The Digital Future: fears, ghosts and mediumsThe Digital Mediascape: Week Twelve

The online Subject Experience Survey (SES)

The onlineSubject Experience Survey

is now available for this subject

The Subject Experience Survey (SES) is an online survey to help the University monitor and improve

the quality of its subject offerings.

The online Subject Experience Survey (SES)

Log in today to complete the survey:

https://subjecteval.unimelb.edu.au(or via the ‘My Surveys’ module on your LMS ‘My Home’ tab)

also available on mobile devices

The survey closes on Sunday 4th of November

The online Subject Experience Survey (SES)

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Outline

Research essay pointers

Futures

Fears of technology

Catfish (Schulman & Joost 2010)

Course thematic overview

Essay

Can be handed in as a blog.

But otherwise to be handed in to John Medley 2nd floor school office by 5pm with cover sheet.

Need envelope if you want feedback. Otherwise there will be no feedback left on your essay.

10% per DAY late! (cruel and unusual)

Contact me if you need an extension BEFORE IT IS DUE

Essay

Case study questions

Can be a media form, can be a specific film, game, website, software, whatever

Can choose something off-the-wall

Can choose something not from the course

An essay is a genre

Always, always have an argument

Don’t ask rhetorical questions (unless you plan on immediately answering them, but even then, don’t do it son)

Own your argument (“I argue...” not “I would like to argue...”)

An essay is a genre

Don’t try and build surprises in your structure

Don’t use PR or journalistic language

But do be lively, if you want

Style

Australian spellings: analogue, digitalisation, etc

Decades look like this: 1980s, ‘80s. Not 1980’s, 80’s

Don’t double space at the end of sentences unless you’re working on a typewriter

Star Wars (George Lucas 1977)

Portal (Valve 2007)

Research

Do you hate this article because you disagree, or because you aren’t interested?

If you can’t say it simply, you probably don’t understand it very well

Don’t let your quotes be the most interesting thing about your essay

Get jargon right

The Digital Mediumsscape

Medium = singular

Media = plural

Don’t begin with a grand statement

Usually not actually anything to do with what you’re arguing

Also usually completely unprovable and meaningless

Use the Academic Skills Unit

Be specific

Why Futures?

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

Douglas Adams: ‘How to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet’

L’arrivée d’un train á La Ciotat (Lumiére Brothers 1895)

TheMoral Panic

Is the trailer fake?

Is Megan fake?

Is the film fake?

The untruths of the image

The untruths of the word

The untruths of people

Themes of The Digital Mediascape

How do digital media relate to each other?

- appropriation, structure, remediation, history

- through innumerable links

- through a common set of cultural practices

How does digital media relate to us?

- as part of a singular being

- as a shaping force

- through processes of work and leisure

How does digital media change culture?

- through interactivity and structure

- through frameworks for space

- as new/altered/shaping tools

Thank you!

And GOOD LUCK!