Category Archives: Course Syllabus

About Trolls

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Reflection on “this american life” about Lindy and her troll.

 

So after listening to this I felt many different things actually. First, I was surprised to hear Lindy say she was going to “feed the troll” by retaliating and second, I was impressed that the troll actually took the time to apologize and offer all of his personal information to her.

These things surprised me because honestly, I find trolls to be pushovers. Like, they only can act so tough because they’re online and anonymous. For her to speak out about the troll, at least the way she did it, didn’t seem like feeding them to me. From my experience with trolls, they try to word vomit their logic on you but I think it pisses them off more to notice them lightly. I feel like there’s a right and wrong way to respond to a troll as I have done both before haha. Of course, the ones I’ve dealt with hadn’t done anything so drastic to me but I suppose this is good advice anyway?

The wrong way, is to argue with them about it since most of it’s just coming from their butts and makes no sense. And if you argue long enough, they’ll begin changing what they say to make more sense and when you call them out on it they get pissed off.

The right way, in my opinion, is to just brush them off. They’ll give you a “too long, didn’t read” kind of thing about how you’re a liar and they’re right but if you let them know that their crap was “so long that you didn’t read it”, you just put them in the red and now their all butt hurt. Of course, they’ll come at you with something along the lines of “well you didn’t read it because you’re to incapable…” of something, but you can just ignore that bit and let them wallow in butt hurt by themselves.

I find myself pretty fortunate that I haven’t come into contact with too many trolls personally even though I feel like I’m online more often than a student with final papers due should be. Sometimes I think the more you put yourself out there, the more likely it’ll be that a troll will find you. Having a blog for example will probably attract a lot of trolls but for me, someone who just reads forum posts and blogs but doesn’t actually respond to anything too often wouldn’t get a lot of trolly feedback.

The sad truth of it is, I don’t post about things even if I want to in fear that some troll will make a scene about it. It’s something I feel like I should get over some day but honestly, why do I need to put my opinions all over the internet? The same as why other people have to give their opinion on my opinion on the internet? It just doesn’t seem worth it sometimes.

And here’s a thing where a thing happened 😀

My Digital Reflection

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As I plan to reflect in our team paper, this class has greatly influenced the way I immerse myself in new media. I have not withdrawn myself from digital media nor altered any of my interactions with new media, but I am more aware of how the world is represented to me via media and, reversely, how I am represented to the world via media (social media in particular.)

The relationship between this class and new media reminds me of the quote: “Fish don’t know they’re in water until they’re taken out of water.” I didn’t realize how heavily skewed representations of gender and sexuality are in new media until I was granted access to the readings and discussions relevant to this course. Previous to this course, when I flicked through magazine advertisements I glanced at them without much thought (except perhaps, Wow I wish I looked like her or Wow I wish I could afford that purse.) Now, however, my perception of these advertisements (and other forms of advertising as well, this is not limited to just magazine/paper ads) has completely morphed. This course has equipped me with the tools necessary to analyze just how disturbing contemporary advertising in new media can be. For example, take the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement below:

docle
This SCREAMS of issues relating to gender and sexuality in new media that we’ve discussed throughout this semester. First of all, hello hypersexuality of both the male and female form. Do regular human beings walk around this scantily clad, fit, and dripping in oil? I wasn’t aware (sarcasm.) Second of all, to me this looks like a rape scene. One woman is being pinned to the ground by a man while a bunch of male onlookers stare admirably, perhaps waiting their own turns. Before taking this class, I would have just flicked by this ad without a care in the world. Now I analyze it for what it truly is: an artifact primarily relating to objectification of the female gender taking place in new media.

As I said before, this class has not only informed me of aspects of new media that I am more unfamiliar with (such as topics of gender and sexuality in video games, example: Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry) but it has also gone beyond the series of the digital culture I once thought I knew but clearly do not. I now question my digital life, as demonstrated in my battle with the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement above. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing…

The assignments in this class were never tedious nor boring nor uninformative. Literally every reading/in-class discussion we’ve done has informed how I think about digital culture. As I grew up with digital technology, (it advanced as I advanced and vice versa), I take it all for granted. Although I likely still take new media for granted as it is so deeply ingrained in my life (twitter addict!!), I am very confident that I am better equipped to analyze gender and sexuality misrepresentations and problems in new media because of this semester.

