Digital media archeology

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

Lecturer

Ingrid Mayeur

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Description of the teaching unit:

This teaching unit addresses the theoretical elements and applications of media archaeology as a method of investigating media objects, clarifying its relevance to the understanding of contemporary digital media.

Table of Contents

Introduction: What is (Digital) Media Archaeology?

PART 1 : Benchmarks. Mapping (Digital) Media Archaeology: Pieces of an intellectual background

PART 2: Time and Materiality. The materiality of digital media, and its implications for cultural production. The temporality of digital media: questions of archive and obsolescence. Art and Zombie Media

PART 3: Senses. Haptic Vision and Embodiment: New Film Theory, Digital Cinema and Media Archaeology of the Senses - Archaeology of the Screen.

Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to:

• explain what the media-archaeology approach consists of, its intellectual sources, and how it helps develop a critical understanding of digital media;
• define the theoretical concepts covered in the unit (e.g., mediarchy, analog vs. digital, planned obsolescence, etc.) and illustrate them with examples from the case studies discussed in class;
• answer specific questions by explaining how media archaeology provides insights into understanding digital media, particularly in terms of (i) the specific temporal regime they establish, (ii) their materiality, shaped by production industries and usage conditions, and (iii) how they engage our sensory experience;
• analyze a digital cultural object from a media-archaeological perspective.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Validation of undergraduate courses.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Oral lectures with note-taking by the student; explanation and discussion of texts from a reading portfolio

 

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

face-to-face (subject to adaptations imposed by the sanitary context)
 
 

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Reading portfolio (the texts are available on eCampus)

Introduction

• Citton, Yves. 2019. "8. Archeologizing Mediarchy". In Mediarchy. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 145-156.

• Adam, Isabelle. 2016. « What Would McLuhan Say about the Smartphone? Applying McLuhan's Tetrad to the Smartphone » 2 (1): 3. https://doi.org/10.5334/glo.9.
• Kittler, Friedrich A. (1986) 1999. "Introduction" in Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. Writing Science. Stanford: Stanford university press.
•  Citton, Yves. 2019. "9. Stratifying Mediarchy". In Mediarchy. John Wiley & Sons, pp.161-174;

• Citton, Yves. 2019. "12. Digitizing mediarchy"; "13. Inhabiting Mediarchy". In Mediarchy. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 223-259.
• De Kosnik, Abigail. 2016. « Memory Machine Myth: The Memex, Media Archaeology, and Repertoires of Archiving ». In Rogue Archives: Digital Cultural Memory and Media Fandom, 41-61. MIT Press.
• Hertz, Garnet, and Jussi Parikka. 2012. « Zombie Media: Circuit Bending Media Archaeology into an Art Method ». Leonardo 45 (5): 424-30.

• Strauven, Wanda. 2013. « Chap 2. Media Archaeology: Where Film History, Media Art, and New Media (Can) Meet ». In Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art, Vinzenz Hediger, Barbara Le Maître, and Julia Noordegraaf (eds), 59-79. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
• Huhtamo, Erkki. 2016. « The Four Practices? Challenges for an Archaeology of the Screen ». In Screens, édité par Dominique Chateau et José Moure, 6:116-24. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Additional information:

Written examination, open questions (instructions and weighting specified) designed to assess the achievement of pre-defined learning objectives (knowledge of the concepts covered in the course, ability to provide relevant illustrations, etc.).
 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Ingrid.Mayeur@uliege.be
 

Association of one or more MOOCs