Questioning digital cultures - SOC00073I

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Module summary

How can we question and interrogate existing perspectives on digital culture? Combining the practical knowledge gained through the delivery of a project for a partner organisation alongside the exploration of key debates in digital culture, the module will introduce a wide range of perspectives and help students to question the digital mediation of culture and communication.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2025-26

Module aims

This module looks at the questions that digital cultures create and also the questions that need to be asked of digital cultures.

The module provides students with the opportunity to explore a wide range of perspectives on digital culture and practically build knowledge through the delivery of a project for a partner organisation. Students will work in small teams to a brief provided by an external partner organisation, in which students will question the mediation of culture and communication through digital media forms and critically reflect on their practice. Projects will change from year to year. Students will work on these project tasks in small groups, requiring teamwork and organisation skills to respond to the required briefs and to produce resources. Throughout the course a series of lectures will explore concepts in Digital Culture, whilst a series of workshops including training in project planning/management and reflective practice, will support the delivery of the project.

Combining practical knowledge gained through the project work and exploration of key debates in digital culture, this module aims to help students to actively question digital cultures. It looks at the questions that digital cultures create and also the questions that need to be asked of digital cultures. The module draws upon a range of sources to inform those questions and to consider how they might be both asked and addressed. The module will introduce students to key theories, concepts and insights that allow us to interrogate established perspectives of digital culture, to respond critically to those perspectives and to consider and evaluate alternatives. This module will give student a wider perspective on the way that cultures are mediated and shaped by digital media and communication. At the end of the module students will have knowledge and skills that will enable them to think critically and question key aspects of variagated and diverse digital cultures.

Module learning outcomes

Demonstrate clear and critical understandings of specific aspects of digital cultures and to interrogate established ideas and perspectives.

Reflect on their experience of working collaboratively in a team and with an external partner to questions aspects of digital culture.

Pose questions of specific aspects of digital cultures and to use resources to generate and apply potential responses.

Evaluate a variety of perspectives on digital cultures and contextualise core ideas and principles from different perspectives.

Draw upon, evaluate and synthesise a wide range of resources, including their project practice, in the analysis of the ordering, construction and divisions within and across digital cultures.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

The Zine will be composed of 4 to 7 short sections combining visual and written content to deal with core questions in digital culture. At least one of those sections will include reflections on the team project produced on the module.

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

Formative work will take the form of a team project output in response to a brief provided by an external partner. Feedback will be provided by partner organisations and module tutors.

For summative work - each student's Zine will receive an overall mark and grading according to clearly defined criteria for assessing their knowledge, skills and abilities in line with MLO 1-5. They will also receive written feedback showing areas in which they have done well, and those areas in which they need to improve that will contribute to their progress.

Indicative reading

Indicative reading might include:

Lievrouw, L. & Loader, B. (eds) The Handbook of Digital Media and Communication. Oxford & New York: Routledge.

Zuboff, S. (2019) The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. London: Profile Books.

Terranova, T. (2022) After the Internet. London: Semiotext(e)