Digital Cultures
Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
Digital Cultures
Major
A major in Digital Cultures requires 48 credit points from this table including:
(i) 12 credit points of 1000-level core units
(ii) 12 credit points of 2000-level core units
(iii) 6 credit points of 3000-level core unit
(iv) 12 credit points of 3000-level selective units
(v) 6 credit points of 3000-level Interdisciplinary Project units
Minor
A minor in Digital Cultures requires 36 credit points from this table including:
(i) 12 credit points of 1000-level core units
(ii) 12 credit points of 2000-level core units
(iii) 6 credit points of 3000-level core unit
(iv) 6 credit points of 3000-level selective units
1000 level units of study
Core
MECO1001 Introduction to Media Studies
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1200wd essay (30%), 1x1800wd essay (40%), 1x1.5hr exam (30%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Available to BA/BAdvSt (Media and Communications), BA/BLaws (Media Studies major), and to Digital Cultures major/minor students only.
This unit offers an introduction to the history and theory of media and communications studies. Students will gain a foundation in key concepts, methodologies and theorists in the field. They will also explore the interdisciplinary roots of media and communications studies and acquire basic research skills. By the end of the unit students should be familiar with major shifts in the history and theory of media and communications studies and with basic concepts and methodologies in the field.
ARIN1001 The Past and Futures of Digital Cultures
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x500wd annotated mind mapping exercise (20%), 1x2500wd (1000wd + 1500wd) group presentation + report (40%), 1x1500wd essay (30%), participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces Digital Cultures, the critical interdisciplinary field of research into the cultural and social dimensions of digital technologies. It explores the histories, imaginaries, ideas, platforms and thinkers that inform the study of digital cultures. Students will examine tools and theories that explain the interrelated processes of digital media and communications development and social change. This unit will explore what it means to be a digital cultures researcher and practitioner, offering students foundational knowledge and skills for the major as well as investigating the latest technologies and trends.
Textbooks
Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
2000 level units of study
Core
ARIN2610 Internet Transformations
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in the Digital Cultures major or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Media and Communications or (12 credit points at 1000 level or 2000 level in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship major) or (18 credit points at 1000 level in any of Anthropology, Art History, Computer Science, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology or Sociology) Prohibitions: ARIN2100 Assessment: 3x400wd analytic journal entries (25%), 1x1200wd hypertextual essay (30%), 1x2100wd critical internet analysis (45%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Internet is a communications and media infrastructure that supports constant economic and social change, as well as being integrated into the routines of our everyday life across the planet. Internet Transformations critically examines the online technologies, platforms and industries at the heart of these changes. It introduces key skills in analysis, evaluation and critique of these objects, situated in a historical context. It also interrogates the implications of emerging internetworked phenomena such as the internet of things, augmented reality and algorithmic cultures.
ARIN2620 Everyday Digital Media
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 1000 level in Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 1000 level in Media Studies or 18 credit points at 1000-level in any of Anthropology, Art History, Computer Science, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology or Sociology Prohibitions: ARIN2200 Assessment: 1x1250wd take-home exercise 1 (25%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%), 1x1250wd take-home exercise 2 (25%), participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How we eat, sleep, talk, love, shop, work, play, learn and die are all shaped by digital media. Everyday digital media focuses on the transformation of self and society through the digital mediation of everyday practices. How do we organise our social lives and engage creatively in online realms? What are the opportunities and risks of sharing and self-presentation in networked publics? How are communities reconfigured in a digital context? This unit introduces theories of digital culture and identity and applies them to our everyday experiences and interactions with social media, participatory culture, locative media, computer games, virtual reality, smart homes and connected cities.
3000 level units of study
Core
ARIN3620 Researching Digital Cultures
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Anthropology, Art History, Computer Science, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Psychology or Sociology Prohibitions: ARIN2000 Assessment: 1x2000wd research blog (45%), 1x2500wd research proposal (45%), tutorial participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
How do people make and use new media technologies? To answer this question you need to know how to conduct research: a systematic investigation using carefully chosen and ethically sound methods. In this unit students prepare a research proposal to improve knowledge about the social implications of the latest developments in information technologies. They build their methodology by choosing a combination of methods: big data analysis; ethnography, interviews, surveys, online methods, discourse analysis, content analysis and/or case studies.
