Seminar Medienwissenschaft
Keywords of digital media cultures
Module Fundamentals of Communication and Media Studies II (1131)
Wednesday, 11am to 1pm
https://meet.uni-leipzig.de/b/cp5-ndk-nvu-bsx
(Date: 18 February 2021)
MOODLE course: https://moodle2.uni-leipzig.de/course/view.php?id=30809
Module: Fundamentals of Communication and Media Studies II
After participating in the module, students are able to understand, reflect on and classify phenomena in the field of media studies. They are familiar with basic theoretical approaches, methods and research findings on media science issues and are able to independently apply this knowledge to current media phenomena. They will be able to deepen their basic knowledge using the example of a specific subject area through independent literary research and written elaboration.
Aims of the seminar
The seminar aims to outline and characterize digital media culture by means of its key terms. The sessions will focus on one programmatic term at a time. In the course of the semester, essential aspects of contemporary media-related lifestyles and communication practices will be elaborated in this way. First, we ask how such an approach to characterize media cultures via key terms or keywords looks like. Then the basics will be laid along the terms data, digital/digitization and information. Based on this, we will deal with terms such as algorithms, platforms or Big Data.
The seminar is designed as a reading and discussion seminar. Students acquire an overview of basic concepts of digital media cultures informed by media studies. They are able to classify these in terms of media history and have a critical understanding of their conditions and consequences. Furthermore, students train teamwork, scientific work and presentation skills.
Seminar participation
The seminar will be held online and mostly synchronously. The common BBB room is https://meet.uni-leipzig.de/b/cp5-ndk-nvu-bsx
Task of all seminar participants:
All participants will fulfill the tasks mentioned in the respective session descriptions.
Task of the expert groups: The expert groups are to
a) give a short technical input of max. 20 minutes to selected sessions, explaining the respective horizon of the topic in more detail or introducing further case studies from the respective field (i.e. please DO NOT reproduce the seminar texts, these can be assumed to be known!). For this purpose, please write a short position paper.
b) formulate the further questions and lead an approx. 30-minute discussion.
Examination
Together with other courses, the lecture forms the module Fundamentals of Communication and Media Studies II. The module is completed with a portfolio. See §11 of the examination regulations BA Communication and Media Studies:
“Portfolios consist of two to three partial performances and should reflect the different topics of the courses and their implementation by the students. Examples of achievements in the portfolio include presentations, case study solutions, documentation, research concepts, evaluation and presentation of research data, exercises, papers, and protocols. The composition of the portfolio will be announced by the instructor at the beginning of the module. Services for the portfolio will be provided throughout the lecture period. The processing time for compiling the portfolio after all performances have been completed is four weeks. Further details are regulated by the guidelines for the examination performance portfolio, which are decided by the examination board of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy and are announced as usual in the faculty.”
The exam performance is made up by the 1,000-word abstract from the session on Sociotechnical Imaginaries and the 1,000 word-abstract from the session on Finding new keywords.
Course
21 April 2021 Introduction to the seminar (synchronous, BBB room)
Basics
28 April 2021 Why should we refer to keywords when thinking about digital media cultures? (synchronous, BBB room)
Peters, B. (2016). Introduction. In: Peters, B. (Ed.): Digital keywords. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Williams, R. (1983). Keywords. A vocabulary of culture and society. London: FontanaPress.
Katzenbach, C. & Bächle, T. (2019). Defining concepts of the digital society. Internet Policy Review, 8(4). https://policyreview.info/concepts/defining-concepts-digital-society#editorial
All seminar participants: Try to describe your medial way of life with three attributes. Please attach a short explanation to each attribute. Please upload your answers to MOODLE by 26 April.
05 May 2021 Data and information (synchronous, BBB room)
Gitelman, L. & Jackson, V. (2013). Introduction. In: Gitelman, L: (Eds.): „Raw Data” is an Oxymoron. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1-14.
Borgman, C. (2016). Big Data, Little Data, No Data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Buckland, M. (2017). Information and Society. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
12 May 2021 Datafied Self (synchronous, BBB room)
All seminar participants: Think and get creative – What aspects of your life are already datafied? Which activities and circumstances could potentially also be mapped and evaluated in data? Please briefly present your thoughts by means of a diagram/graphical representation (please upload to MOODLE by 10 May).
Kennedy, H. et al. (2016). Engaging with (big) data visualizations: Factors that affect engagement and resulting new definitions of effectiveness. First Monday, 21(11). https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6389
19 May 2021 Digital and digitization (synchronous, BBB room)
Peters, B. (2016). Digital. In: Peters, B. (Eds.): Digital Keywords. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sterne, J. (2016). Analog. In: Peters, B. (Eds.): Digital Keywords. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
26 May 2021 Networks and the internet (synchronous, BBB room)
Van Dijk, J. (2017). The Network Society. London: Sage
Streeter, T. (2016). Internet. In: Peters, B. (Eds.): Digital Keywords. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
02 June 2021 Networked Individualism (synchronous, BBB room)
All seminar participants: You are involved in communicative networks. How does your network look like, which nodes, which edges can you draw, which hubs does your network include? Please present your network map in the seminar (please upload to MOODLE by 30 May).
Wellman, B. & Rainie, L. (2014). Networked. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
09 June 2021 Platforms (synchronous, BBB room)
Gillespie, T. (2010). The politics of “platforms”. New Media & Society, 12(3), 347-364.
Poell, T. et al. (2019). Platformisation. Internet Policy Review, 8(4) https://policyreview.info/concepts/platformisation
Expert group 1: Introduce the terms platform and platformization. Consider – what are the consequences of these developments for media cultures and why are these consequences problematic?
Expert group 1: Please upload your discussion contribution (max 500 words) to MOODLE (by 07 June)!
16 June 2021 Sharing (synchronous, BBB room)
John, N. (2017). The age of sharing. Cambridge: Polity.
Expert group 2: Introduce the concept of sharing. What does it include, what does it not include, and what is there to criticize about the concept associated with it?
Expert group 2: Please upload your discussion contribution (max 500 words) to MOODLE (by 14 June)!
23 June 2021 Big Data (synchronous, BBB room)
Puschmann, C. & Burgess, J. (2015). Metaphors for Big Data. International Journal of Communication, 8, 1690-1709.
Pentzold, C.; Brantner, C. & Fölsche, L. (2019). Imagining Big Data: Illustrations of ‘Big Data’ in US News Articles, 2010–2016. New Media & Society, 21(1), 139-167.
Expert group 3: Introduce the term Big Data. What imagery and conceptual ideas does the term evoke? But what also remains unconsidered?
Expert group 3: Please upload your discussion contribution (max 500 words) to MOODLE (until 21 June)!
Outlook
30 June 2021 Reading week: Sociotechnical Imaginaries (asynchonous, MOODLE course)
Jasanoff, S. (2015). Future Imperfect: Science, technology, and the imaginations of modernity. In: Jasanoff, S. & Kim, S.-H. (Hrsg.): Dreamscapes of modernity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1-33.
All seminar participants: Prepare an abstract (1,000 words) and clarify the following questions: What are sociotechnical imaginaries? What can be explained by them? What research questions arise? Please upload your short texts to MOODLE by 28 June.
7 July 2021 Finding new keywords (synchronous, BBB room)
All seminar participants: Think – which keyword is missing in the list and should be added? Please justify your suggestion in the seminar.
14 July 2021 Open questions and discussion of further topics (synchronous, BBB room)
- Trainer/in: Charlotte Knorr
- Trainer/in: Christian Pentzold