CULS5217: Digital Culture and Society

Transcription

1 The Chinese University of Hong Kong Department of Cultural and Religious Studies Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies CULS5217: Digital Culture and Society (Academic Year 2017/18) Instructor: Benny LIM / bennylim@cuhk.edu.hk Class Information: Thursdays; 6.45pm to 9.30pm; 308 Esther Lee Building Language: English (Discussions in Cantonese and Putonghua allowed) The course focuses on how the advent of the digital age (or the information age) has brought about categorical changes in the everyday life, media, social and personal expressions, cultural production, and education. Grounded within the context of Cultural Studies, students will be exposed to a number of topics from both theoretical and practical approaches, and will attempt to relate these topics to Chinese-speaking societies. The course is divided into 6 main sections, designed to first equipped students with some key theoretical and conceptual frameworks in digital culture and society, before zooming in into specific topics of interest.

2 Schedule and Topics Part One: Theoretical and Conceptual Discussions of Digital Culture and Society Week One: 11 th January COURSE INTRODUCTION / NETWORK SOCIETY Group discussions Week Two: 18 th January CRITICAL THEORY / PARTICIPATORY CULTURE Group discussions and assigned articles Week Three: 25 th January TRANSHUMANISM Film screening and discussions Part Two: Identities in the Digital Age Week Four: 1 st February SELF AND SOCIAL IDENTITIES - Gorbacheva, A., & Smirnov, S. (2017). Converging technologies and a modern man: Emergence of a new type of thinking. AI & Society, 32(3), Week Five: 8 th February LGBT IN THE DIGITAL AGE - Dhoest, A. (2016). Feeling (Dis)Connected: Diasporic LGBTQs and Digital Media. International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP), 7(3), Week Six: 15 th February NO CLASS (Happy Chinese New Year 新年快樂, 萬事如意 )

3 Part Three: Media and Entertainment in the Digital Age Week Seven: 22 nd February STORYTELLING (1): MEDIA CONVERGENCE - McCulloch, R. (2015). Whistle While You Work: Branding, Critical Reception and Pixar s Production Culture. In Storytelling in the Media Convergence Age (pp ). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Week Eight: 1 st March STORYTELLING (2): JOURNALISM - Best, C. (2015). Narcissism or Self-Actualization? An Evaluation of Selfies as a Communication Tool. Debates for the Digital Age: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of our Online World [2 volumes]: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Our Online World, Part Four: Government and Politics in the Digital Age Week Nine: 8 th March GOVERNMENT AND STATES - Felgenhauer, T. (2017). The re-imagining of the geographical tradition in the digital age. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 99(3), Week Ten: 15 th March CIVIL SOCIETY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS - Zhang, J., & Nyíri, P. (2014). Walled activism: transnational social movements and the politics of Chinese cyber-public space. International Development Planning Review, 36(1),

4 Part Five: Cultural Production in the Digital Age Week Eleven: 22 nd March PERFORMING ARTS Tutorial Readings: - Juncan, I. (2012). Metaphorically Speaking: Possibilities of Theatre Performance in the Digital Age. Week Twelve: 29 th March VISUAL ARTS AND HERITAGE - Kidd, J. (2017). With New Eyes I See : Embodiment, empathy and silence in digital heritage interpretation. International Journal of Heritage Studies, Week Thirteen: 5 th April NO CLASS (Ching Ming Festival) Part Six: Education and Social Work in the Digital Age Week Fourteen: 12 th April EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WORK - Syme, P. (2017). ASSEMBLY LINES OR ASSEMBLAGES: WHAT THE HUMAN EQUATION CAN TEACH US ABOUT CREATIVITY AND A MODERN EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE DIGITAL AGE. Knowledge Cultures, 5(2), Week Fifteen: 19th April SYMPOSIUM ON DIGITAL CULTURE AND SOCIETY

5 Assessments Attendance and Class Participation 20% Students are expected to attend classes and contribute to class discussions actively, Evaluations will also be based on the work submitted in class discussions. Paper Discussions and Presentation (starting from week 4) 20% Students will work in small groups to deliver a presentation (20 minutes) based on a given set of reading. Beside summarizing and offering a critic of the readings, students are required to compare the reading(s) with relevant examples/ case studies from Chinese-speaking societies. Symposium 20% Class will divide into 6 groups and each group will deliver a presentation on a topic relevant to Digital Culture and Society. Each group is expected to submit the title and a 300-word synopsis of the presentation latest by the 31 st March 2018 via . Final Paper 40% Students are expected to submit a 3500-word (English) or 5000-word (Chinese) paper by 2359hrs of 30 th April 2018 with a topic relevant to the course. Students are expected to align your paper to one or more of the following themes: - Identities in the Digital Age - Media and Entertainment in the Digital Age - Government and Politics in the Digital Age - Cultural Production in the Digital Age - Education and Social Work in the Digital Age Please submit your paper in word document to Veriguide (no hardcopy submission necessary). Please also include a title, a 250-word abstract of your paper, and 5 to 6 keywords on the cover of your paper (not included in the word count). TOTAL 100% Readings Berger, A. A. (2015). Gizmos Or: The Electronic Imperative: How Digital Devices Have Transformed American Character and Culture. Springer. Berry, D. M. (2014). Critical theory and the digital. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

6 Castells, M., & Cardoso, G. (Eds.). (2005). The network society: From knowledge to policy. Washington, DC: Johns Hopkins Center for Transatlantic Relations. Cook, C., Herbst, S., Blumenthal, M., Keeter, S., & Greenberg, A. (2011). Political polling in the digital age: the challenge of measuring and understanding public opinion. LSU Press. Fenton, N. (2010). New media, old news: Journalism and democracy in the digital age. Sage Publications. Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. NYU press. Lilley, S. (2013). Transhumanism and Society: the social debate over human enhancement. Springer Science & Business Media. Owen, T. (2015). Disruptive power: The crisis of the state in the digital age. Oxford University Press, USA. Rosenfeld, K. (2015). Digital Online Culture, Identity, and Schooling in the Twentyfirst Century. Springer. Savage, S. (2011). Bytes and Backbeats. University of Michigan Press. Schäfer, M. T. (2011). Bastard culture! How user participation transforms cultural production. Amsterdam University Press. Schreibman, S., Siemens, R., & Unsworth, J. (2015). A New Companion to Digital Humanities. John Wiley & Sons. Additional readings will be be uploaded on Blackboard Honesty in Academic Work: A Guide for Students and Teachers The Chinese University of Hong Kong places very high importance on honesty in academic work submitted by students, and adopts a policy of zero tolerance on cheating and plagiarism. Any related offence will lead to disciplinary action including termination of studies at the University. All student assignments in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes should be submitted via VeriGuide with effect from September 2008:

7 Although cases of cheating or plagiarism are rare at the University, everyone should make himself/herself familiar with the content of this website and thereby help avoid any practice that would not be acceptable. Section 1 What is plagiarism Section 2 Proper use of source material Section 3 Citation styles Section 4 Plagiarism and copyright violation Section 5 CUHK regulations on honesty in academic work Section 6 CUHK disciplinary guidelines and procedures Section 7 Guide for teachers and departments Section 8 Recommended material to be included in course outlines Section 9 Electronic submission of assignments via VeriGuide Section 10 Declaration to be included in assignments