Introduction to Digital Culture

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenors: Scott Rodgers, Robert Topinka
• Assessment: a 750-word critical analysis (20%), 1250-word comparative analysis (30%) and 2000-word essay (50%)

This course introduces you to some of the most important themes and debates relating to digital culture today. Through an examination of pressing topics - such as the role of software algorithms in perpetuating cultural biases, the ways we increasingly curate who we are through online platforms, or the rise of social media influencers - we will ask just what is becoming of culture in a digitalising world. While the module will first and foremost be thematically focused, you will in the process also begin to build up a capacity to analyse digital culture through core academic techniques such as critical reading and essay composition.

Indicative module content

• What is culture?
• What is digital?
• Interface
• Algorithm
• Data
• Identity
• Gaming
• Sharing
• Mobility
• Participation