Syllabus Mobility
Syllabus Mobility
Syllabus Mobility
OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF ENGLISH, MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS
Mobile
Cultures
Dr
Caroline
Wake
ARTS2091
SESSION
2,
2011
1.
Location
FACULTY
FASS
SCHOOL
EMPA
COURSE
CODE
ARTS2091
COURSE
NAME
Mobile
Cultures
SESSION
2
YEAR
2011
2.
Table
of
Contents
Staff
Contact
Details
....................................................................................................................2
Course
Details ..............................................................................................................................3
Rationale
for
the
Inclusion
of
Content
and
Teaching
Approach .....................................................5
Teaching
Strategies.......................................................................................................................6
Assessment ..................................................................................................................................6
Academic
Honesty
and
Plagiarism .............................................................................................. 10
Course
Schedule ......................................................................................................................... 10
Required
and
Recommended
Resources ..................................................................................... 23
Course
Evaluation
and
Development .......................................................................................... 23
Other
Information ...................................................................................................................... 24
3.
Email address: [email protected] Email is the preferred method of communication for this course. Please put ARTS2091 in the subject line. Office: Robert Webster Building, 208 Contact time/availability: During class weeks, Caroline will be available on Wednesdays 11am-12pm and Thursdays 3-4pm. Emailing: Please put ARTS2901 in the subject line. Unfortunately with the large number of students I teach it is not always possible to know you all on a first name basis or remember the particulars of something you mentioned in class. So if you want matters to be dealt with efficiently, please include your student number, full name and class details (day and time). Emails that ask questions that can be answered by reading the course outline will not be answered. If your question is complicated, or you have multiple questions, please come and see me in my consultation time rather than email. I do not read or answer student email outside of office hours.
4.
Course Details
Credit Points: 6 Units of Credit Lecture Time: Wednesday 9 -11 am Lecture Location: Rex Vowels Theatre
Course
Description
Welcome
to
Mobile
Cultures!
Media
are
increasingly
portable,
mobile,
networked
and
ubiquitous.
But
what
are
the
conditions
that
have
given
rise
to
these
new
media
technologies
and
practices,
and
how
might
we
respond
to
new
mobile
networks
and
forms
of
participation
that
mobile
media
allow?
From
mass
media
to
mass
migration,
mobility
is
one
of
the
key
concepts
of
modern
life.
This
course
investigates
mobile
media
in
the context of the pervasiveness of mobility in modern life and the way in which technology enables and controls all kinds of mobile cultures. This subject will survey the history of mobile and portable media from transistor radios through to iPhones, within a larger context of mobile cultures in which we move, from village to city, home life to car culture, from airport to internet. Tracing the evolution of modernity from the industrial revolution to the fluid spaces of contemporary super-modernity, this course investigates the current state of play in the mobile media landscape within broad cultural, political, historical and theoretical frameworks. Using these frameworks we will analyse how power and resistance operate within a society structured by movement: how social relationships are built and reconfigured in an age of global travel and communication, who is empowered and who is disempowered.
1. Apply
a
mobilities
framework
to
contemporary
technological
and
social
configurations.
2. Investigate
the
means
by
which
different
regimes
of
power
operate
to
shape
understandings
and
experiences
of
time
and
space.
3. Work
collaboratively
in
groups
to
facilitate
the
learning
of
other
students.
4. Produce
a
high
level
of
academic
research
and
writing.
4
Graduate
Attributes
ARTS2091:
Mobile
Cultures
is
designed
to
develop
the
following
UNSW
graduate
attributes:
1. The
capacity
for
analytical
and
critical
thinking
and
creative
problem
solving.
2. The
ability
to
independently
conduct
relevant
and
high
quality
multidisciplinary
research.
3. The
skills
of
effective
and
precise
academic
communication.
4. The
skills
required
for
collaborative
work.
5.
The
mediascape
has
changed
dramatically
in
recent
decades.
The
exponential
growth
of
global
travel,
the
rise
of
the
internet
and
the
uptake
of
mobile
phones
and
personal
media
players
has
fundamentally
altered
our
everyday
lives,
our
society
and
our
sense
of
self.
This
course
is
designed
to
assist
students
in
conceptualising
this
moment
of
radical
reconfiguration.
Moving
away
from
traditional
static
models
of
mass-media
towards
theorisations
emphasising
mobility,
connectivity
and
personalisation,
this
course
is
designed
to
give
the
students
the
up-to-date
understanding
of
contemporary
media
that
they
will
need
to
become
successful
media
practitioners.
