32115

SoSe 16: Media, Aesthetics, Popular Culture (1946-2016)

Frank Kelleter

Comments

This seminar builds on—and ideally should be taken in conjunction with—the lecture course "American Culture after World War II" (same room, immediately preceding the seminar). It serves as "Hauptseminar" of Culture-Module C ("Kulturgeschichte einzelner Medien und ästhetischer Darstellungsformen") in the Master's program. Unlike the lecture, this course will be almost completely student-driven: participants will be in charge of nearly all sessions, topics, and discussions. While the lecture course provides broad historical background information, focusing on a wide range of representative texts (mostly but not exclusively literary), the seminar will concentrate on the aesthetics and politics of media transformations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, especially concerning the (often implicit) influence of digital communication on American literature, cinema, television, and comics (or popular music). Participants are expected to have familiarized themselves with theories of media change before the semester starts (see, for instance, Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media and/or Lisa Gitelman, Always Already New: Media, History, and the Data of Culture). All participants will have to propose potential research projects in the beginning of the term (compare Seminar Description; further readings listed there). Registration: All participants must be registered via Blackboard and Campus Management before the first session. If you cannot register online, please contact Prof. Kelleter before the beginning of the term. Requirements and Organization: See Seminar Description (on Blackboard). To participate in this course, you need to be present and prepared in the first session. Preparation includes being ready to present and discuss possible research topics. If you would like to participate but cannot attend the first session, please contact Prof. Kelleter immediately (not later than April 11). close