Film, Media, Space (at VES)

The possibility to access the media everywhere and every time gives us the illusion to be emancipated from any temporal or spatial constraint and yet, if it is true that images, sounds and words circulate (apparently) without any restriction, it is also true that they always “land” somewhere. We experience them in an environment—at home, in a public square, on a train, in a classroom, even in the ‘personal bubble’ in which we shelter. Messages, as well as the media that deliver them, are always located. This seminar will explore the subtle relations between media to their surroundings, the way in which they develop a reciprocal influence, the capacity of the media to become environments in themselves, the transitions from a space to another, and the effects of these dynamics on the symbolic economy and on the exercise of power.
The course is structured in two parts: weeks 1 to 6 deal with the conceptualization of space through and thanks the media (space as a construct, as defined by flows, borders, and scale, and as implying different forms of power); weeks 8 to 13 deal with screens and their role in different spaces (from the urban space, to the more intimate space of a subject); week 7 provides a bridge from the first part and the second one, developing the idea that both media and spaces are ultimately defined by the experiences that they generate.

REQUIREMENTS
— Mandatory attendance and active participation
— Weekly reading responses, 400 to 500 words, to be submitted by 10 p.m. on Sunday before class (Student must articulate a first understanding of the weekly readings, and provide one or two questions that the Instructor will develop in class. Responses are due starting with week 2; late work will be accepted, but downgraded depending of circumstances)
— Short Paper, 2,000 to 2,500 words, on a topic assigned by the Instructor (due by March 16th, 2015)
— Final Research Paper, 4,000 to 5,000 words, on a related topic (due by May 16th)

GRADING
Weekly Reading Responses – 40%
Short Paper – 20%
Final Research Paper – 40%

Cross-listed with VES as VES 186.