This
course
does
not
primarily
focus
on
specific
mobile
technologies
(which
themselves
will
be
outmoded
shortly),
but
rather
seeks
to
provide
an
appropriate
and
relevant
academic
framework
for
students
to
engage
with
and
develop.
The
assessments
in
this
course
are
designed
to
promote
a
deep
engagement
with
the
key
theoretical
concepts
and
theorists
as
well
as
to
encourage
self-reflexive
and
collaborative
learning.
6.
Teaching Strategies
ARTS2091:
Mobile
Cultures
will
consist
of
one
lecture
(two
hours)
and
one
tutorial
(one
hour)
each
week.
Attendance
at
both
is
compulsory.
In
some
weeks
lecture
time
may
be
set
aside
to
discuss
course
related
issues,
such
as
assessment
tasks,
research
skills
and
resources.
Tutorials are a space for you, the student, to determine what will best help you navigate the complex terrain of Mobile Culture. You tutors role is to assist and guide you, not to do the work for you, so the success of your tutorials comes down to you. You are expected to come to class having done the readings, but it is not a problem if you have not understood everything as the complex ideas from the readings and lectures will be discussed and worked through in the tutorial. So come along prepared to ask questions and engage with the issues and you will find the tutorials a productive learning environment. Remember the tutorial will only be as useful and enjoyable as you make it.
7.
Assessment
This course has three assessment tasks: a short exam, a group presentation and a final essay.
Please come on time, if you are late you risk not being allowed to sit the exam.
Each week (6-8) will have two groups leading discussions. Groups will be formed in Week 4. Readings will be assigned in Week 4. All group members will receive the same mark. Group contracts assigning duties and deadlines will be finalised in Week 5. All students are expected to do significant research and planning for this task. Remember 20 minutes can disappear surprisingly quickly. You will need strong time management skills and careful planning to do well at this task.
This
is
the
major
assessment
task
for
this
course
and
will
be
marked
accordingly.
Essay
Questions
1) As
people
and
artefacts
become
more
mobile,
other
people
and
objects
become
relatively
less
mobile
(Urry,
2007:145).
Discuss
the
cultural
and
political
relationship
between
mobility
and
immobility
in
contemporary
society.
2) Pick
a
contemporary
practice
or
technology
of
mobility
and
analyse
how
it
reflects,
challenges
and/or
expands
a
post-structuralist
theorisation
of
power
(discipline,
control
or
strategies
and
tactics).
How
has
this
practice
or
technology
reconfigured
society,
how
has
society
configured
this
practice
or
technology?
3) How
has
the
concept
of
mobility
informed
a
contemporary
understanding
of
society
and
subjectivity?
Explore
this
question
in
relation
to
theories
of
contemporary
modernity:
liquid
modernity,
supermodernity
and/or
risk
society
(reflexive
modernity).
4) Different technologies and practices of mobility reflect different cultural configurations and values. Pick two practices/technologies of mobility, one from before 1920 and one from after 1980 and contrast how they reflect the different societies which produced them.
Assessment Task Exam 20 multiple choice 30% and 5 short answer questions Group Presentation 20 minute group 30% All group members receive the same mark Final Essay You must COMPLETE ALL TASKS to be eligible to pass the subject. 1800-2000 words 40% 1, 2, 4 1, 2, 3 4pm Friday, 28 October 2011 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4 presentation Length Weighting Learning Outcomes Assessed 1 Graduate Attributes Assessed 1, 2 Week 5 lecture 9am, Wednesday 17 August 2011 In tutorials Weeks 6, 7 and 8 Due Date
8.
For information on academic honest and plagiarism please refer to the pdf, "Essential Information for all EMPA students" available at: http://empa.arts.unsw.edu.au/media/File/ESSENTIAL_INFORMATION_FOR_ALL_STUDENTS.pdf The Learning Centre can provide further information: www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism
9.
Course Schedule
LECTURE
What
are
the
major
paradigms
and
methodologies
available
for
studying
mobility,
and
why
is
it
important
to
do
so?
This
weeks
lecture
will
cover
the
basics
of
the
field
and
explore
what
questions
and
new
insights
arise
when
we
understand
culture
as
mobile.
