Universität Wien

233043 SE Visual ethnographies of science: Investigating knowledge production through media practice (2021W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work
ON-SITE

This is a 10 ECTS course, consisting of:
*SE 233043 (5 ECTS, STS department)
*UE 240529 (5 ECTS, Anthropology department)
The two courses can only be taken together, not seperately. Therefore, please register for this class 233043, and you will then automatically be registered for 240529.
Participation at first session is obligatory!

The obligatory corresponding seminar (240 529, S. Verstappen) is creditable for the STS-modules "Additional Individual Specialisation" and "Additional Social Research Methods" (prescribed courses).

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 24 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Update on 23.11. (due to new Corona-regulations):
On Tuesdays 30.11. & 07.12., 09:30 - 12:30, the lectures are at Hörsaal A, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology (NIG, 4th floor, A0424).

Tuesday 05.10. 09:30 - 10:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 12.10. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 19.10. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 02.11. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 09.11. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 16.11. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday 23.11. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday 30.11. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 07.12. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday 14.12. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday 11.01. 09:30 - 12:30 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 18.01. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
Tuesday 25.01. 09:30 - 12:30 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The course focuses on the use of visual ethnographic practices in the context of science. Students will be introduced to media practices that have been used in anthropological and ethnographic research, focusing on film, sound recording, and montage. Simultaneously, they will learn to think about the diverse spaces and practices through which scientific knowledge is produced, negotiated, and contested, from the laboratory to the city, and the ways in which scientific knowledge has been represented. Classes will involve workshops in which students participate in hands-on media work, discuss ethnographic films and key texts concerning the representations of science, and present and analyse their own work in progress. Students conduct a fieldwork assignment where they implement what they have learnt and interrogate examples of scientific practice.

By the end of the course, students will:
- understand how different media practices (film/photography, sound recording, and montage) have been used in ethnographic research;
- understand key ideas concerning public and scholarly representations of scientific knowledge production;
- have gained experience with conducting research into scientific knowledge production through a small-scale media project, and feel equipped to implement such media practices in future research.

Classes are set up to create a workspace in a creative and collaborative atmosphere. In the first block, students learn how science and technology studies (STS) scholars think about knowledge practices and study examples of anthropological “process films” that have been made to support the study of practices. In the workshops of the second block, students obtain hands-on experience with skills required to create process films themselves (camera, sound recording, montage, and co-creation). Finally, students conduct a fieldwork assignment to implement what they have learnt. In groups of three, they create a process film about a knowledge practice that is relevant to STS. In student-oriented feedback seminars, students present their initial footage in the classroom and engage in peer-to-peer discussion about their experiences and challenges, while the lecturers links student experiences back to core discussions in the field of STS and visual anthropology.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to complete the following tasks:

- Actively participate in class activities, workshops, and discussions of films and literature (10%);
- As part of a group, carry out a fieldwork assignment involving camera-based research investigating scientific practice at a site of their choosing. This results in a mid-term assignment (30%) and a final film presentation (30%);
- Write an individual reflection paper concerning their fieldwork experiences, implementing key ideas from the course literature, films, and classes (30%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The grading of the course is based on the separate assessment of different tasks on a scale of 1-5. These tasks are:

- Active participation in class: 10%
- Mid-term assignment: 30%
- Final film presentation: 30%
- Reflection paper: 30%

Examination topics

Reading list


Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 25.11.2021 09:08