Screen Media and Mediated Experiences

Subject SCRN40009 (2016)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2016.

Credit Points: 12.5
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period 25-Jul-2016 to 23-Oct-2016
Assessment Period End 18-Nov-2016
Last date to Self-Enrol 05-Aug-2016
Census Date 31-Aug-2016
Last date to Withdraw without fail 23-Sep-2016


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2-hour seminar and a 2.5 hour screening per week.
Total Time Commitment:

Total expected time commitment is 170 hours across the semester, including class time.

Prerequisites:

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in screen studies or screen and cultural studies, Master of Art Curatorship, Master of Arts and Cultural Management (Moving Image).

Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Prof Angela Ndalianis

Contact

Angela Ndalianis

angelan@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

We live in a world mediated by screen technologies, and our lives are marked by radical transitions and advances in media that have altered our perception and experience of reality. This subject analyses the nature of current screen media, including film, computer game, television, internet and mobile technologies and it explores their histories and genealogies -- what Zielinski calls the 'deep time' of screen media history. Following an interdisciplinary approach, this subject will study the history of various screen media, asking how they contributed to perceptions of the world. It will examine their relationship with their audiences and their links with science on the one hand and art, entertainment and illusionism on the other. This subject will explore why humans have a long history of desiring to extend our senses and intensify reality through technological mediation. It will investigate the concepts of embodied technology and the technologized body within the context of public and private screen mediated spaces.

Learning Outcomes:

This subject:

  • explores the impact that screen media have had in defining and mediating our interaction with the world around us;
  • Evaluates screen media such as television, film, computer games, the internet, mobile phones and iPods within the broader historical context of other media forms such as magic lanterns, stereoscopes, panorama and perspective boxes;
  • Examines the impact that digital media have had on shaping the social sphere - from gallery spaces and art exhibitions, to retail centres and shopping experiences;
  • Studies the interpretative and theoretical models that have emerged in response to the screen media and their histories - from analogue to digital traditions; and
  • considers the following in relation to screen media: narrative and multilinearity, illusion and representation, identity, virtual communities, interactivity and database aesthetics.
Assessment:

A 2000 word seminar paper discussing the writing of a chosen topic selected by the student and based on weekly seminar topics 40% (due during semester), and a 3000 word essay that critically examines the historical and theoretical responses to systems of perception that are technologically mediated 60% (due in the examination period). Students are required to attend a minimum of 80% (or 10 out of 12) classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Any student who fails to meet this hurdle without valid reason will not be eligible to pass the subject. All required written work must be submitted in order to pass the subject. Essays submitted after the due date without an extension will be penalised 2% per day. Essays submitted after two weeks of the assessment due date without a formally approved application for special consideration or an extension will only be marked on a pass/fail basis if accepted.

Prescribed Texts:

A subject reader will be available.

Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

Students successfully completing this subject will:

  • be able to demonstrate a high level of written and oral communication skills, including conformity to academic protocols of presentation and research;
  • be able to demonstrate a high level of competence in reading, synthesizing, and presenting to others the relevant historical and theoretical material; and
  • be able to present original research that includes reflection on their own learning.
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: 100 Point Master of Art Curatorship
150 Point Master of Art Curatorship
150 Point Master of Arts and Cultural Management - Moving Image Specialisation
200 Point Master of Art Curatorship
Graduate Certificate in Arts (Advanced) - Cultural Studies
Graduate Certificate in Arts (Advanced) - Screen Studies
Graduate Certificate in Arts - Screen and Cultural Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) - Cultural Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) - Screen Studies
Graduate Diploma in Arts - Screen and Cultural Studies
PC-ARTS Cultural Studies
PC-ARTS Screen Studies
PD-ARTS Cultural Studies
PD-ARTS Screen Studies
Screen and Cultural Studies

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