Universität Wien

240526 SE Nothing new in media society? From rock painting to Instagram (P4) (2021W)

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

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used for courses with continuous assessment.
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. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Update 12.01.2022: Due to the current situation the course will be held digital until the end of the semester.
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Attention: If possible the course will be held in presence (face-to-face). According to the uncertain situation change to online teaching has to be considered if official measurements advise online teaching. Please, keep in mind the ‘3 Gs’ (geimpft - vaccinated, getestet - tested, genesen recovered).

  • Wednesday 06.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Seminarraum D, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 20.10. 11:30 - 14:45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 10.11. 11:30 - 14:45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 15.12. 11:30 - 14:45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 12.01. 11:30 - 14:45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 26.01. 11:30 - 14:45 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

1. Contents

By the recent global crisis virtual realities became common. Without them functioning of the global society seems impossible: Home office, home learning, virtual communication etc. are now part of our everyday life.

In this sense visual anthropology the of media anthropology - is far more than a reduction on ethnographic film as it was originally intended when this subject was developed - it covers a broad spectrum of research opportunities, which have provided and still provide new approaches to the subject matter. I suggest to take a look at the ethnographic work that has been done in the anthropology of media and technology, digital anthropology and internet research (as a virtual fieldwork site) as practiced in netnography (-> Kozinets 2019).

In this course, the great range of conceptual implementation possibilities of visual and media anthropology will be introduced e.g. performance studies, anthropology of emotions, anthropology of communication, anthropology of space, design anthropology, digital ethnography (-> Pink et al 2016 as well as their practical implementation via Facebook, Instagram, Whats App, digital networks etc. -> Couldry 2015, Danny Miller: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/people/academic-and-teaching-staff/daniel-miller

Given a regional focus by the global health crisis new aspects pop up and underline the importance of the digital world: e.g. mobile tracking as a mode of surveillance, platforms/blogs as a medium to articulate people's pro and contras of state measurement, as a medium to communicate at least via virtuality with friends, family members and/or colleagues working at home and last but not least as platforms where interactive scientific exchange booms.

2. Course aim

The students will learn about the current trends within visual anthropology, film theory and media analysis (e.g. the manipulative/ambiguous nature of visual media, their omnipresence in post-modern societies, the changing of democratic processes in a media democracy). The intention is to enable the students to develop a critical view of new media, given that the socio-ethnic dimension the social aspect of ethics at times falls by the wayside because of fast technological progress (e.g. the surveillance technologies and their inherent impact of reducing constitutional and civil rights as already executed in Korea, Singapore).

3. Teaching methods

will consist of:

multi-media presentation of the contents (film, video, audio samples, PowerPoint-based lecture)
student input (1): reading, working with and discussion of required reading material (dossier)
student input (2): presentation and demonstration of graphic material and visual media (film/video, slides/photographs digital & analog); option to work in groups or individually
discussion of the problems and questions arising

Assessment and permitted materials

Exam and certificate requirements

regular attendance and active participation in class
general knowledge of the core texts
discussion of 3 core texts (per participant) on the course topics
active participation in discussions
POWER POINT presentation on subject areas of the lecture-seminar course preferably as oral presentation and discussion of group work in the plenary (depending on the COVID-19 situation/measurements)
written seminar paper
or video clip (depending on the COVID-19 situation/measurements)

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Percentage distribution of the students' obligations

discussion of 3 core texts (per participant) on the course topics: 20%
general knowledge of the core texts and participating in the plenary discussions: 10%
oral presentation and discussion of group work in the plenary (PPP): 20%
written seminar paper or video clip: 50%

Examination topics

Reading list

Bibliography

will be provided on moodle sampling:

BOGLE, Donald 2005, Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams. The Story of Black Hollywood. New York, Random House.
BARASSI, V. 2013: Ethnographic Cartographies: Social Movements, Alternative Media and the Spaces of Networks. Social Movement Studies , 12 (1), 4862. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2012.650951
BAYM, N. 2010: Personal Connections in the Digital Age . Cambridge: Polity.?
BERG, Ulla. 2015. Mobile Selves: Race, Migration, and Belonging in Peru and the U.S. NYU Press.
BOELLSTORFF, T., Nardi, B., PEARCE, C. and TAYLOR, T.L., 2012: Ethnography and virtual worlds: A handbook of method. Princeton University Press.
COULDRY, Nick. 2015: The Myth of ‘Us’: Digital Networks, Political Change and the Production of Collectivity. Information, Communication and Society 18(6):608-626.
COUSINEAU, L. S., OAKES, H., & Johnson, C. W. (2019). Appnography: Modifying ethnography for app-based culture. In D.C. Parry, C.W. Johnson, & S. Fullagar (Eds.) Digital Dilemmas: Transforming gender identities and power relations in everyday life, (pp. 95-117). Basingstoke: Palgrave Press.
EDGAR, Ian R. 2004: Defining the imagework method. In: Edgar, Ian R.: Guide to Imagework. Imagination-based Research Methods (p.6-11). London & New York: Routledge.
GRASSENI, Christina 2008: Learning to See: World-views, Skilled Visions, Skilled Practice. In: Halstead, Narmala / Hirsch, Eric / Okely, Judith (Eds.): Knowing How to Know. Fieldwork and the Ethnographic Present (p.151-172). New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books.
GRAY, Gordon 2009: Cinema: A Visual Anthropology (Key Texts in the Anthropology of Visual and Material Culture). Berg Publishers.
HINTON, S. and HJORTH, L. 2013: Understanding Social Media, London: Sage.?
KOZINETS, R. 2019: Netnography: The essential guide to social media research. Sage publications
KNOBLAUCH, Hubert 2006: Videography. Focused Ethnography and Video Analysis. In: Knoblauch, Hubert /Schnettler, Bernt/ Raab, Mürgen/Soeffner, Hans-Georg: Video Analysis: Methodology and Methods. Qualitative Audiovisual Data Analysis in Sociology. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main etc. 69-83.
McGOWAN, Kate 2007: Key Issues in critical and cultural theory, Open University Press, New York
MILLER, Danny: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/people/academic-and-teaching-staff/daniel-miller
MITCHELL, W. J. Thomas 2005: What do pictures want? Chicago: The University of Chicago-Press.
MIRZOEFF, Nicholas 2006: The visual culture reader. Second edition, London/New York: Routledge.
PINK, Sarah et al. 2016: Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practice. London: Sage. DOWNLOAD via academia.edu (https://www.academia.edu/17789432/Digital_Ethnography_Principles_and_Practice)
2007: The future of visual anthropology. Engaging the senses, New York: Routledge.
SVENINGSSON, M. 2001: Creating a Sense of Community. Experiences from a Swedish Web Chat. Linköping: Linköping Studies in Art and Science.
WATKINS, Craig 2018: The Digital Edge: How Black and Latino Youth Navigate Digital Inequality. New York University Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 12.01.2022 09:09