Media and film studies
Digital Technology, Media and Society
Module code: P3062
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework
Digital media saturates everyday life, re-organises cultural productions of all kinds, and re-mediates the teaching and learning environments which you will inhabit at Sussex. The course aims to examine this digital environment through both practical and theoretical perspectives. It enables you to understand and use digital tools to enhance and explore your study and to take a critically informed stance on your existing practices.
The course examines developments in new media with a particular emphasis on different uses of digital media, enabling you to make distinctions between kinds of material, genres and platforms. Through a practical approach it equips you to use digital media confidently to both enhance study and to understand the digital environment as media and cultural form.
The course covers topics including data visualisation, searching for resources, citation, catalogues, mapping, archiving, using social media, privacy, copyright and surveillance, digital media as a research area (e.g. how to research and ethics of researching tweets / Wikipedia / social forums) and the politics of software.
The course will draw upon a range of digital research platforms, including those owned and/or subscribed to by the university in order to provide a solid foundation for you to embark on future independent research.
Module learning outcomes
- Knowledge of underlying concepts involved in critically analysing and using digital media systems of all kinds.
- Capacity to make sound judgements about how to treat digital resources and digital tools.
- Understanding of principle theories and concepts of digital media and of innovation processes in media systems.
- Capacity to think critically and evaluate social, cultural and political consequences of networked media technologies.