Outline

Overview

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.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	ARIN3610
Academic unit	Media and Communications
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	ARIN2600
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
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Chris Chesher, chris.chesher@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Chris Chesher, chris.chesher@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Simon Taylor, simon.m.taylor@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Participation	Tutorial participation n/a	10%	Ongoing	n/a
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Provocations and report Assessment consists of an in-class 'provocation' and a written report	20%	Ongoing	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Influence analysis Analyse the influence on/of your course reading of choice.	30%	Week 05 Due date: 02 Apr 2021 at 23:59 Closing date: 16 Apr 2021	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Essay Critical academic essay on your topic of interest applying key frameworks	40%	Week 13 Due date: 04 Jun 2021 at 23:59 Closing date: 25 Jun 2021	2000 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Outstanding work
Distinction	75 - 84	Very good: shows critical insight
Credit	65 - 74	Good: shows effort and application
Pass	50 - 64	Acceptable
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction to technology and culture	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	Experience and control	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 02	McCarthy & Wright and Deleuze	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 03	Medium theory	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 03	McLuhan and Kittler	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 04	Cyborgs and the posthuman	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 04	Haraway and Hayles	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 05	Social construction of technology	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 05	Pinch & Bijker and Winner	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 06	Digital Labour	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 06	Wark and Fuchs	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 07	Space	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 07	Kitchen & Dodge and Saker & Evans	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 08	Actor-network theory	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 08	Latour and Law	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 09	Machines and assemblages	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Guattari and Nail	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 10	Phenomenology	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 10	Heidegger and Gunkel & Taylor	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 11	Archives and memory	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 11	Derrida and van Dijk	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 12	Time	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 12	Adam and Johnson	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 13	Materiality	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 13	Parrika and Casemajor	Tutorial (1 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.
Submit all assessment tasks: You must submit all assessment tasks to pass this unit of study.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

WEEK 2: WHAT ARE TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE?

McCarthy, John and Peter Wright (2004). ‘Living with technology’. Technology as experience, Cambridge and London: The MIT Press. pp 1-22.

Deleuze, G. (1992). ‘Postscript on the societies of control’. October, 59, 3–7.

WEEK 3: MEDIUM THEORY

McLuhan, Marshall (1964). ‘The Medium is the Message’. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. London: Routledge & Kegal Paul, pp. 7-21.

Kittler, F. (2010) Optical media. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp. 29–36.

WEEK 4: CYBORGS AND THE POSTHUMAN

Haraway, Donna (1991). ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’. Haraway, Donna J (1991) Simians, cyborgs and women. Reinvention of nature, New York: Routledge, pp 149-181.

Hayles, N. K. (2005). ‘Computing the human’. Theory, Culture & Society, 22(1), 131-151.

WEEK 5: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNOLOGY

Pinch, Trevor & Wiebe Bijker (1987). ‘The social construction of facts and artifacts: or how the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other’ in Bijker, Wiebe, Hughes, Thomas and Pinch, Trevor The social construction of technological systems, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp. 17-50.

Winner, Langdon. (1993). ‘Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding it Empty: Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Technology’ in Science Technology & Human Values, 18, no 3 (Summer 1993): pp. 362-378.

WEEK 6: CLASS

Wark, McKenzie (2004). ‘Class’ in A hacker manifesto, Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, Pars 24-47.

Fuchs, C. (2016). ‘Dallas Smythe and digital labor’. In Maxwell, Richard The Routledge Companion to Labor and Media. London: Routledge.

WEEK 7: SPACE

Kitchin, Rob and Dodge, Martin (2011). ‘Introducing Code/Space,’ in Code/Space: Software and Everyday Life, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 3-31.

Evans, Leighton & Saker, Michael (2017). ‘Space’ in Location-based social media. Space, time, identity. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 13–37.

WEEK 8: ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY

Latour, Bruno (1991). ‘Technology is society made durable’ in Law, John (1991) A Sociology of monsters. Essays on power, technology and domination, London: Routledge, pp 103–131 (excerpt).

Law, J. (2009). ‘Actor network theory and material semiotics’. Turner, B.S. (Ed.) (2009). The new Blackwell companion to social theory. West Sussex: Blackwell. pp.142–158.

WEEK 9: MACHINES AND ASSEMBLAGES

Guattari, Felix (1995). Machinic heterogenesis in Chaosmosis: an ethico-aesthetic paradigm Sydney:Power, pp 33-57.

Nail, Thomas (2017). What is an assemblage? SubStance #142, Vol. 46, No. 1. Board of Regents: University of Wisconsin.

WEEK 10: PHENOMENOLOGY

Heidegger, Martin (1977). The question concerning technology in The question concerning technology and other essays. New York: Harper & Row, pp 3–35.

Gunkel, David and Taylor, Paul (2014). ‘The Dasign of media apps: The questions concerning technology’ in Gunkel, David & Taylor, Paul, Heidegger and the media, Cambridge: Polity pp.125–159.

WEEK 11: THOUGHT AND ARCHIVE

Derrida, Jacques (1996). Archive fever: a Freudian impression trans. Eric Prenowitz Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 7-23.

José van Dijck (2004). Memory Matters in the Digital Age Configurations, Vol 12, No 3, Fall 2004, pp. 349-373. Johns Hopkins University Press DOI https://doi.org/10.1353/con.2007.0001 (?)

WEEK 12: TIME

Adam, B. (1992). Modern times: The technology connection and its implications for social theory. Time & Society, 1(2), 175-191.

Johnson, K. (2017). Internet addiction? Temporality and life online in the networked society. Time & Society, 26(3), 267–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/09614

WEEK 13: MATERIALITY

Parikka, Jussi (2015). ‘Materiality: grounds of media and culture,’ in A Geology of Media, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1-28.

Casemajor, N. (2015). Digital materialisms: frameworks for digital media studies. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 10(1), 4–17. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.209

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Understand the complex interrelationship between technology and culture
LO2. Develop independent learning and critical thinking through readings, discussion and written assignments
LO3. Demonstrate oral and written communication skills by facilitating and participating in ‘provocations’
LO4. Research and inquiry skills, involving the ability to present evidence and argument in support of your own particular perspective
LO5. Become aware of the importance of influence and the conventions of citation, and a capacity to trace influences in this assignment
LO6. Apply theoretical approaches to the study of technology and culture to recent case studies
LO7. Use communication and information technologies effectively.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Thanks for previous students for productive feedback. We have replaced three readings that students found too dated. We have revised the instructions for some of the assessments.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

ARIN3610: Technology and Culture

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect