Fall 2018 - ANTH 303 - Dr. Götz Hoeppe 

Course Description 

Digital media pervade life around the globe and shape our sense of being human today. But what is new about these new media? What do they do to social life and culture, and how? And what is a medium, anyway? Is there social life without mediation? 

In this course we set out from our experiences of using social media sites. Then we inquire into how anthropologists and other scholars study media and mediation, new and old. We continue by considering in detail how migrants use new media, and we practice ethnographic methods for critical explorations of our own. 

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes 

• To discover how insights of sociocultural anthropology help to make sense of digital media, and how these media can shed light on anthropology’s fundamental premises. 

• To develop an informed critical perspective on key social and cultural implications of the use of digital media. 

• To get accustomed to the free-flowing seminar give-and-take as a way to generate ideas and insights for conducting an ethnographic project mindful of ethical considerations. 

• To acquire basic skills in conducting, presenting and writing up a qualitative inquiry.