School of Humanities

New Media and Digital Cultures

This course is part of the programme
Language and literature in the digital world

Objectives and competences

The course deals with the acquisition of theoretical and historical kowledge about the new media field, as well as developing digital creative competences in the project mode of (co)work,

Students in this course develop a field-specific understanding of the general methods, concepts and processes driving the ongoing, contemporary practice of new media, they also become familiar with the basic concepts for understanding modern digital societies.. They gather valuable insight and knowledge into the uniquely collaborative, technical and multi-layered characteristics of new media authorship. They have the opportunity to participate in practical case studies and contribute to group work in the development of media (art) projects.

The students will obtain the following general competences within the module: the ability to analyse, synthesise and predict solutions and consequences (through case studies and practical assignments); the ability to use the acquired knowledge and skills in practice (through the close link between lectures, on one hand, and seminars and workshops, on the other hand); the communication skills in online, combined, and face to face communication situations; the ability to co-operate and take part in group work in online, combined, and face to face communication situations; the ability to create one's own argument and defend one's own point of view, and to consider the viewpoints of one's study peers or production colleagues.

Prerequisites

There are no enrolment requirements for the course, apart from basic understanding of ICT equipment and its functioning.

Content

Any form of contemporary arts practice co-creates
and responds to its time and environment, in which artistic products, events and processes regularly appear as “new”; these “new” forms are often innovative, (co-)creative and critical. One can use or create the contents of so-called “new media” only with the help of contemporary computer technologies; yet the human being, highly connected within diverse communities, remains the key factor in new technology interactions. The cycles of (re)invention and (re)creation in the human use of information-communication devices and protocols open up perhaps the most fruitful fields of modern times, as reflected both in their intimately personal use and in mass and social arts and productions.

This course is intended for Humanities students for gaining familiarity with and exposure to computer techniques and technologies, mobile technologies, the internet, various modes of the digital processing of words, images, sounds and movement for the purpose of better theoretical understanding of creative and artistic expression within digitally supported (or in deed completely virtual) premises such as installations (galleries, exhibitions) or performative contexts (stage, events, festivals).

The course will pay special attention to the latest creative uses, as well as critical questioning of new technologies such as robotics or automation technologies, machine learning or artificial intelligence, big data, cryptotechnologies, etc. Many wider forms of digital cultures shall be criticall considered and set against the background of contemporary humanities studies, including mobile technologies, surveillance, algorithms, ambient intelligence, gaming cultures, and technological (augmented) bodies, etc. The course will also touch upon key concepts of new media culturs such as Post-Industrialism, the Information Society, Technological Convergence and Media Industry Convergence, the Changing Cultural Contexts of Privacy, Digital Identity as well as Globalisation, Technology and the Rise of Individualism, Network Societies, Network Socialities and Networked Individualism, the Posthuman, etc.

In this course, the student is acquainted with diverse technological types and uses of new media; the emphasis is on the (internet-based) networked computer as a communication and creative tool of wide potentialities. The student uses the key theoretical concepts and methods as well as the understanding of key concepts within digital culture in the process of working on the first practical cases; at the same time, the student prepares products which will help him to base the wholesome group practical project in the field of new media art or production.

Intended learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding:
- awareness of the cultural importance of contemporary new media technologies and applications, and of their use in artistic and the related creative media production environments;
- understanding of digital technologies and applications, and awareness of their possibilities from the point of view of artistic and the related creative media-production environments, especially as linked to the fields of the humanities;
- discernment and critical awareness of specific phenomena in the media communication, or in the artistic and art-related creative production, particularly as forms of media-cultural practice;
- awareness of communication, technical and creative specifics pertaining to the media production contexts and related to the new media, particularly in the field of art;
- awareness of and interest in making comparative judgements concerning production tools in the field of new media in the artistic domain, and interest in selecting appropriate combination of new media technologies and concepts for an individual artistic or creative purpose; especially on the background of understanding cultural phenomena of the media/information society.
- interest in communicating and co-creating with media technologies (image, sound, word, body and space, interactive and multiple media) and in an intercation with them;
- ability to organise creative project work and master the ethics of project work;
- proactive attitude within an autonomous development of skills and abilities related to knowledge use in the field of new media.

Readings

Literary sources:

  • Miller, Vincent. Understanding Digital Culture,London: Sage. 2020
  • Chapman, Jenny in Nigel Chapman. Digital Multimedia. Chichester: Wiley & Sons. 2004. Catalogue E-version
  • Purg, Peter. Uvod v medije. Ljubljana: IAM, 2008. E-version
  • Kindem, Gorham in Robert B. Musburger. Introduction to Media Production, The Path to Digital Media Production. London: Focal Press, 2004. Catalogue E-version
  • Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. The MIT Press, 2002. Catalogue E-version
  • Oblak T. in G. Petrič. Splet kot medij in mediji na spletu. Ljubljana: Zbirka Media, FDV, 2005. E-version
  • Thissen, Frank in J. G. Rager. Screen Design Manual: Communicating Effectively Through Multimedia. London: Springer, 2003. Catalogue E-version
  • Wands, Bruce. Art of the Digital Age. Thames & Hudson, 2007. Catalogue
    Espen J. J. Aarseth: Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature.

