Universität Wien
Warning! The directory is not yet complete and will be amended until the beginning of the term.

240522 SE Media and visual technologies as material culture (P4) (2015W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Participation at first session is obligatory!
Moodle

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. 40 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 08.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 15.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 22.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 29.10. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 05.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 12.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 19.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 26.11. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 03.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 10.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 17.12. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 07.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 14.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 21.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 28.01. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Digital media technologies, such as smart phones, laptops, organisers, PDAs, etc., have become important (visual) communication and (re)presentation devices, particularly via the internet and its services. For social and cultural anthropology it is of particular interest how those technologies, objects and artefacts are integrated and embedded into daily practices, by considering changing sociocultural, political and economic contexts. In this course we focus on the material aspects of those technologies and how they are utilized. Questions about the relevance of material culture for technology appropriation as well as questions about different usage practices in an understanding of technology as material culture are discussed.

Assessment and permitted materials

Course assessment:

1) active participation (max. 3 times absence, 40% of overall performance)

2) written report (joint project reports by research teams, 40%)

3) presentations of joint research projects (20%)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

This course gives an overview about material culture as conceptual approach to understand media and visual technologies. It focuses on digital media technologies, their visual aspects and how they are integrated and practised in every day life.

Examination topics

By working on different case studies, students get a comparative overview about material culture in the context of media technologies. Students conduct small empirical research projects within teams. The university's online learning management system is used to provide resources and content as well as to foster student's exchange and communication beyond the classroom.

Reading list

Literature Selection

Appadurai, A. (ed.) 1986. The social life of things: Commodities in cultural perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Boellstorff, T., Nardi, B., Pearce, C. & T.L. Taylor. 2012. Ethnography and virtual worlds: A handbook of method. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Fischer, M. 2007. Four genealogies for a recombinant anthropology of science and technology. Cultural Anthropology 22/4: 539-615.

Hine, C. (ed.) 2005. Virtual methods: Issues in social research on the internet. Oxford: Berg.

Markham, A. & N. Baym. 2009. Internet inquiry: Conversations about method. London: Sage.

Horst, H. & Miller, D. (eds.) 2012. Digital Anthropology. London: Berg.

Miller, D. 1997. Material cultures: Why some things matter. London: Routledge.

Pfaffenberger, B. 1992. Social anthropology of technology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 21, 491-516.

Pink, S. 2005. The future of visual anthropology: engaging the senses. London: Routledge.

Vannini, P. (ed.) 2009. Material culture and technology in everyday life. New York: Peter Lang.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:40