Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course unit, students are able to:
• Use the main theoretical and methodological approaches in analyzing the relationship between media and culture, with particular reference to Sociology and Cultural Studies
Understand the key role of media in “shaping culture” and in the process through which culture and its (both symbolic and material, tangible and non tangible) expressions are assigned meaning and (aesthetic, social, economic, etc.) values
Understand how the role of media in “shaping culture” has changed with the diffusion of digital technologies/environments, user-generated contents, the shift from “broadcast cultures” to “participative cultures”
Deconstruct media representations of culture and its expressions, and uncover the functioning of discourses on culture that are reproduced by the media
Understand the role and functioning of media as a cultural/creative industry, whose products are forms of culture in their own right (notion of “cultural reflexivity”)
Develop their own analysis of media texts
Effectively use media technologies and languages in cultural sector-related professions: as tools for research (digital humanities), for education, and as curatorial tools
Upon successful completion of the course unit, students are able to:
• Use the main theoretical and methodological approaches in analyzing the relationship between media and culture, with particular reference to Sociology and Cultural Studies
Understand the key role of media in “shaping culture” and in the process through which culture and its (both symbolic and material, tangible and non tangible) expressions are assigned meaning and (aesthetic, social, economic, etc.) values
Understand how the role of media in “shaping culture” has changed with the diffusion of digital technologies/environments, user-generated contents, the shift from “broadcast cultures” to “participative cultures”
Deconstruct media representations of culture and its expressions, and uncover the functioning of discourses on culture that are reproduced by the media
Understand the role and functioning of media as a cultural/creative industry, whose products are forms of culture in their own right (notion of “cultural reflexivity”)
Develop their own analysis of media texts
Effectively use media technologies and languages in cultural sector-related professions: as tools for research (digital humanities), for education, and as curatorial tools
Curriculum
teacher profile teaching materials
The course focuses on the analysis of the relationship between media and culture, with particular reference to Sociology and Cultural Studies. Particular emphasis is placed on the study of the transformations introduced by technological innovation and the globalization of cultural processes.
The teaching is divided into five parts, each of which will focus on different dimensions of media: 1) Trajectories of media innovation; 2) Platforms and algorithms; 3) Digital public spheres; 4) Media and the politics of representation; 5) Media ecologies. Each part will first be developed in theoretical terms and then analysed through case studies.
1. Van Dijck, J., Poell, T. and de Waal, M., "Introduction" and "Chapter 1", in J. Van Dijck, T. Poell and M. de Waal, The Platform Society. Public Values in a Connective World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018.
2. Bolin, G., “Introduction”, “Media production and cultural industries”, and “New Organisational Forms of Value Production”, in G. Bolin, Value and the Media: Cultural Production and Consumption in Digital Markets, Taylor and Francis, London and New York, 2016.
3. Katzenbach, C., and Ulbricht, L., "Algorithmic governance." Internet Policy Review 8.4 (2019), pp. 1-18.
4. Nieborg, D. B., and Poell, T., "The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity." New media & society 20.11 (2018), pp. 4275-4292.
5. Striphas, T., “Algorithmic culture”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 18.4-5 (2015), pp. 395-412.
6. Hesmondhalgh, D. "Have digital communication technologies democratized the media industries?," in J. Curran and D. Hesmondhalgh (eds.), Media and Society, 6th edition, New York: Bloomsbury, 2019, pp. 101-120.
7. Alexander, N., “Catered to your future self: Netflix’s “predictive personalization” and the mathematization of taste”, in K. McDonald and D. Smith-Rowsey (Eds.), The Netflix effect: Technology and entertainment in the 21 century, New York, NY, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp. 81–98.
8. Brown, Jeffrey A., “Girl Revolutionaries. Neoliberalist, Postfeminist, and Feminist Heroines”, in J. A. Brown, Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 2016, pp. 167-196.
9. Georgiou, M., “Diaspora in the Digital Era: Minorities and Media Representation”, Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 12(4), 2013, pp. 80-99.
Students will also have access to teaching materials (power point and images) and to a series of suggested readings.
The teaching materials are available on the website http://filosofiacomunicazionespettacolo.uniroma3.it, in the teacher's personal webpage.
Mutuazione: 20710325 MEDIA in Cinema, televisione e produzione multimediale LM-65 (docente da definire)
Programme
The course is part of the "Research Degree in Cultural Leadership" activated at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). It is held in English at the Roma Tre University and can also be attended by Italian or Erasmus students.The course focuses on the analysis of the relationship between media and culture, with particular reference to Sociology and Cultural Studies. Particular emphasis is placed on the study of the transformations introduced by technological innovation and the globalization of cultural processes.
