DIGITAL MEDIA, CULTURE AND POLITICS

MKAD01

Syllabus for fall semester 2010

Course Leader:

Assistant Professor Jochen Hoffmann

jochen.hoffmann@kau.se
054 – 700 24 29
Room 12A 329
FOR WHOM?
The prerequisites for entering MKAD01 is a BA degree (or equivalent) with at least 90
ECTS credits in Media and Communication Studies (or equivalent). The course is a
compulsory part of the Master‟s Programme with a profile in Global Media Studies. It
can also be studied as an elective advanced (D) level course, or adapted as a module
within the PhD programme in media and communication studies at Karlstad University.

COURSE CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

The course consists of lectures and literature seminars. It discusses the historical and
contemporary interplay between media, culture and politics – especially the
consequences and issues raised by the expansion of digital media. Beside the
participation in classes and the involvement in group work the student gives presentations
and writes an individual research paper based on an independent literature survey.

EXAMINATION COMPONENTS
The course is examined through five assignments:
1. Actively attending lectures and literature seminars.
2. Preparing and conducting literature-based exercises in the seminars. (20%)
3. Completing and presenting the Linked City research task. (20%)
4. Completing a research paper of 5.000-7.000 words. (40%)
5. Presenting a research topic at the final seminars and commentatorship. (20%)

GRADING
The course is graded according to the ECTS scale for international students and
according to the Swedish scale for Swedish students. All assignments must be passed in
order to complete the course. In case of failing a single assignment the student gets max.
two more chances to pass with the grade E/G. So failing either one component more than
twice or failing more than two components once means to fail the course overall. The
grading systems are translated as follows:
ECTS scale Swedish scale
A/B VG (pass with distinction)
C/D/E G (pass)
F (fail) U (fail)

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LITERATURE LIST
Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New
York: NYU Press.
Mattelart, Armand (2000) Networking the World, 1794-2000. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
Mosco, Vincent (2004) The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Sassen, Saskia (ed) (2002) Global Networks, Linked Cities. London: Routledge.
The seminars on academic writing and presenting make use of:
Journal of Media and Communication, No1, Vol 1 (July 2009), Special issue on
“Mediated Mobilities: Negotiating Identities”, available at:
www.culture-communication.unimelb.edu.au/platform/
Articles and books of 800-1.000 pages selected by the student together with
supervisor.

PRACTICALITIES
Books must be bought on-line – order well in advance! They shall also be available at
the University Library.
Information and additional material from the teachers will be posted at Kurstorget. It
is important that you regularly check for updates! www.student.kau.se/kurstorg/
Please note that all classes begin a quarter past, i e, 9 in the schedule means that the
class begins at 09.15.
As a Master‟s student you are welcome to attend the higher research seminars taking
place in the Department regularly on Wednesday afternoons. More information about
the Fall 2009 seminar programme will be posted at Kurstorget.

SCHEDULE
Monday, 30.8. / 9-12 / 11B252:
André Jansson / Michael Karlsson / Charu Uppal
Introduction to the Master Programme in Global Media Studies

Tuesday, 31.8. / 10-12 / 12C350:

Jochen Hoffmann
Introduction to the course “Digital Media, Culture and Politics”:

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Monday, 6.9. / 10-12 / 12C350:
Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture
The interplay between media, culture and politics
Blumler, Jay G. / Kavanagh, Dennis 1999: The Third Age of Political
Communication: Influences and Features, in: Political Communication 16, 209-
230.
Crozier, Michael 2007: Recursive governance: Contemporary political
communication and public policy, in: Political Communication 24, 1-18.

