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2014/15 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

COMM2725 Digital Cultures

20 creditsClass Size: 48

Module manager: Dr Helen Thornham
Email: h.thornham@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2014/15

Pre-requisite qualifications

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

In this module you will explore the interactive leisure forms and practices of digital technologies such as gaming, modding, play, hactivism, and social media. We ask how seriously we should take these new forms of interactions, and the extent to which they are changing our understanding of culture today. You will explore a number of digital cultures and practices and consider a range of themes and issues that relate to them. We also address the contexts of these cultures, in order to develop your understanding of the political, economic, social and technical implications of what might seem like harmless and benign leisure activities.

Objectives

This module explores the interactive leisure forms and practices that are based on, emerge from, and ask questions about, digital technologies. It explores a range of themes and issues that relate to digital cultures, as well as looking at a range of digital cultures and the technologies and social contexts that facilitate the emergence of these cultures. It develops students’ understanding of the political, economic, social and technical contexts from which digital cultures have emerged.

Learning outcomes
A deep knowledge of a broad range of contemporary digital culture;
Familiarity with key debates & writers in the field of digital cultures;
The ability to carry out analysis of digital cultures from social, technological, cultural & political perspectives;
The ability to extract information from secondary sources and utilise them in a coherent piece of discursive writing;
Use of evidence and argument.

Skills outcomes
Analysis of digital cultures

Syllabus

Issues addressed include, but are not limited to: the digital and: youth cultures; subcultures; indie cultures; FLOSS cultures; hacker/hactivist/activist cultures; video & computer game cultures; mobile & locative media cultures; fanzines, ezines & other amateur production cultures; modding & playbour; social media & social media marketing cultures; visual digital cultures; convergence cultures; technocultures; politics, knowledge, value; the political & social implications of digital cultures.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	10	1.00	10.00
Seminar	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			180.00
Total Contact hours			20.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students will:
- read set reading & beyond (45 hours)
- carry out research into a range of digital cultures as identified each week (30 hours)
- carry out small scale / limited primary research (10 hours)
- prepare to present their findings in seminars (5 hours)
- research for and write their assessments (90 hours).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored via participation in seminars, including informal presentations, and tutorials, as well as through mid-module assessment

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1 x 2,500 - 3000 words	40.00
Case Study	Digital Culture 3000-3,500 words	60.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 06/03/2015

Disclaimer

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