Individual Digital Reflection

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In time I spent in this class, I came to realize that there was more then meets the eye when it came to New Media, and all of it’s various forms. More so than just websites, these were communities, with their own culture. This realization hit me in the very beginning, when we were talking about memes. While a cat meme that says “I Haz Cheezburger” may seem like any old thing you would find mindlessly surfing the web, a meme is so, so much more than that. It’s simply anything than can be replicated. Memes are everywhere, anything from a table to a style of clothing or the hairstyle on one’s head. In essence, memes are everywhere. When understanding that there was so much depth in such a small little thing is really when this class started to catch my imagination.

Being an avid watcher of YouTube, I was naturally very excited when we got to the YouTube unit. As I hoped, we discussed what it was like to be a YouTuber, to be a part of that community, and why or why not it could be perceived as a real job. After all, people do make real money from it. Considering that this, to me, is one of the most exciting facets of New Media, this was a very interesting discussion. Is YouTube the new television? Much like any sort of TV show, subscribers tune in to see their favorite personalities whenever they upload a new video. Understanding this transition of New Media was fascinating for me. It seems that the digital age has so entirely changed the world, and in regards to YouTube, it has definitely impacted the way entertainment is watched by the masses. Yes, of course, TV is still an option, and many people still watch it, but is it as popular as it once was? I distinctly remember the discussion we had when Professor Russworm told the class that she no longer had cable anymore. A Media teacher, no less. I realized then, “isn’t that simply a sign of the times?” When you can watch TV shows on such platforms like Netflix or Amazon, why pay 90 dollars for a cable package? It seems that the Internet is indeed taking over, changing entertainment one person at a time, and that discussion sticks out in my mind as the moment when I truly realized that.

Of course, Race and Gender was a large component what we learned  this semester as well. I was very excited to see that Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was going to be of the subjects to be learned, and I was not disappointed. One of the most interesting aspects of the discussion was comparing the old Lara Croft to to the Lara Croft from the 2013 game. Hypersexuality was decreased immensely in the 2013 game, much to the combined amusement and happiness of myself. I began to hope that maybe sexism is decreasing slowly, thanks to a more socially conscious and interconnected world. This may very well be the case, and it certainly was for Miss Lara Croft.

So to reflect: What did I truly learn from this class? In short, the digital world is a whole lot bigger than people might think. There are layers and nuances to this New Media Age that we’ve only scratched the surface on. I’m excited to grow up in a world that is changing so drastically technologically, and this class certainly opened up my eyes to that reality.

Race, Gender, New Media Course Syllabus

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Race, Gender, New Media

A course designed by

TreaAndrea M. Russworm

with Jennifer Malkowski and Maria San Filippo

in partnership with Five Colleges Inc.

Course Description

 

This class will have a special topic focus on race, gender, and new media.   We will study a variety of new media forms, including video games, online web series, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos.  All of our case studies and weekly lesson plans will either feature content produced and created by women artists and fans or deal explicitly with questions about gender representation—both masculinity and femininity.  Throughout the term, some questions we will explore include: Does misogyny persist in new media and digital cultures? While art games may tend to convey more complex messages about gender and sexuality, what can we say about the industry, mainstream video games, and the dominant image of gamers as young and male? Is there anything productive or interesting about the dominance of normative masculinity in digital spaces?  Can the web series format compete with television in any significant way? By the end of the semester, all students in the class will conduct interviews of new media producers and help archive this work on a course website.

