Syllabus
Preparation and Participation
Much of the class will consist of group discussion with a small lecture component. The students are tasked with coming to class on time ready to discuss the material in an in-depth way and to demonstrate their preparedness by having completed the scheduled readings and viewings. Laptops are permitted in class, but please avoid doing things that will distract you and your classmates from the course material.
Discussion Facilitation
Each student will be required to facilitate the discussion for one of the readings for the first 15-20 minutes of class. This includes prompting your peers to participate in the discussion by having questions prepared for the class. The discussion facilitator should actively listen and respond to their classmates to progress the discussion. Facilitators do not have to cover every point in the reading or screening, but they should cover what they determine are essential points to our on-going themes in class and give us a launching point for the rest of the class. The instructor will help you to facilitate the discussion if necessary. You are invited to use different presentation platforms, but they are not mandatory for the assignment.
Project: Class Scalar Book
We will be producing a book on the platform Scalar. The book will consist of your responses to the reading. For each session, all students are expected to write a response 250 words long on a new Scalar page and path it to the course book before class. Responses can include your initial reactions to the material, connecting the readings or clips to overarching themes we have discussed, bring up new points, pose questions, and make analytical arguments about the course material among other topics. Within a week, the instructor will send you feedback about your response. You are free to revise your responses as you see fit, but this step is not mandatory. At the end of the course, we will publish the book online. See an example of a previous tutorial's Scalar Project taught by Dr. Viola Lasmana here.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Course Introduction
Session 1 5/28: Course Introduction
-Marshall Mcluhan, “The Medium is the Message,” in Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man, pp. 1-21. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994.
-Al Jazeera English, “Marshall Mcluhan- Digital Prophecies: The Medium is the
Message.” (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ML9n5f1fE
-BBC Radio 4, “The Medium is the Message.” (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko6J9v1C9zE
-Make a Scalar account http://www.scalar.usc.edu. Read through the Scalar User Guide, and view the course’s Scalar how-tos here. Browse the Scalar platform and view two books from the index. Come prepared to discuss what you saw in the Scalar books you viewed.
-Jerome McGann “The Rational of Hypertext”
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/public/jjm2f/rationale.html
-Kuan-Hsing Chen, “Asia as Method: Overcoming the Present Conditions of Knowledge Production” in Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization, pp. 211-255. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010.
Session 2 5/30: What is the digital? What is Asia? + Brief Scalar Overview and Demo
For next session:
Reading
-Li, Luzhou Nina. “Rethinking the Chinese Internet: Social History, Cultural Forms, and Industrial Formation.” Television & New Media, vol. 18, no. 5, 2017, pp. 393–409.
-Stan Hok-Wui Wong, “Elephant Versus Termites: Lessons from Hong Kong” in Electoral Politics in Post-1997 Hong Kong, pp.149-162. Springer eBooks. (2015).
Viewing
-TED, “Michael Anti: Behind the Great Firewall of China.” (2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrcaHGqTqHk
-Joe Piscatella, Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower. (2017) (available on Netflix).
- Skim the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon
Week 2: Chinese and Sinophone Digital Interactions
Session 1 6/4: China and Hong Kong: The Tenuous Politics of “One Country, Two Systems”
Facilitator: Sandria + Amanda
Session 2 6/6: Sinophone Continued+ Scalar Odds and Ends + Software workshop + Catch up if needed
For next session:
Reading
-Rio Katayama, “Idols, Celebrities, and Fans During the Time of Disaster” on Henry Jenkins’ Confessions of an Aca-fan
http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2017/8/26/japanese-idols-celebrities-and-fans-during-the-time-of-disaster-part-one
http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2017/8/26/japanese-idols-celebrities-and-fans-during-the-time-of-disaster-part-two
Viewing
-Tokyo Idols (2017). (Available on Netflix)
Week 3: Japan’s Post-Nuclear Crisis/ India’s Insignificant Man
Session 1 6/11: Japan’s Idols and the Disaster Politics of 3/11
Facilitator: Krystal
For next Session:
Reading
-Rachel Jolley, “India Calling” in Digital Activism Asia: The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, Nishat Shah, Puthiya Purail Sneha, and Sumandro Chattapadhyay eds., pp. 106-111. Luneberg: Meson Press, 2015.
Viewing
-Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla (dir.), An Insignificant Man, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inR_O_2Apm0
Session 2 6/13: The Politics of Mobile Phones and Social Media in India
Facilitator: Jonathan
For next session:
Reading
-“We Come from an Activist Background: An Interview with Htaike Htaike Aung, MIDO” in Digital Activism Asia: The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, Nishat Shah, Puthiya Purail Sneha, and Sumandro Chattapadhyay eds., pp. 55-62. Luneberg: Meson Press, 2015.
Viewing
-Burma VJ (2009)
Week 4: Myanmar / Wrapping Up Scalar Project
Session 1 6/18: Myanmar or Burma?: State Censorship, DV, and Cinema
Facilitator: Michelle
Amy Braden will come to give you details on stipends.
For next session:
Please finish any final touches and edits on our Scalar book.
Session 2 6/20: Field Trip to USC Pacific Asia Museum (MAKE SURE TO BRING YOUR USC STUDENT ID) + Tutorial Wrap up
Catch up with any left over work on the Scalar, publish Scalar book.