CTCS 412, Spring 2011
- The Wheres of Media Space
SECTION I READINGS: MediaSpace, by Nick Couldry and Anna McCarthy
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Pramod Nayar
- Monday, January 10: Introductions
in class: define and find media space, cyberspace, feminism
view clips: I.K.U (Shu Lea Cheang, 2002) and Bladerunner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
- Monday January 17, MLK day, no class
Locate and begin to inhabit an online space; make your presence known
- Monday, January 24: Media Theory/Spatial Theory
Required Reading
MediaSpace, Chapters 1 and 3 (2 optional)
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Chapters Intro and 1, 5
Screening selected by Roxanne Samer
- January 31: Work, leisure, and the spaces in-between
Required Reading
MediaSpace, Chapters 6 and 8 (5 optional)
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Chapters 7, 8
Screening: Exercise 1: give us a 5-minute tour of your cyberspace
- Monday, February 7: New Media Spaces
Required Reading
MediaSpace, Chapters 10, 13 (12 optional)
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Chapters 9, 10
Learning From YouTube, Alexandra Juhasz
Screening: Exercise 1: give us a 5-minute tour of your cyberspace
- II. Women (of Color) in Cyberspace
READING: Reload: Rethinking Women & Cyberculture, Mary Flanagan & Austin Booth
Digital Diaspora, Anna Everett
- Monday, February 14: Women Using Technology, taught by Roxanne Samer
Required Reading
Reload: Chapters 8, 9, and one piece of fiction (12 optional)
Digital Diaspora, Chapter 1
Student Screening 1
- Monday, February 21: no class, President’s Day
- Monday, February 28: The Visible/Visual/Virtual Subject
Required Reading
Reload: Chapters 8, 22 and one piece of fiction (13 optional)
Digital Diaspora, Chapters 2 (3 optional)
Student Screening 2
- March 7: CyberBodies
Required Reading
Reload: Chapters 24, 26, 27
Digital Diaspora, Chapters 5 (4 optional)
ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE. Presentation: evaluate your cyberspace as a feminist (of color) digital space and express your results in your space: 10 mins and 1 page write-up
SPRING BREAK
- III. Digital Ethnographies of Cyberselves
Out in the Country: Youth, Media and Queer Visibility in Rural America, Mary Gray
Cyber Selves: Feminist Ethnographies of South Asian Women, Radhika Gajjala
- March 21: Ethnography as Method
Required Reading
Out in the Country, Intro and 2
Cyber Selves, Prologue, Intro, Chapter 1
Student Screening 3
- March 28: Out in the Country
Required Reading
Out in the Country, group reading presentations (Groups 1, 2, 3, 5)
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, 30
Student Screening 4
- April 4: Cyber Selves: South Asian Women
Required Reading
Cyber Selves, group reading presentations (Groups 4, 6, 7, 8)
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, 12 and 13
Student Screening 5
Project 2 Due: online ethnography of and in your space and 1 pg write-up
- IV. Democratic/Feminist Spaces
READING: The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Pramod Nayar
Digital Media and Democracy, Megan Boler
- April 11: The Shape of Publics
Required Reading
Digital Media and Democracy: Chapters 2, 3 and 5
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, 20
Student Screening 6
- April 18: Tactics in Action
Required Reading
Digital Media and Democracy: Chapters 15, 16, 17
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, 27
Student Screening 7
- April 25: Politics, Political Action, Activism
Required Reading
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, 21-24
PROJECT 3 DUE IN CLASS: make (and take us to or demonstrate or document) a hybrid democratic/feminist and digital/real space connected to your original space and making use of your ethnography; 10 mins
Write up your findings 3-5 pages
ORGANIZATIONAL STUFF
Learning Goals: This class will provide a theoretical and hands-on background for considering, using, and remaking a cross-fertilization of three intellectual/activist/production traditions—space, feminism/race, and cyberculture. You will be asked to think and write about and also within digital technologies and spaces. You will perform an online ethnography. You will be asked to consider the practical, intellectual, and activist stakes of translating academic thinking and writing to other, non-traditional, spatial and digital formats. You will produce your own working definitions of feminism, race, and politics online, and experiment in the thoughtful integration of on and offline spaces. You will be asked to make something better.
Required Reading: All reading is due before class. Come to class prepared to discuss it. There are seven required books. They are available at the library on reserve.
MediaSpace, by Nick Couldry and Anna McCarthy
The New Media and Cybercultures Anthology, Pramod Nayar
Reload: Rethinking Women and Cyberculture, Mary Flanagan and Austin Booth
Digital Diaspora, Anna Everett
Digital Media and Democracy, Megan Boler
Out in the Country: Youth, Media and Queer Visibility in Rural America, Mary Gray
Cyber Selves: Feminist Ethnographies of South Asian Women, Radhika Gajjala
Attendance and Participation: I believe that participation is a vital aspect of the class. I expect you to come prepared and to contribute to class discussions.
Participation in Other Projects: The New Everyday and YouTube Show
If you would like to work on digital youth and distraction, YouTube or sexual health, your work can be part of outside projects undertaken by Professor Juhasz during Spring 2011, more info tba.
Course Work:
1. A presentation of your online space in class: ungraded
2. A class screening (in groups of 3), ungraded: 1.5 hours to use as you see fit and
connected to the readings: clips, full movie, games, discussion, etc.
3. Leading a class discussion about one chapter of an ethnography book: ungraded
4. An evaluation of your space inside your space, with write-up (1 pg)
5. An ethnography of your space in your space, with write-up (1 pg)
6. Your own digital/actual space with write-up (3-5 pages)
Grading: 25% each for assignments 4-6; 10% for participation; 15% for exercises 1-3
Students with Disabilities: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure that the letter is delivered to the Professor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 am-5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213)740-0776.
Academic Integrity: USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless an instructor allows otherwise, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus contains a Student Conduct Code in Section 11.00, while the recommended sanctions for violating this code are located in Appendix A, both can be found at http://web-app.usc.edu/scampus/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions/. Should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty, students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for review. The review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/sudent-affairs/SJACS/. Keep in mind that PLAGIARISM (WHETHER DONE INTENTIONALLY OR NOT) WILL BE REPORTED, WILL MOST LIKELY RESULT IN FAILURE OF THE COURSE, AND COULD LEAD TO DISMISSAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY. If you have any questions about academic integrity, plagiarism, or if you have any questions or doubts about how to properly cite a source, see your Teaching Assistant, drop by the Writing Center (Taper Hall 310) or consult the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards Guide – http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/forms/tig.pdf.
Course Exam, Project and Paper Retention Policy: It is the responsibility of all students in Critical Studies courses to retrieve all papers, projects, assignments and/or exams within one academic year of completion of a course. These records may be essential in resolving grade disputes and incompletes as well as assist in verifying that course requirements have been met. The Critical Studies Division will dispose of all records from the previous academic year in May of the current academic year. No exceptions. Please be in contact with your TAs about collecting these documents while you are taking the course.
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January 7, 2011 at 6:31 pm
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