124262 KO Critical Media Analysis (2023W)

From protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street to fourth-wave feminism, social media has been a crucial component in effecting social change in addition to on-the-ground activism in the form of protest marches, gatherings, or sit-ins. In this course, we will look beyond the immediate context of social media to uncover different forms of media activism employed in political protest, including "culture jamming", artivism, hacktivism, and performance. Focussing on a range of representative examples (e.g. WikiLeaks, #BlackLivesMatter, Occupy Wall Street, #MeToo and others), we will examine various aspects surrounding the course topic, for example: media activism and social change; questions of accessibility and power structures; the representation of activists in popular culture, etc.

Throughout the course, we will discuss and revise central concepts and methods of cultural studies, including the concepts of "participatory culture" (Henry Jenkins), media activism, networked activism, visual semiotics, (feminist) film theory and film analysis, addressing issues of positionality, intersectionality, and "produsage" (Burns). At the end of this course, students will be familiar with different tools and methods for analysing a range of media, critically reflecting on their own practices as consumers and "produsers" of culture in the process.