Lecturer(s)

G. C. Mueller

Entry requirements 

The course is accessible for 2nd and 3rd year honours students from all disciplines.

Recommended prior knowledge

-

Learning Objectives

After taking this course, students will be able to:

• Rehearse the leading contemporary critiques of social media;
• Identify important theoretical and methodological approaches to analyzing social media and associated practices;
• Conceptualise an empirical research project to explore critical social issues involving social media.

Content

In our current moment, there is a new urgency to critiquing the social media platforms and practices that saturate our everyday lives, altering politics, economics, and society at large. Once heralded as a means of global interpersonal connection, social media is now at the heart of contemporary controversies: the erosion of once-stable media industries, the destruction of privacy and the commodification of personal data, fake news and election tampering, and the spread of toxic propaganda in the form of memes. This course will expose students to the major research methods, approaches, and concepts used by researchers in the New Media and Digital Culture team to explore major topical issues involving the critical study of social media, from Facebook’s impact on journalism to the functioning of YouTube’s algorithm to the activities of 4chan trolls. Students will hear from expert presenters firsthand, and then work with concepts in the goal of devising their own perspectives and approaches to contemporary social media topics.

Class contents

• Seminars
• Lectures

Assessment:

• Midterm Paper Proposal / Annotated Bibliography
• Final Paper

Min/max participants

max.25

Schedule

Check Datanose for the exact information.

Study material

Articles (provided on Canvas)

Registration

Registration is possible for students participating in an Honours programme via an online registration form which will be made available on December 1, 10 am till December 5, 11 pm on this website. 

Placement will be at random and within two weeks students will hear whether they are placed for a course. 

There is NO guarantee for placement if you register after December 5, so make sure you register on time! 

For questions about registration please email to: Honours-iis@uva.nl