HFVA04153U FM, Identity, Culture and Media

The course aims in discussing the concept of identity –a topic that has obtained major attention by the humanities and the social sciences over the last decades- from an interdisciplinary perspective drawing from sociology, cultural studies and political science, focusing on media practices and media uses that relate to identity issues, such as the media representation of others and the self in various socio-political contexts, or the use of new media by various social groups to make their voice public. Broader social issues of contemporary concern such as globalization, fragmentation and citizenship, will be also discussed by the course.

Students will be split into small groups according to the number of course participants and will be expected to present one of the readings of the course. Active participation throughout the course, that will involve frequent home assignments, is expected by all course participants.

Final assignment: written or oral examination on a relevant topic picked by each student.

1. Introduction: media, identity, late modernity Barker & Galasinski, 2001. Cultural Studies and Discourse Analysis: A Dialogue on Language and Identity, chapter 2. Mansfield, 2000. Subjectivity: theories of the self from Freud to Haraway (chapters 1, 3, 4)

2. Media, representation and identity Hall S. 1997, representations, cultural representations and signifying practices, chapter 1. & 4.

3. Multiculturalism in crisis Titley and Lentin, 2011. The crises of multiculturalism

4. Banal nationalisms and banal cosmopolitanisms Billig, 1995, banal nationalism and Beck, 2002, cosmopolitan vision (introduction and part 1)

5. Voice and media Couldry, N. 2010. Why voice matters.

6. Gender and media culture Gauntlett, D. 2008. Media, gender and identity.

7. Consumer society, individualism, fragmentation Bauman, 2000 Globalization, the human consequences; Bauman, 2007, consuming life

8. Media, civic participation and identity Dahlgren, 2009. Media and political engagement

9. Social movements and digital networks Castells, M. 2003. The information age: economy society and culture vol. 2

10. Propaganda, identity and war Kamalipour and Snow, 2014. War, Media, and Propaganda: A Global Perspective

11. Identity and the EU’s economic crisis Mylonas, 2012, 2014; Mylonas and Kompatsiaris, 2014

12. Media and cosmopolitan morals Silverstone, R. 2006. Media and morality on the rise of mediapolis. , 5, 6.