Asian Screen Cultures

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject focuses on contemporary Asian screen cultures with a special emphasis on their transnational aspects. Students will encounter examples mainly from cinema (both popular and 'art' film), but the subject also engages with other forms of screen culture like television, computer games, music video and Internet cultures. These texts will be approached through analysis of the contexts of their production, distribution, and consumption as well as through textual analysis. Students will learn about new approaches to contemporary Asian cultures that understand these cultures as formed through transnational flows rather than as the product of discrete and bounded 'civilisations' as in traditional area studies approaches. On completion of this subject students should have an understanding of the transnationalism of Asian screen cultures today, knowledge of some of the key recent movements in Asian screen cultures (especially film), an appreciation of the historical contexts that underlie these patterns, and a sound grasp of the major scholarly approaches used to analyse these phenomena.

• acquire skills in the following areas: social, ethical, and cultural understanding of self and others through detailed analysis of contemporary culture in its various local, national and transnational contexts; the reception of new ideas and the contextualisation of judgments; the adaptation of knowledge to new situations.

• critical analysis and synthesis through the study of competing theories of contemporary culture and their application to diverse examples; the engagement with and processing of different critical perspectives across the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies; the development of independent thought and arguments.

• effective written and oral communication through seminar discussions and debates; the preparation and execution of written assessment exercises; exposure to and emulation of competing genres and protocols of critical writing

• information management and information literacy through the practice of library and archival research and engagement with electronic databases

• teamwork, flexibility, and tolerance through group discussions in seminars; reception of new ideas and opinions; engaging and cooperating with other people from diverse backgrounds

• time management and planning through managing and organizing workloads for recommended reading, seminar presentations, and assessment requirements

Students who have completed 106-014 Hong Kong Cinema or 106-217 Asian Screen Cultures are not eligible to enrol in this subject. This subject can be counted towards a major in Cinema Studies.