LFU:online

- familiarity with concepts and methods of examining online communities

- knowledge of methods for conducting empirical surveys

- familiarity with the intersections of cultural studies and social media studies as academic fields

- ability to process contemporary academic output in a self-directed manner 

This course is focused on non-organizational online communities as an emergent subject of research in cultural studies and media studies. In particular, we will follow three questions: What provides for social cohesion in online communities? What norms and values are established and negotiated in respective communities? In how far can online communities be understood as subcultural in relation to society in general? In doing so, we will examine the viability of Birminghamian, Bourdieusian and intersectional categories vis-à-vis phenomena such as the struggle for social status in Internet Meme-based online platforms,  discursive strategies entailed in identity construction on social network sites, and the norming of communal practices of digital affect cultures and online social movements.

- reading and discussing research material on a weekly basis

- conducting preliminary research into individual online communities

- designing surveys and selecting samples

Self-directed discussions, active participation, term-paper

Will be announced in the first session.

for the Bachelor Program (612): positive completion of compulsory module 14
for Bachelor Program Lehramt (457): positive completion of compulsory module 16

For students of the BA Teacher Training Program (457), it is strongly recommended to have passed the VU Introduction to American Cultures.