University of Sydney Handbooks - 2021 Archive

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Digital Cultures Descriptions

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: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 1x1200wd Essay (30%), 1x1800wd Essay (40%), 1x2hr exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Available to BA/B Advanced Studies (Media and Communications), BA/BLaw and Digital Cultures major 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 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%) 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: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr 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: ARIN2100 Assessment: 3x500wd analytic journal entries (25%), 1x1000wd equiv research presentation (30%), 1x2000wd critical analysis or web feature (45%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Internet is at the heart of major digital transformations in industry, society and culture. This unit introduces key skills in analysis and critique of the technologies involved in networked change, exploring internet imaginaries, histories and emerging phenomena.
ARIN2620 Everyday Digital Media

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline 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%) 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: Refer to the unit of study outline 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%) 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: Refer to the unit of study outline 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, Computer Science, Design Computing, English, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Information Systems, Information Technology, Linguistics, Psychology or Sociology Prohibitions: ARIN2600 Assessment: 1x1000wd Provocations and report (20%), 1x1500wd Influence analysis (30%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Technology and Culture analyses the relationships between technological developments and cultural change, with a particular focus on digital media. This unit of study interrogates the changing conceptions of technology in society by tracing the influence of key works in the critical Humanities and social sciences. Through close readings and provocative discussion 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 the future.
ARIN3630 Digital Arts

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline 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 or 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 Design Computing Prohibitions: ARIN2630 Assessment: 1x Participation (10%), 1x2000wd Essay (40%), 1x1500wd Review (30%), 1x1000wd Tutorial activity (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Explore digital technologies in the visual and performing arts, film and popular culture to analyse how new media transform the ways art is made and experienced. Discuss and evaluate their technologies, aesthetics, and how audiences interact with, and even produce them.
ARIN3640 Games and Play

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 1x2hr seminar/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: ARIN2640 Assessment: 1x1000wd tutorial activity (20%), 1x2000wd game analysis (40%), 1x1500wd game design project (30%), tutorial participation (10%) 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: Refer to the unit of study outline 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%) 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.
ARIN3999 Interdisciplinary Impact

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: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prerequisites: 72 credit points Corequisites: Interdisciplinary Impact in any major. Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
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 real¿world 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.