Tuesday, 7.9. / 10-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture
The interplay between media, culture and politics in a historical perspective
Mattelart (2000)
André Jansson
Introduction to the Linked City research task

Wednesday, 8.9. / 17-19

“Videocracy”. Screening of the documentary and discussion with the director Eric
Gandini

Thursday, 9.9. / 17-19 / Ljungberg, Haus Vänern

Installation talk by Erik Gandini

Tuesday, 14.9. / 10-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture on Jenkins (2006)

Wednesday, 15.9. / 9-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Seminar on Jenkins (2006)

Tuesday, 21.9. / 9-12 / 11C413

André Jansson
Lecture on “Linked Cities”

Friday, 24.9. / 13-16 / 11B252

André Jansson
Seminar on “Linked Cities”

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Wednesday, 29.9. / 10-12 / 12C350
Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture
Academic Writing and Presentations

Friday, 1.10. / 9-16 / 12C350

André Jansson
Students‟ presentations on “Linked Cities”

DEADLINE HANDOUT RESEARCH PAPER:

Wednesday, 6.10.

Thursday, 7.10. / 10-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture on Mosco (2004)

Friday, 8.10. / 9-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Seminar on Mosco (2004)

Monday, 11.10. / 9-12 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Seminar on Academic Writing

Thursday, 14.10. / 9-12 / 11B252

Jochen Hoffmann
Seminar on Academic Presentations

Thursday, 21.10. / 10-12 / 11B252

Jochen Hoffmann
Lecture
Global Media Policy: Regulation and Self-Regulation
Raboy, Marc / Padovani, Claudia 2010: Mapping Global Media Policy: Concepts,
Frameworks, Methods, in: Communication, Culture & Critique 3, 150-169.

DEADLINE FULL TEXT RESEARCH PAPER:

Friday, 29.10.

Thursday, 4.11. / 9-16 / 12C350

Jochen Hoffmann
Students‟ research paper presentations I

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Friday, 5.11. / 9-16 / 12C350
Jochen Hoffmann
Students‟ research paper presentations II

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Actively attending lectures and literature seminars

It is expected that students not only attend lectures and seminars, but actively contribute
do exercises and discussions.

2. Preparing and conducting literature-based exercises in the seminars. (20%)

We will compose work groups of 3-4 students. Each group will be responsible for one of
the following seminars: Mattelart, Jenkins, Mosco, Academic Writing, Academic
Presentations. The task of each group is to prepare and moderate a text-based exercise
carried out with the rest of the class. The goal of the exercises on Mattelart, Jenkins and
Mosco is to solve comprehension problems, to assess the text critically, to clarify
discrepancies, and to apply the ideas of the author to current media and communication
issues. The seminars on academic writing and presenting will focus on didactic issues. It
is recommended that the groups consult the teacher in advance before they prepare the
exercises.

3. Completing and presenting the Linked City research task. (20%)

The aim of this task is to produce an analytical report exploring the diverse roles of new
media networks in urban/metropolitan settings around the world. As demonstrated in
Saskia Sassen‟s (2002) volume Global Networks, Linked Cities, urban development in
the globalized world is closely associated with the expansion of digital networking
resources and creative economies. In this project you shall assess this assumption with
regards to a particular city of your own choice. Through studying various kinds of public
information material, and/or doing interviews with local decision makers, stakeholders
and inhabitants, your task is to prepare an illuminative presentation of how your
particular city relates to the overarching conception of a “Linked City”. You shall
consider the following three realms:
Material Realm: The actual historical development of communication infrastructure in
the region, e g penetration of various technologies, and its relation to other
demographic factors (e g educational structure, income levels).
Symbolic Realm: The significance of new media/networking resources as attractive
global signs within the place marketing of the city/region.

