequent absences automatically lower your participation grade. 

Also consider that more than 3 unexcused absences will result in your final grade for the course to be lowered (half letter grade for 4 absences and one letter grade for 5 absences). Anything above 5 unexcused absences will result in failure.

Lateness: Students more than 10 minutes late are marked as absent. Late arrival (less than 10 minutes) is marked as such, and 3 late arrivals are counted as one absence. 

Class procedure:   Students are requested to make sure their cell phones are turned off (and not just muted) at the start of class.
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

The course is structured around readings, short lectures, related in-class activities, team work, discussions, and the occasional screening of film and/or video excerpts.

The following schedule provides a general overview of the topics and themes that we will cover throughout the course. Specific details and additional readings will be revealed/assigned on a weekly basis. 

Please note that a Moodle Page will be used as support to share updates and news, to collect assignments, to archive readings and other course materials.

 

 

Week 1:

Introduction: What’s ‘new’ about Digital Media? ; The Process Of Remediation

Digitalization; Convergence

Week 2:

 History of the Internet and the World Wide Web


Internet of the Things; Location based data


 

Week 3:

Hypertext; Interface culture

Participatory culture

Week 4:

Sharing culture

The rise of networked individualism and the network society

Week 5:

The Mobile society


Screening: Black Mirror 

Week 6: 

Identity management and presentation

Networked sociability

Week 7:

Review

Midterm

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Week 8:

Group Project work

Week 9:

Online Communities

Time and Space

Week 10:

Algorithm

Living in the 'filter bubble'


Week 11:

Digital media and politics

Mass-self communication

The connective action

Week 12:

Working in the web 2.0 economy

    Crowd funding

    Sharing economy

    Digital labor


Week 13:

Mediated intimacies

Week 14:

Project work presentation