The teaching is divided into five parts, each of which will focus on different dimensions of media: 1) Trajectories of media innovation; 2) Platforms and algorithms; 3) Digital public spheres; 4) Media and the politics of representation; 5) Media ecologies. Each part will first be developed in theoretical terms and then analysed through case studies.
Core Documentation
The course is based on the following list of compulsory readings:1. Van Dijck, J., Poell, T. and de Waal, M., "Introduction" and "Chapter 1", in J. Van Dijck, T. Poell and M. de Waal, The Platform Society. Public Values in a Connective World, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018.
2. Bolin, G., “Introduction”, “Media production and cultural industries”, and “New Organisational Forms of Value Production”, in G. Bolin, Value and the Media: Cultural Production and Consumption in Digital Markets, Taylor and Francis, London and New York, 2016.
3. Katzenbach, C., and Ulbricht, L., "Algorithmic governance." Internet Policy Review 8.4 (2019), pp. 1-18.
4. Nieborg, D. B., and Poell, T., "The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity." New media & society 20.11 (2018), pp. 4275-4292.
5. Striphas, T., “Algorithmic culture”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 18.4-5 (2015), pp. 395-412.
6. Hesmondhalgh, D. "Have digital communication technologies democratized the media industries?," in J. Curran and D. Hesmondhalgh (eds.), Media and Society, 6th edition, New York: Bloomsbury, 2019, pp. 101-120.
7. Alexander, N., “Catered to your future self: Netflix’s “predictive personalization” and the mathematization of taste”, in K. McDonald and D. Smith-Rowsey (Eds.), The Netflix effect: Technology and entertainment in the 21 century, New York, NY, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp. 81–98.
8. Brown, Jeffrey A., “Girl Revolutionaries. Neoliberalist, Postfeminist, and Feminist Heroines”, in J. A. Brown, Beyond Bombshells: The New Action Heroine in Popular Culture, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS, 2016, pp. 167-196.
9. Georgiou, M., “Diaspora in the Digital Era: Minorities and Media Representation”, Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 12(4), 2013, pp. 80-99.
Students will also have access to teaching materials (power point and images) and to a series of suggested readings.
The teaching materials are available on the website http://filosofiacomunicazionespettacolo.uniroma3.it, in the teacher's personal webpage.
Type of delivery of the course
The course will be held both phisically and online, on the Teams platform.Attendance
Attendance is not compulsory, but all students who want to take the exam as non-attending students must contact the teacher to agree on the topic on which to write the final dissertation.Type of evaluation
The evaluation is in two steps: 1) the oral presentation of a text chosen from the reading materials. Students will have to effectively present the content of the chosen essay and make their own contribution. It will be possible to propose the analysis of one of the aspects, topics, analytical categories addressed in the selected text and/or the formulation of research questions, prompted by the reading. At the beginning of the course, students will be asked to express their preference for the date and content of their presentation. 2) The writing of a short essay (maximum 4000 words) on a theme agreed with the teacher. For attending students, the deadline for submitting papers is the end of May. Further details (methodology, general organization, etc.) will be provided during the course. NB. Non-attending students are required to contact the teacher at least three weeks before the choosen exam date to agree the topic of the final essay. teacher profile teaching materials
The first part is dedicated to studying the principal theories in media studies and sociology of the 20th century, starting from the elements involved in the communication process, such as sender, message, receiver, and media effects.
The second part is dedicated to the social, cultural and interpersonal transformations due to the development of the internet and social network sites, as spaces for new opportunities and, at the same time, as vehicles of new inequalities. Starting from the discussion of some case studies, such as WikiLeaks and Cambridge Analytica, the advent of ChatGPT and the use of AI, the contradictions and anomalies, advantages and opportunities offered by the new information and communication technologies, as well as the gradual transformation of the social and cultural models linked to the information and platform society will be discussed.
Programme
The course “Media” offers an overview of the main social and cultural transformations due to the evolution of the mass media (press, radio, television) and the digital media (World Wide Web, social networks), focusing on the relationship between technology, individuals and society.The first part is dedicated to studying the principal theories in media studies and sociology of the 20th century, starting from the elements involved in the communication process, such as sender, message, receiver, and media effects.
The second part is dedicated to the social, cultural and interpersonal transformations due to the development of the internet and social network sites, as spaces for new opportunities and, at the same time, as vehicles of new inequalities. Starting from the discussion of some case studies, such as WikiLeaks and Cambridge Analytica, the advent of ChatGPT and the use of AI, the contradictions and anomalies, advantages and opportunities offered by the new information and communication technologies, as well as the gradual transformation of the social and cultural models linked to the information and platform society will be discussed.
Core Documentation
Materials to be defined.Attendance
Frontal teaching.Type of evaluation
Written test (open questions) on the topics discussed during the lectures.