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This week we will also go through the course in detail including the structure, required readings and the assignments. TUTORIALS No tutorials this week REQUIRED READING Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 1: Mobilizing Social Life in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook] RECOMMENDED READING Cresswell, T. (2006) Chapter 1: The Production of Mobilities in On the Move: Mobility in the Modern World, New York: Routledge
11
REQUIRED READINGS Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 2: Mobile Theories and Methods and Chapter 3: The Mobilities Paradigm in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook] RECOMMENDED READING Cresswell, T. (2006) Chapter 2: The Metaphysics of Fixity and Flow in On the Move: Mobility in the Modern World, New York: Routledge
LECTURE Our cities shape our practices of mobility, and our practices of mobility shape our cities. In this lecture we will be looking at a number of pedestrian engagements with urban space; from Baudelaire, Benjamin and de Certeaus observational wanderings to the ludic reclamation of city space of parkour enthusiasts and location based gamers. Travelling on foot offers a unique and intimate relationship to space, which this week we will be analysing. TUTORIALS In the tutorial today we will be focusing the power of the pedestrian observer. We will be discussing the changing role of pedestrians in our cities and how we can conceptualise a city in terms of the various types of flow that take place in it. We will explore how practices such as parkour and location based gaming challenge our assumptions about the potential uses of urban environments. REQUIRED READINGS Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 4: Pavements and Paths in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook]
12
de Souza e Silva, A. and Hjorth, L. (2009) Playful Urban Spaces: A Historical Approach to Mobile Games in Simulation and Gaming, Volume 40 Number 5. Available online at: http://sag.sagepub.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/cgi/reprint/40/5/602.pdf (You will need to log on using your student number and Unipass) RECOMMENDED READINGS de Certeau, M. (1984) Chapter 7: Walking in the City in The Practice of Everyday Life Berkeley: University of California Press Benjamin, W. (2004) Paris; Capital of the Nineteenth Century in The Arcades Project trans. Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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(such as Mp3 players)? What different strategies and tactics do you use to claim your own space? What practices do other passengers use? Why? REQUIRED READINGS Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 5: Public Trains in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook] Schivelbusch, W. (1978) Railroad Space and Railroad Time in New German Critique, No. 14. Available online at: http://www.jstor.org.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/stable/pdfplus/488059.pdf RECOMMENDED READING Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 6: Inhabiting Cars and Roads in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook]
TUTORIALS
This
week
will
primarily
be
focused
on
preparing
for
Assessment
Two:
the
in-class
presentations.
We
will
finalise
groups,
talk
through
strategies
and
assign
the
readings
and
weeks
to
present.
Students
should
have
already
decided
who
they
would
like
to
work
with
and
thought
through
how
they
are
going
to
approach
this
task.
This
aim
of
this
tutorial
is
to
finalise
the
details
and
talk
through
what
is
expected.
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REQUIRED READINGS Note: Due to the exam there are no required readings this week. Please use your time to revise the first five chapters of Urry and the lecture notes from Weeks 1 to 4.
LECTURE
Guest
Lecture
by
Dr
Katherine
Albury
Recent
years
have
witnessed
a
growing
moral
panic
surrounding
teen
sexting,
the
sending
of
sexually
explicit
photos
via
mobile
phones.
The
practice
has
been
the
focus
of
widespread
legal
and
political
debates
around
what
constitutes
child
pornography.
In
Australia
although
young
people
in
this
16
and
17
year
age
group
are
legally
permitted
to
consent
to
sexual
activity,
this
activity
is
deemed
child
pornography
if
it
is
photographed,
as
Australian
Classification
Guidelines
do
not
permit
any
depictions
of
non-adult
persons,
including
those
aged
16
or
17,
nor
of
adult
persons
who
look
like
they
are
under
18
years.
Effectively,
sexually
active
16
and
17
year
olds
are
excluded
from
all
legitimate
visual
representation.
In
this
weeks
lecture
Dr
Katherine
Albury
will
explore
this
issues
surrounding
texting,
and
ask
this
if
un-representability
also
excludes
young
people
from
what
has
variously
been
termed
sexual,
or
intimate
citizenship.
TUTORIALS
First
week
of
student
facilitated
tutorials,
Assessment
Task
Two.
REQUIRED
READINGS
Cresswell,
T.
(1999)
Embodiment,
Power
and
the
Politics
of
Mobility:
The
Case
of
Female
Tramps
and
Hobos
Transactions
of
the
Institute
of
British
Geographers,
New
Series,
Vol
24
No
2:
175-192.