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 Sociocultural Realm: The role of new digital media infrastructure for sustaining social
life, cultural creativity, and political participation, e g through Internet cafés, civic
networking platforms, public online forums, cultural online exhibits, and so on.
Together, these three realms cover a very broad area, so you may delimit your study to
certain phenomena within each of them. It is of course impossible to provide a „complete‟
picture. What is important to consider at the end of your study, however, is how the three
realms are related to one another. Is the city marked by coherence or conflict? In what
ways do you think that new media networks will influence the future of the city?
The format of the report is a Power Point presentation of 20 minutes. The class will be
divided into working groups of 2-3 persons in each group. Each group picks a city, and
designs their study according to what aspects they want to focus upon. Analyses of
marketing material, online policy documents, statistics, etc, may be combined with
interviews. Some general advice for accomplishing a good report:
It may be a good idea to choose a city that you (someone in the group) are familiar
with beforehand.
If you find it hard to find material in the beginning it might be wise to contact an
informant, such as an information officer or other representative of the municipality,
to get further guidance.
Relate your findings to theories and discussions that have taken place during the
course, e g regarding participatory culture (Jenkins), and the logic of global networks
(Sassen).
State your main focus (in relation to the abovementioned realms) clearly in the
beginning of your presentation.
Use images, figures, statistics, interview extracts, etc, in order to make your
presentation accessible. This project is also an opportunity for training your
presentation skills.
Presentations will take place on September 25th. Active attendance is compulsory. Your
presentations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Level of comprehensiveness and integration of different sources and material.
Ability to draw relevant and original conclusions related to the theoretical content of
the course.
Style of the presentation.

4. Completing a research paper of 5.000-7.000 words. (40%)

5. Presenting a research topic at the final seminars and commentatorship. (20%)
Each student is required to write an individual research paper dealing with a topic within
the field of research covered during the course. Required length is 5.000-7.000 words.
The paper shall be written according to the article format stated in the Platform online

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journal, and based on a thorough literature survey designed in dialogue with the
supervisor. The Platform journal, which is a forum for post-graduate research, shall be
considered as a source of inspiration, as well as a potential target for your forthcoming
publication.
The objective of the research paper is to present an idea or argument and try to convince
the reader. Therefore, the research paper should not be just a collection of facts or a
summary of others‟ ideas. Instead, you should also discuss your own ideas based on one
or more of the conceptual frameworks and theories you learned in class, and through your
individual literature survey. The paper might be purely theoretical or linked to a more
concrete empirical problem.
Your topic and approach shall be outlined and motivated in a two pages handout together
with a preliminary list of relevant literature. The total amount of reading shall be around
800-1.000 pages. The handout along with the literature list shall be submitted to the
supervisor no later than the October, 6th. Individual meetings with the teachers are
possible any time by arrangement.
Some useful tips to keep in mind to write a good research paper:
Most importantly, pick a topic that you are really interested in! No point in doing
research and writing on something that doesn‟t interest you.
Use the seminars on academic writing and presenting. Apply what you have learned to
your topic and think through the main challenges related to it.
While presenting arguments in your paper, it is always a good idea to use specific
examples (e.g. refer to a specific technology or content; certain information system or
organizational structure; films; magazines; Internet sites, etc.). However, avoid a kind
of idiographic narrative and focus on potentially generalizable ideas, theories and
empirical findings.
Do not limit your paper to a few non-academic sources. This will mean you have not
done much research. Focus instead on academic books and journal articles.
Your paper should be new and original, which means you should not use your old
papers you wrote for other courses.
Each paper will be checked for plagiarism. Any assignment containing plagiarized
material will receive a failing grade and can result in disciplinary action being taken
against the student by the university.
The format of your paper shall follow the guidelines for submissions in the Platform
journal. You can use fonts of your choosing, as long as the text is clearly organized and
readable. You should cite all the sources in the body of the text where you refer to each,
and at the end of the paper in the form of a “reference list”. Your papers will not be
graded based on your English skills, but in terms of the clarity and presentation of your
argument, organization, style and general readability.

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Your main source is the library. There are also online databases for journals that are
available on campus based computers. It is important that you focus on academic books
and journal articles in your literature review, in order to make sure that your discussions
are up-to-date with ongoing research. You can also use other web sources as long as you
cite them properly in your paper.
Evaluation criteria:
Originality and relevance of the argument.
Theoretical and methodological treatment (in relation to reading material).
Stringency, clarity and style of the presentation.
Relevance and richness of used academic sources.
The deadline for submitting your final full text research paper is October 29th. Each
participant will present his/her research paper during the seminars on November 4th and
5th. Furthermore, each student provides a constructive critique of one of the other
presentations.