Selective
ARIN3610 Technology and Culture
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures or (12 credit points at 2000 level in Anthropology, Art History, Business Information Systems, Computer Science, Cultural Studies, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Psychology or Sociology) or (6 credit points at 1000 level and 6 credit points at 2000 level in Innovation and Entrepreneurship) Prohibitions: ARIN2600 Assessment: 1x1000wd provocations and report (20%), 1x1500wd influence analysis (30%), 1x2000wd essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Technology and Culture explores the relationships between technological developments and cultural change, with a particular focus on digital media. This unit of study interrogates the changing theorisations of technology in society by tracing the influence of key texts in media studies, philosophy of technology, sociology, cultural studies and science and technology studies. Through close readings of advanced texts, students explore the significance of technology in social power, identity, gender, social shaping, class, space, assemblages, actor-networks, experience, thought, time, and materiality. We mobilise and evaluate these theories in relation to emerging technologies today.
ARIN3630 Digital Arts
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures major or Art History major or Design Computing major or Film Studies major or (6 credit points at 1000 level and 6 credit points at 2000 level in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship major) Prohibitions: ARIN2630 Assessment: 1x2000wd essay (40%), 1x1500wd review (30%), 1x1000wd tutorial activity (20%), participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Digital Arts explores the ways digital and new media technologies are being used to transform cultural production, distribution and reception in the visual and performing arts, machine vision and popular culture. Students will learn about the changing aesthetic, cultural and technical dimensions of new digital technologies and will develop the critical and analytical tools and a practical skillset with which to discuss, evaluate, and appreciate works of digital art.
ARIN3640 Games and Play
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in the Digital Cultures major or (6 credit points at 1000 level and 6 credit points at 2000 level in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship major) or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Anthropology, Art History, Computer Science, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Psychology or Sociology Prohibitions: ARIN2640 Assessment: 1x1000wd tutorial activity (20%), 1x2000wd game analysis (40%), 1x1500wd game design project (30%), tutorial participation (10%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Games are distinctive cultural forms, with histories, aesthetics, design cultures, player communities and academic theory. This unit explores how games work and how they are situated in culture. Drawing on games studies, media studies, HCI and design, students analyse games and develop a game concept.
FILM3000 Cinematic Transformations
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points at 2000 level in Art History or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Film Studies or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Digital Cultures or 12 credit points at 2000 level in Critical Studies Prohibitions: ARHT3601 Assessment: 1x500wd digital cinema: project proposal (15%), 1x1500wd digital cinema: project (25%), 1x1000wd digital cinema: project critical reflection (20%), 1x2000wd research essay (40%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
What is cinema in the twenty-first century? Where do we locate the essence of a medium that has undergone such a radical transformation? This course examines the intersection of film, digital cinema, and new media platforms such as YouTube, mobile cinemas, and virtual reality technologies. Where many have spoken of the death of cinema in a digital era, we will conceptualise the complexity of cinema's evolution from its earliest celluloid incarnation to the technologies of digital simulation.
Interdisciplinary project unit of study
If you are completing two majors and both of your majors are from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, please select the Interdisciplinary Impact unit of study for your first major, and the Industry and Community Project unit of study for your second major.
If you are completing two majors but only one of your majors is from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, please select the Interdisciplinary Impact unit of study for that major.
If you are completing one major only and that major is from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, please select the Interdisciplinary Impact unit of study for your major.
FASS3999 Interdisciplinary Impact
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive December,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1hr lecture/performance event week for 5 weeks 2hr workshop per week for 10 weeks 2hr online learning modules for 5 weeks Prerequisites: Completion of at least 90 credit points Assessment: 1x1000wd disciplinary mapping exercise (20%), 1x1500wd / 10 min team presentation (30%), 1x2000wd critical reflection (35%), participation and engagement (15%). Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolmentin the following sessions:Intensive December
Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.
ARIN3999 Interdisciplinary Impact
This unit of study is not available in 2022
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive December,Semester 1,Semester 2 Prerequisites: Completion of at least 90 credit points Prohibitions: Interdisciplinary Impact in another major Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolmentin the following sessions:Intensive December
Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.
ARIN3998 Industry and Community Project
Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prerequisites: 72 credit points Corequisites: Interdisciplinary Impact in any major Assessment: Please refer to the unit of study outline for individual sessions https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
This interdisciplinary unit provides students with the opportunity to address complex problems identified by industry, community, and government organisations, and gain valuable experience in working across disciplinary boundaries. In collaboration with a major industry partner and an academic lead, students integrate their academic skills and knowledge by working in teams with students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. This experience allows students to research, analyse and present solutions to a realworld problem, and to build on their interpersonal and transferable skills by engaging with and learning from industry experts and presenting their ideas and solutions to the industry partner.