http://www.jstor.org.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/openurl?volume=24&date=1999&spage=175&i ssn=00202754&issue=2&
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Corbett, D. (2009) Let's Talk About Sext: The Challenge Of Finding The Right Legal Response To The Teenage Practice Of "Sexting". Journal of Internet Law Vol 13 No 6: 3-8. Available online at: http://search.ebscohost.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=4 5447192&site=ehost-live RECOMMENDED READING: Funnell, N. (2009) Sexting gives teens more control, NineMSN Soapboxing. Available online at: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=448103&showcomments=true
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RECOMMENDED READING McCarthy, C. (2011) Egypt, Twitter, and the Rise of the Watchdog Crowd in CNet News. Available online at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20031600-36.html Morozov, E. (2009) Iran Elections: A Twitter Revolution? In The Washington Post. Available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/06/17/DI2009061702232.html
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RECOMMENDED READING de Certeau, M. (1984) Chapter 9: Spatial Stories in The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkeley: University of California Press
Please Note: The two readings are both very difficult, do not be disheartened if you do not understand all of the ideas, but please do attempt to read both. These are important readings. I will be explaining them in depth in the lecture and we will be analysing them closely in the tutorials. If you are struggling with these texts, look at this weeks recommended reading and read the Galloway chapter set for week 11, they should help. RECOMMENDED READINGS McHoul, A. and Grace, W. (1993) Chapter 3: Power in A Foucault Primer: Discourse, Power and the Subject, New York: New York University Press
LECTURE
Guest
Lecture
by
Dr
Gillian
Fuller
The
airport
is
the
city
of
the
future.
It
is
a
laboratory
for
thinking
about
the
ongoing
evolution
of
information
architecture
and
urban
planning.
The
airport
collapses
the
categories
of
the
urban
metropolis
mall
and
terminal,
private
and
public,
information
and
physical
space,
citizens
and
humans.
TUTORIALS
In
this
week,
we
will
bring
some
of
the
theories
we
have
been
discussing
into
conversation
with
the
case
study
of
airports.
In
other
words,
we
will
test
out
the
language
of
place,
non-place,
power,
discipline,
control
and
networks
and
see
if
it
can
help
us
think
about
airports.
Contrariwise,
well
also
see
if
the
airport
might
shift
some
of
these
theories
or
at
least
cause
us
to
reconsider
them.
REQUIRED
READINGS
Urry,
J.
(2007)
Chapter
7:
Flying
Around
in
Mobilities,
Cambridge:
Polity
Press
[Textbook]
Fuller,
G.
and
Harley
R.
(2005)
SYD:
The
City
as
Airport,
in
SCAN,
Vol
2,
Number
1
Available
online
at:
http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/print.php?journal_id=46&j_id=4
20
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SBS, Go Back to Where You Came From, Episodes 1-4 (Episode 1 at the very least) http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/goback RECOMMENDED READINGS Ahmed, S. (2000) Chapter 4: Home and Away: Narratives of Migration and Estrangement Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality New York: Routledge Perera, S. (2002) What is a Camp? borderlands e-journal Vol 1 No 1. Available online at: http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol1no1_2002/perera_camp.html ---. (2002) A Line in the Sea: The Tampa, Boat Stories and the Border Cultural Studies Review Vol 8 No 1: 11-27. Available online at: http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200210550;res=APAFT (You will need to log in with your student number and zPass).
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REQUIRED READING Urry, J. (2007) Chapter 13: Systems and Dark Futures in Mobilities, Cambridge: Polity Press [Textbook] RECOMMENDED READING Cresswell, T. (2006) Epilogue in On the Move: Mobility in the Modern World, New York: Routledge
It is also highly recommended you familiarise yourself with the resources and services the university library offers: http://www.library.unsw.edu.au/ Online Course Resources The Mobile Cultures course website and audio recordings of lectures can be accessed through the TELT gateway: http://telt.unsw.edu.au/ Please login to UNSW Blackboard for the Mobile Cultures website, and Lectopia for lecture recordings.
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Tutorial
attendance
is
compulsory.
It
is
FASS
policy
that
you
should
attend
at
least
80%
(that
is,
10
from
12)
of
the
tutorials
and
lectures
in
order
to
pass
the
course
(see
EMPA's
"Essential
Information
for
Students
referred
to
elsewhere
in
this
outline).
In
short,
attendance
at
less
than
80%
of
tutorials
or
lectures
without
documentary
evidence
of
illness
or
misadventure
may
result
in
failure
in
the
course.
Please
also
note
that
if
you
arrive
more
than
20
minutes
late
for
tutorials
you
will
be
marked
absent.
This
policy
will
be
enforced
in
this
course.
Advice
concerning
special
consideration
in
the
event
of
illness
or
misadventure
is
available
in
the
document
Essential
Information
for
all
EMPA
Students",
which
can
be
found
at:
http://empa.arts.unsw.edu.au/media/File/ESSENTIAL_INFORMATION_FOR_ALL_STUDENTS.pdf
Student
equity
and
diversity
issues
can
be
discussed
via
the
Student
Equity
Officers
(Disability)
in
the
Student
Equity
and
Diversity
Unit
(9385
4734).
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