 

Required Texts (see course packet)

Sample Assignments

 

1. Audio commentary analyzing a selected online video or clip.

Building on the skills you learned analyzing short sequences in Papers 1 and 2, choose a 5-10 minute sequence from any film in the “Further Viewing” queue of our Media Gallery to analyze. Again, given the focus of our course, you should choose your sequence with an eye to what it reveals about the film’s construction of gender and sexuality, i.e. what is being conveyed about gender performance and politics, sexual identity, desire, the body, romance, eroticism, coupling, or any other concepts clearly relevant to this course. Your commentary must be interpretive – do not merely describe what is contained within the sequence. Rather, tie those observations together to formulate a cohesive, comprehensive discussion of the sequence that addresses its audiovisual and narrative aspects with clearly articulated descriptive examples and thoughtful debate. You might listen to the audio commentary of a film from our syllabus to see approaches other filmmakers have taken, though I don’t recommend listening to the commentary of the film you’re working on yourself. Take a look at the DVDs on course reserve to see which ones offer commentaries. — San Filippo

For this selection, your proposal should contain an embedded clip of your sequence along with a 1-2 paragraph rationale for its selection and a description of the approach your analysis will take. This should be followed by a 1-2 page transcript of your commentary-in-progress, sufficiently demonstrating the following: a) you’ve chosen your sequence and begun to formulate your thoughts on its form and content; b) you’ve identified a worthwhile reason for this scene’s importance and gestured at the main points of your analysis; c) b) you’ve accounted for the sequence’s length and mapped out the arc of your discussion.

 

2. Video montage on selected topic or theme, discussed within appended artist’s statement (500-1000 words).

With the aim of inspiring you to think about common themes or noticeable progressions across our course’s viewing material, this selection allows you to draw from films that we have seen in class alongside the “Further Viewing” titles. There needs to be some coherent motivation, clearly evident in your proposal, for your grouping of shots/sequences and the order in which they will appear. Possible approaches include:

·      an historical progression (then-and-now representations of sex work, e.g.)

·      variations on a character type (femme fatale, e.g.) or relationship structure (mothers and daughters, e.g.)

·      shared historical, narrative, or social theme (the women’s movement, sexual assault, homosocial bonding, e.g.)

·      films with shared or opposing viewpoints and social values

·      variations on a aural/visual motif or ideological trope (appearance of clocks or references to women’s biological clock, e.g.)

For this selection, your proposal should contain a 1-2 paragraph rationale for your project’s conception and design, followed by a 1-2 page storyboard layout that uses frame captures or drawn images to give a visual accounting of your montage-in-progress. Together these should sufficiently demonstrate the following: a) you’ve devised a topic or theme for your montage and identified shots/sequences to include; b) you’ve identified the relevance of your topic or theme to our class topic and gestured at the ideas your project aims to generate; c) b) you’ve mapped the arc your project will take.

3. “Mash-up” trailer that “queers” 1-2 films, discussed within appended artist’s statement (500-1000 words).

Eligible films include those we’ve screened in class and those in the “Further Viewing” queue. It’s up to you to define and explain what “queering” means in the context of your project, but our course readings and discussions should prove instructive and inspirational, as should the following examples:

Brokeback to the Future:

Buffy vs. Edward:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2988615/buffy_vs_edward_twilight_remixed/

For this selection, your proposal should contain a 1-2 paragraph rationale for your project’s “queer” conception and design, followed by a 1-2 page storyboard layout that uses frame captures or drawn images to give a visual accounting of your trailer-in-progress. Together these should sufficiently demonstrate the following: a) you’ve selected 1-2 films and identified shots/sequences to include; b) you’ve explained your “queer” take on the selected film(s) and gestured at the ideas your project aims to generate; c) you’ve mapped out the arc your project will take.—Malkowski

 

3. Revision paper (5 pages, 6-7 pages, 7-8 pages) You will work on writing and revising one argumentative paper throughout the entire semester.  Each version of the paper will demonstrate a mastery of true revision, not just proof-reading or editing.  Your paper may be on a film, album, performer, theory, show, web series, or any aspect race, gender, and new media that you find interesting—as long as I approve the topic beforehand.  The final draft of your paper must be read and commented on by your team members before the last due date.   Although each version of your individual paper will be graded, I will drop the lowest grade so that the final grade is an average of your highest two papers.–Russworm

4. Final Team Digital Project/Wiki/presentation/ Your team must commit to making a final digital project of your choice that is based on the research area/popular form assigned to you.  A draft of the basic idea and pitch of the project concept must be approved by me during the 5th week of classes.–Russworm

 

Course Schedule

Unit 1: Theories and Sites

1. Why Race, Gender, and New Media?: On Digital Divides and Other Matters

Virginia Eubanks, from Digital Dead End, “Four Beginnings” and “The Real World of IT”

