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| COMU0030-1 | Theory of new media
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| Duration : | 30h Th |
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| Credits/ECTS : |
| Master in Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies, in-depth approach, 2nd year | | | | 2 |
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| Master in Modern Languages and Literatures, general orientation, in-depth approach, 1st year | | | | 5 |
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| Master in Information and Communication, Professional Focus in Journalism, 2nd year | | | | 4 |
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| Master in Information and Communication, Professional Focus in Cultural Mediation and Book-related Professions, 2nd year | | | | 4 |
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| Master in Information and Communcation Sciences and Technology, Professional Focus in Arts and Trades of Editing and Pub, 2nd year | | | | 2 |
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| Master in Information and Communication | | | | 4 |
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| Holder(s) : | Geoffrey Geuens |
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| Language : | Langue française |
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| Course contents : |
- After having studied the social discourse related to « New Media » and TICs - a discourse that serves us less as a theoretical resource than as an object to be put to the question - we will try to measure the amount of reality of the « new economy » in networks. For this we will rely on a theoretical and methodological model that belongs both to the sociography of the wealthiest owners, and the political economy of communication. It will be appropriate, afterward, to reflect on certain public policies whose privileged instruments the « New Media » seem to be (electronic voting, e-learning, electronic surveillance, etc.).
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| Course objective : | 1) Students will be invited first of all to cast a critical eye on what we will agree to call (although the expression is not often put to the question itself) the « New Media » or « New Technologies of Information and Communication » (NTIC). These technologies have been written about frequently in journalistic literature that is acquainted with them only in a popular sense, and the products associated with them are part of the reactivation of two imaginary constructs that mutually reinforce each other : the « information society » and the « globalization of the economy ». These highly stereotyped discourses must be interpreted, secondly, in the light of their conditions of production, distribution, and consumption ;
2) Following this an effort will be made to make students more familiar with the resources and methods of a model of complex analysis that belongs both to the sociology of major business leaders and the political economy of the « New Media ». This approach will combine an analysis of the capitalistic structure of the most powerful European and North American multinationals that operate in a variety of sub-sectors of TIC industries (hardware, software, telecommunications, semi-conductors, consumer electronics, etc.), with a more sociological study of the executive structure of these companies and the interactions of the executive personnel at a certain level of society. The sample constructed in this way will be doubly empirical in its procedure, and without exhausting the problematic under consideration will sketch the main lines of interpretation in relation to the « new economy ».
3) Finally we will examine certain public policies for which the « New Media » and the TIC appear to be the chosen banner-bearers - whether these singular developments are celebrated by some in the name of « dynamism », « effectiveness » or « modernization of administration » (electronic voting, e-learning) or are perceived on the contrary as potential menaces (mercantilization of culture, weakening of the State, « planetary surveillance »). The deregulation of telecommunications in Europe and the United States, the recent history of « the European information society » and the development of newly invented forms of control (camera surveillance, technological security systems, etc.) will also come in for critical reflection as regards the relations between the « New Media », political power, and society. |
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| Prerequisites : | Students are advised to have at least an elementary grasp of English in order to be able to have a good understanding the texts in the lecture portfolio. |
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| Workshops : | None |
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| Organization : | Length and time period: 30 H, 2nd quadrimester.
Location and schedule : See http://cipl82.philo.ulg.ac.be/horaires |
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| Written notes : | Students are obliged to obtain and read a portfolio of lecture notes that bring together reference texts - francophone and Anglo-Saxon - in the subject area. |
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| Assessment : | The oral examination will atempt to test what students have learned in terms of the theoretical material presented in the course, as well as the capacity students may have gained, to examine material presented in a critical manner, and to keep abreast of current events (public policy in the high technology sector, developments in the European and North American markets with regard to « New Media » and TICs, etc.). The material covered on the exam will be as follows: t he theoretical material presented by the teacher, including information presented in PowerPoint slide shows and school cases that have been the object of detailed study ; without notice to the contrary, all texts contained in the lecture portfolio will be covered, and students will also be responsible for following recent news regarding the New Media and TICs. |
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| Contacts : | Instructor : Geoffrey Geuens, Département des « Arts et Sciences de la Communication », Place du 20-Août, 7, 4000 Liège (Bldg. A1, 4th floor). Tel. : 04 366 52 30. Fax : 04 366 51 84.
E-mail : Geoffrey.Geuens@ulg.ac.be Geoffrey Geuens will meet students in his office every Wednesday morning between 9h and 11h.
Secretary : Anne-Marie D'Acchille, Département des « Arts et Sciences de la Communication », Place du 20-Août, 7, 4000 Liège (Bldg. A1, 4th floor). Tel. : 04 366 32 79. Fax : 04 366 51 84.
E-mail : AM.DAcchille@ulg.ac.be |
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| Remarks : | ... |
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