Aims

To introduce students to theories and issues relevant to Digital Cultures, related technologies and media, and their contexts.
To equip students with the critical and analytical skills to enable them to examine the cultural, economic, political and social contexts, sites and practices of digital technologies.
To promote and develop scholarly, practical and creative strategies for self-supported learning, including in an interdisciplinary and collaborative context.

This module serves as an introduction to the study of “Digital Cultures”. Digital Cultures is understood to include (but is not limited to) digital and online technologies and platforms, their everyday use by individuals, their use by companies, organisations, government and other groups, the communities, art cultures, media, formed with and through digital and / or online technologies. Throughout there will be a critical focus on questions of power, politics and social relations in relation to digital technologies, media and cultures.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module is aimed at students who are new to the field of digital cultures and/or who have some initial knowledge of related fields. The module will encourage students to critically engage with some of the key terms, concepts, ideas, and approaches in the study of Digital Cultures.

The module (and programme) is committed to emphasising the presence of marginalised voices and endeavours to iteratively reformulate its cannon. Questions of power are central to the critical understanding that will be developed, examining the complex intersection of digital technologies, culture, politics, economies, power and spaces can both reproducing and reinforce forms of exploitation and oppression, and also provide sites and practices of resistance.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Teaching will primarily consist of lecture & workshops. Workshop that will support students in undertaking group work towards the assessment. Lectures will cover key topics, including those undertaken for group projects, as well as preparing them for key issues, themes, ideas & theories for the study of Digital Cultures.

A one-day fieldtrip will take place in Newcastle upon Tyne. This will consist of group tasks examining the role of digital technologies in everyday urban spaces. This will be consolidated during the workshop later that week.

Directed research and reading will increase students’ familiarity with core texts and relevant projects supporting their knowledge of sites, contexts and futures in Digital Cultures. This will include set readings, accompanied by reading guides to familiarise students with academic texts and to develop reflective and critical approaches and suitable note-taking practices.

Assessment preparation and completion includes time taken outside of the classroom working individually and in groups towards the group assessment.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

This module is assessed through group work, in the form of a "zine".

Students will be supported to develop group-working and collaboration skills throughout the module, which will be vital for future modules, such as MCH2091: Collaborating in Digital Cultures.

Module workshops support the development of the group assessment, including ongoing formative feedback on the development of ideas, approaches and drafts of the assessment. The final submission will include the produced work itself, as well as accompanying documents that record the group work process.

The case study assessment will directly relate to the research that will contribute to the final group project.