S. Craig Watkins, “Living on the Digital Margins: How Black and Latino Youth are Remaking the Participation Gap”

 

2. What is New Media?

Lev Manovich, “What Is New Media?” from The Language of New Media:

Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, “The Double Logic of Remediation” and “Immediacy, Hypermediacy, and Remediation” from Remediation

3-4.  Google and YouTube: It’s a Google World and We All Live in It

from The YouTube Reader:  Rick Prelinger, “The Appearance of Archives”; Thomas Elsaesser, “Tales of Epiphany and Entropy”; Jean Burgess and Joshua Green, “The Entrepreneurial Vlogger”

Alexandra Juhasz, Learning from YouTube (digital book, MIT press): http://vectors.usc.edu/projects/learningfromyoutube/routes.php?youtour=21

 

Unit 2: Forms and Platforms

 

5-6. The Web Series: Toward a Post-Televisual Era

Shows: The Slope; The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl; The Guild

Christine Acham, “Blacks in the Future: Braving the Frontier of the Web Series” in Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences

Elizabeth Ellcessor, “Tweeting @feliciaday: Online Social Media, Convergence, and Subcultural Stardom,”Cinema Journal Volume 51, Number 2, Winter 2012, pp. 46-66

Sheila Murphy, “Introduction,” in How Television Invented New Media. Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print.

 

7. Digital Games and Culture: Masculine and Feminine Archetypes in Video Games

Game: Tomb Raider (2013)

Burgess et. al., “Sex, Lies, and Video Game Covers”

Ian Bogost, “Political Processes” from Persuasive Games

 

8. Digital Games and Culture: Race and Games

Game: Assassin’s Creed Liberation

 Lisa Nakamura, “Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Racialization of Labor in World of Warcraft”

Tanner Higgins, “Blackless Fantasy.” Games and Culture 4.1 (2009): 3 –26. Highwire 2.0. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

Williams, Dmitri, Nicole Martins, Mia Consalvo, and James D. Ivory. “The Virtual Census: Representations of Gender, Race and Age in Video Games.” New Media & Society 11, no. 5 (2009): 815 –834.

 

9. Digital Games and Culture: The Sims and Gendered Storytelling

Game: The Sims

 

from Tanja Sihvonen. Players Unleashed!: Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming. Amsterdam University Press, 2011. Print.

Lisa Nakamura, “Pregnant Sims: Avatars and the Visual Culture of Motherhood on the Web”

 

10-11. Machinima

Videos: Leeroy Jenkins (2005, PALS FOR LIFE), Vietnam Romance (2003, Eddo Stern), Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday Tribute (2009, Rysan Fall), My Trip to Liberty City (2006, Jim Monroe)

Hugh Hancock, “Machinima: Limited, Ghettoized, and Spectacularly Promising”

Eddo Stern, “Massively Multiplayer Machinima Mikusuto”

Irene Chien, “Playing Against the Grain”

 

Unit 3: User Responses

 

12. Fandom and Digital Culture

Videos: Star Wars Uncut

Jonathan Gray, Cornell Sandvoss, C. Lee Harrington, “Why Study Fans?”

Henry Jenkins, “Confessions of an Aca/Fan” and “Star Trek Rerun, Reread, Rewritten”

Jason Sperb, “Reassuring Convergence”

Lori Kido Lopez, “Racebending: Fan Activists Fight Racist Casting”

Julie Levin Russo, (2009) User-Penetrated Content: Fan Videos in the Age of Convergence, 125-130. In Cinema Journal 48 (4)

Jennifer Gillan, “Fashion Sleuths and Aerie Girls: Veronica Mars’ Fan Forums and Network Strategies of Fan Address,” in Teen Television

 

13. Social Media

Videos:  Kony 2012

Jessie Daniels, “Propaganda, Cyber-racism and Epistemology in the Digital Era”

Danah Boyd, “Race and Social Network Sites: Putting Facebook’s Data in Context”

Ming S. Trammel/Monica L. Dillihunt: Black Girls Talking Back: How Black Girls Use Facebook and Blogs to Resist Marginalization”

 

14. Course Conclusions