124263 KO Critical Media Analysis (2022S)

After the successful completion of this course, students will be able to critically examine the construction of digital activist selves and communities (as well as the commodification of activism in advertising contexts) in contemporary Anglophone culture, as they will have learned how to appropriately use a toolbox of genre-specific methods of cultural analysis (e.g. semiotic analysis, mis-en-scène analysis for moving images, uncovering contradictory positionings with the help of broader sociopolitical context (platform capitalism, data politics, gender/race/ability), etc.). Our class will deal with questions like: How do we curate digital selves online? What does identity mean in an increasingly digital world? What are new possibilities of self-expression and affective bonding? What are potential pressures and dangers of online self-presentation? How are (felt) activist communities formed online around hashtags like #BodyPositive #BlackLivesMatter or #FridaysForFuture? What is the business model of media conglomerates like Facebook and Google and why should I be interested in that? How do algorithms discriminate against people? Why are technological innovations never neutral, but deeply political? What are the downsides of an activism rooted in vulnerability and visibility? What is ‚the digital divide‘ and what, on the other hand, is ‚digital inclusion‘? Based on our class readings, students will learn how to notice and scrutinise cultural markers of difference like race, gender, class, sexuality, body type, ability/health, and age in a variety of different media and online contexts. By introducing students to key texts in gender, media and cultural studies, as well as to the deeply unequal socio-economic framework of our digital worlds and providing them with a toolkit for cultural analysis, students will be able to discuss contemporary digital activisms in an informed, intersectional way after they have completed this class.