Digital Cultures

 

 

 

Has the Internet really “changed everything?” If so, how do we recognize and make sense of those changes? This interdisciplinary seminar offers examines the many ways in which the Internet has changed the way we experience, shape, and conceive of culture. This course will introduce students to the dizzying array of components that constitute digital culture: technological forms, social practices, narrative structures, economic arrangements and political relations. We will survey a wide variety of approaches, ideas, and artifacts: from early media theory to memes; from novels to online games. In addition to written work, students will have the opportunity to create digital and multi-modal projects. One of our main goals is to interrogate the very terms of this course: what is the relationship between the “digital” and the “cultural?” Which cultural practices and ideas remain resistant to change in the digital age? Where are we headed?