So today I start a summer class that almost might equal the greatness of the video games class I had during our winter semester…well, emphasis on almost.
Course Description
This course surveys a range of Internet phenomena and examines how they become a part of our popular culture, paying particular attention to how new media technologies function as sites of community-building opportunities. Popular culture comprises the daily cultural “moments” or trends that make up our everyday lives and is often expressed through mass circulation platforms. As an ever-evolving concept, popular culture continuously undergoes change and we typically use the media as our arbiters of what’s “in” and who is “out”. As we move through the age of convergence culture, steeped in both economic conglomeration and intertextuality, the Internet is quickly becoming an emerging site for marketable trends in communication and entertainment. My goal for this course is to help students encounter a range of sources, commentaries, and critiques regarding new media phenomena, particularly those which students encounter on a daily basis (e.g., social networking sites, participatory fan sites, commercial websites, etc.). Most importantly, we will examine not only how our lives have been impacted by and enmeshed with new media technology, but also how the Internet has transformed our introduction and indoctrination into American popular culture.
Learning Objectives
This course serves as a broad introduction to the applications on the Internet and digital culture, providing you with the opportunity to research a topic related to an Internet phenomenon in depth. We will discuss how digital culture is understood and constructed through its various “outputs”/sites on the web. By the end of this class, you should be able to:
• Understand how digital technology and cyberculture are theorized by film, television, new media, and cultural studies scholars
• Identify to what extent the popular reception and theoretical study of new media has been shaped by (and shapes) the practices of commercial popular culture
• Examine and evaluate your own connections and identifications with the Internet
• Analyze and argue how a particular website/new media phenomenon encourages community-building while under pressure from market forces.
Topics Include
Digital technology
Cyberculture
Creation of the “Self” on the Internet
Online Networking and Online Dating
User-Generated Content (Livejournal, Youtube, Wikipedia, etc)
Fan Cultures/Fan Fiction
Social Networking
Internet Economics
Internet and TV Convergence
Final Paper Assignment (8-10 pages)
Students are required to write an 8-10 page research paper on a new media phenomenon, one either discussed in class or missing from the syllabus. The goal is to connect how this particular new media technology and/or trend a) encourages a community of knowledge and/or b) confronts issues concerning the relationship between commerce and art.
WOW. So basically for my final paper I get to talk about podcasting and in class I get to basically brag about Show Me Your News.
You all are jealous, admit it.
