Course: New Media and Digital Culture

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Course title New Media and Digital Culture
Course code KBH/VS19B
Organizational form of instruction Seminar
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 3
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Polách Vladimír, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
The term "New media" and consequently New Media studies (with off-shots and paralels such as Digital Humanities or Participation Culture studies etc.) belong to most discussed and most rapidly developing fields both inside and outside the academic research. The term itself is used to describe a number of different topics, concepts, contents and ideas and is itself rather vague. (Thus see topic cluster Nr. I.). Vague or not, New media are a fundament of many theories, some more specialized (usually technical-oriented), some more broad (Network-Society concept). Some are positive (the technooptimism of the 1980s; the concept of digital natives; the idea of new politics or new democracy etc.); some are critical (latest addenda from E. Morozov, AJ Keen or J. Curran; Digital Divide theory); many are indifferent, but applying widereaching consequences (changes in communcation theory; in book theory; in culture and culture studies; in gender studies). (Thus see topic cluster Nr. II.) There are numerous - or rather innumerable - applications of the New Media concept. We are witnessing the change in Mass Media, in journalism, in writing (the end of the authorship? the end of the original?), in our understanding of personality and performance (idoru, 3d movies). The internet and New media become omnipresent, possibly even threating and dangerous. Is there Artificial Intelligence behind the corner? (Thus see topic cluster Nr. III.) Topics: cluster ONE: a. the theoretical concepts: Manovich - Lister et. al - Beer & Gane - Flew b. archeology of New media: history of technology in the 1970s and onwards; computer invades the home (and becomes home computer); gaming and gamefication (see interactivity; representation; virtuality; digitalization) c. archeology of New Media II: the creation of the network; computer-based communication: BBS, newsgroups; email; USEnet; sharing, data flow (see networking; hypertext) cluster TWO: a. popular discourse and vernacular discourse of the 1980s: computers in the movies; ideas of threat, cooperation, domination; looking for an explanation and interpretation: cyberculture of the 80s; digerati b. data sharing; copyright challenger; Napster; re-mix culture; culture jamming; H. Jenkins: textual poaching; the network goes wide and wild c. theories of network society: Webster, Castells, van Dijk d. criticism of New media: Digital divide; AJ Keen; E. Morozov; J. Curran and the future prospects cluster THREE: a. net-art; net-literature; e-literature; digital born books b. virtuality, representation, hyperreality: idoru; fan-culture; the produser and smart mob; media activism and New Media c. the meaning of communication, the meaning of information: web 2.0; web 3.0; data textures produced by users; augmented reality; d. internet of things; everyday New Media

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
Learning outcomes
The aim of the seminar is to introduce students not only with the development and content of the term "new media", but also indicate how these media have the potential to change our current thinking about media, sociology of media as well as the society itself.
The aim of the seminar is to introduce students not only with the development and content of the term "new media", but also indicate how these media have the potential to change our current thinking about media, sociology of media as well as the society itself.
Prerequisites
none

Assessment methods and criteria
Essay, Student performance

- processing of one of the offered passwords or your own password (see above: Googlezon, Napster, Elisa; will be available in Moodle); - own contribution, linked to a presentation, in the field of digitisation of the public sphere and culture; to be given at the introductory seminar; - attendance (two absences are allowed);
Recommended literature
  • Boyd, D.M. - Ellison, N. B. Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2008), s. 210-230.
  • Čermák, M. .: Nová média. Úvod a stručná historie. In: Osvaldová, B. - Tejkalová, A. (eds.): Žurnalistika v informační společnosti: digitalizace a internetizace žurnalistiky. Praha 2009, s. 1-41.
  • Lister, M. (2009). New Media. A critical introduction. 2nd edition. London/New York.
  • Macek, J. Koncept rané kyberkultury. In: J. Volek - P. Binková (eds.), Média a realita 4, Brno 2003 35-64.
  • MANOVICH, Lev. (2001). The language of new media. Cambridge, Mass.
  • Piorecký, K. (2012). "Česká literatura a nová média".
  • Webster, F., & Blom, R. (2004). The information society reader. London: Routledge.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2025) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology for News Media Editors (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology for News Media Editors (2025) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2025) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2015) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Czech Philology (2019) Category: Philological sciences - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: -