The Past and Futures of Digital Cultures

This unit introduces Digital Cultures, the critical interdisciplinary field of research into the cultural and social dimensions of digital technologies. It explores the histories, imaginaries, ideas, platforms and thinkers that inform the study of digital cultures. Students will examine tools and theories that explain the interrelated processes of digital media and communications development and social change. This unit will explore what it means to be a digital cultures researcher and practitioner, offering students foundational knowledge and skills for the major as well as investigating the latest technologies and trends.

There's a vary glitchy printable book here

  1. Neuromancer—William Gibson (Week 2)
  2. The Moment of Wired—Thomas Streeter (Week 2)
  3. Guarding the gatekeepers: Trust, truth and digital platforms—Terry Flew (Week 3)
  4. The net delusion: How not to liberate the world—Evgeny Morozov (Week 3)
  5. Ada Lovelace, the First Tech Visionary—Betsy Morais (Week 4)
  6. The Digital Age—Paul E. Ceruzzi (Week 4)
  7. Early Television—Deborah Chambers (Week 5)
  8. How Search Shaped and Was Shaped by the Web—Alexander Halavais (Week 6)
  9. The Engine—Alexander Halavais (Week 6)
  10. Commendary Cultures—Fiona Martin (Week 7)
  11. Platforms Intervene—Tarleton Gillespie (Week 7)
  12. Tweet fast and kill things: digital war—William Merrin & Andrew Hoskins (Week 8)
  13. Big Data, new epistemologies and paradigm shifts—Rob Kitchin (Week 9)
  14. Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers—Susie Khamis, Lawrence Ang & Raymond Welling (Week 10)
  15. ‘It’s like the gold rush’: the lives and careers of professional video game streamers on Twitch.tv—Mark R. Johnson & Jamie Woodcock (Week 10)
  16. Rise of the Machines: The Future has Lots of Robots, Few Jobs for Humans—Marguerite McNeal (Week 11)
  17. A Robot-Human Handshake in Space: Touch and Lively Alterity Relations in Social Robotics—Chris Chesher & David Silvera-Tawil (Week 11)
  18. City Of Technology: Where The Streets Are Paved With Data—Vincent Mosco (Week 12)
  19. Smart street furniture in Australia: a public service or surveillance and advertising tool?—Justine Humphry, Chris Chesher & Sophia Maalsen (Week 12)

There is a Zotero group library with these articles in it. For access, get in touch.

Here's a twitter list of some of the authors above. It's still a work in progress, so if you want me to add someone, get in touch.