Web sources:

sources for case studies:

Assessment

Active participation in sessions 20 %
Group project (indiv. report) 60 %
Project presentation with evaluation 20 %

Lecturer's references

// Assoc. Prof. Peter Purg, PhD currently leads the New Media module in the Digital//Media Arts and Practices graduate//postgraduate programme at the School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica, where he acts as Associate Professor, projects coordinator as well as expert across realms of digital culture and media. Since December 2021 he is Dean of the School of Humanities. Having obtained a PhD in media art, communication science and literary studies from the University of Erfurt (Germany), his scientific inquiries now include media arts pedagogy, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, media art and media ecology. His artistic interests range from (lecture) performances and intermedia installations to public-space interventions as well as participatory creative processes. More at www.pleter.net

  • PURG, Peter (avtor razstave). Crypto Minding: postindustrijski podatkovni aktivizem : PostMobilnost; GO!2025 Evropska prestolnica kulture : razstava v xCentru, Nova Gorica, od 26. 10. 2023 do 11. 11. 2023.
  • PURG, Peter, CASTILLO-RUTZ, N., BERMÚDEZ I BADIA, Sergi, CSÍKSZENTMIHÁLYI, C., KRPAN, Jurij V., HEDEER, F., SOUSA, D. L., ŠIROK, Klemen. Progressive pedagogies for innovation among art, science and technology : the case of mastmodule.eu = Pedagogía progresiva para la innovación a través del arte, la ciencia y la tecnología : el caso de mastmodule.eu. Artseduca. 2022, vol. 32, str. 209-222. ISSN 2254-0709
  • SERTIĆ, Irena, BUBAŠ, Josipa, STEINBOCK, Kristina, PURG, Peter, PARAMON, Ramon. PAIC framework: Participatory Art Scenario and Narrative". V: SERTIĆ, Irena (ur.). PAIC, participatory art for invisible communities. Zagreb: Omnimedia, 2018. Str. 98-109. ISBN 953-95119-1-7. http://paic-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/E-book_Paic.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 5398267]
  • PURG, Peter, ŠIROK, Klemen, BRASIL, Daniela. The transformative impact of blended mobility courses. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, ISSN 1476-8062, 2018, vol. 37, iss. 2, str. 187-198, doi: 10.1111/jade.12101.
  • WECKERT, Simon (umetnik), GAMMER, Gloria (umetnik), PURG, Peter. Nepotovalna agencija : interaktivni kibernetski teleportacijski performans : 6. december 2022, Xcenter, Nova Gorica.
  • PURG, Peter. Body borders in _Arts: the kinaesthetic self in performative_A, the social self in participatory_A, the electronic self in media_A : lecture at the conference The Art of BorderingPURG, Peter. Körper im elektronischen Raum : Modelle für Menschen und interaktive Systeme. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, cop. 2007. 411 str. ISBN 978-3-8364-3077-7. [COBISS.SI-ID 2458071]
  • PURG, Peter. Videoscanning (in) an art school community : pivotal creative tool becomes a medium of collective (self)reflection and curriculum development. V: Designs on e-Learning Conference, 5 - 7 September 2012. Crowd and cloud : towards a collaborative future. London: University of the Arts, 2012, str. 6-7. http://myblog.arts.ac.uk/del2012/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Paralell-Session-2_CW.pdf. [COBISS.SI-ID 2674683],
  • PURG, Peter. Performative disturbance of public space. V: VODEB, Oliver (ur.), JANOVIĆ, Nikola (ur.). Demonstrating relevance: response-ability : teorija, praksa in imaginacija družbeno odzivnega komuniciranja = theory, practice and imagination of socially responsive communication, (Knjižna zbirka Psihologija vsakdanjega življenja). Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede, Založba FDV: Memefest, 2010, str. 490-497. [COBISS.SI-ID 1861115]

Performance-Lectures:

University course code: 1JLDL105

Year of study: 1. year

Semester: 1/2

Course principal:

Lecturer:

ECTS: 4

Workload:

  • Lectures: 20 hours
  • Seminar: 20 hours
  • Individual work: 80 hours

Course kind: mandatory

Languages: slovenian

Learning and teaching methods:
- lectures, - guided discussions, - practical work, individual and in groups, - project creative work, - experiential learning, - presentations. depending on the individual media forms and digital formats, the course involves the hosting of individual expert mentors or consultants.