[Air-L] Air-L Digest, Vol 47, Issue 1

[Robin Reid]

Hello--first post on list, but I've been reading and lurking a while
now! 

I first became aware of AOIR when I started doing internet research in
fan studies, but didn't realize the listserv existed.  My program (at a
small university in rural Texas) is moving to incorporate a great deal
of new media, transmedia, and multi media work on both graduate and the
composition courses (so the movement is tied together, with graduate
students learning and teaching). Since I joined the list, I've been
saving stuff to read later (life's been a bit hectic with new program
initiatives), but I taught an online graduate course titled "new media
literacies" last fall which overlaps with the convergence idea in
Sabryna's class.  Here's my course description and reading list:


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to teach students how to apply critical theories
to a range of contemporary media in today's convergence culture.  The
media covered include (but are not limited to):  games, fan creations,
wikis, blogs, graphic novels, and other media not traditionally covered
in traditional "literary" or "film studies."  The course will be
informed by interdisciplinary multicultural and gender theories and
practices. Scholarship done in literary, media and communication,
sociology, and linguistics will be assigned. I do not assume students
are experts in all new media (or any new media); I do not assume they
are familiar with all the theories referenced in assigned readings.  We
will focus on literacy practices, and so part of students' work will be
tracking their acquisition of new literacy practices during the course
of the term.


Trouble and Her Friends Melissa Scott
Split-Level Dykes to Watch Out For Alison Bechdel  
Control and Freedom:  Power and Paranoia in the Age of Fiber Optics
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
Everyday eBay:  Culture, Collecting, and Desire Ken Hillis, Michael
Petit, Nathan Scott Epley
The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context  Ernest Mathijs

Unit Operation:  An Approach to Videogame Operation Ian Bogost

The main theory text was Chun's (we spent weeks reading it, one chapter
at a time, because of the density and the importance).  Too often for my
taste, work on new media and media convergence (including Henry Jenkin's
which is incredibly important and informed my class in major ways)
ignores issues of race and gender.  Chun's work is incredible.

Robin

***
air-l-request at listserv.aoir.org wrote:
From: "Sabryna Cornish" 
Subject: [Air-L] convergence
To: 
Message-ID: <48411AE7020000EE0000627F at wpo.cso.niu.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Hi all--I am teaching a graduate course on media convergence. I have a
good idea for readings for the course, but wanted some suggestions from
list serv members about what they might require graduate students to
read. I am purposely not including a description of the course to see
what list serv members think about when they consider the term media
convergence. I will say this is a theoretically based course. Thanks in
advance for any help!

Sabryna

Sabryna Cornish
Assistant professor of journalism
Department of communication
Northern Illinois University