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The Environmental Screenscape (SCRN30005)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Overview
Availability | Semester 1 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject explores the ecological implications of media technologies and the ways they mediate the world around us. We will investigate the materials and energy used in screen media today, and the ecological consequences of work practices and design choices. Far from dematerialising culture, the rapid evolution of personal computing, internet, mobile media and games intensify the involvement of production, distribution and viewing media in the physical world. At the same time, film, TV and other screen media makers respond to environmental crises and their own involvement in them. Applying diverse and interdisciplinary interpretative tools to global fiction, news, documentary, online and public screen media, we will explore how ecocritical aesthetics can address pollution, waste and the Anthropocene, and develop ways of bridging the gulf between human and non-human worlds.
Can media mediate between human and non-human? Can they do so without exploitation and extractivism? Is a capitalist ecomedia possible? What can feminist, anti-racist and decolonial perspectives tell us about environmentalism and ecomedia?
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject, students should have:
- developed an understanding of the historical implication of screen technologies in the environment;
- accounted for the impact that digital technology has had on the natural world;
- an understanding of how screen technologies implicate the social and natural environments in each other; and
- a knowledge of key interpretative and theoretical models that have emerged in response to the ecological crisis.
Generic skills
At the completion of this subject, students should gain the following generic skills:
- a capacity for critical thinking through the use of readings and discussion to develop an understanding of the considerations that underpin ecocritical media studies;
- high-level written and oral communication skills through contribution to class discussions and the completion of assignments;
- skills in research through the preparation of class papers and assignments, including the use of online as well as print-based materials;
- skills in time management and planning through managing workloads for recommended reading, tutorial presentations and assessment requirements; and
- a capacity for theoretical analysis through engagement with a range of texts that offer different perspectives on screens as a component of the wider field of cultural practices.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
CULS30001 The Digital Mediascape
106-320 The Digital Mediascape
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
An online blog
| During the teaching period | 40% |
A written essay
| During the examination period | 60% |
Hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum requirement of (or at least) 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars, or workshops. There is an expectation that students attend lectures, in person or via online delivery. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass this subject. For the purposes of meeting this hurdle requirement, each submitted assessment must be complete and constitute a genuine attempt to address the requirements of the task. (Complete not less than 50% of word count) | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Additional details
Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 2% per working day.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Coordinator Sean Cubitt Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total 60 hours: a1.5-hour lecture, a 1-hour tutorial and a 2.5-hour screening per week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 27 February 2023 to 28 May 2023 Last self-enrol date 10 March 2023 Census date 31 March 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 May 2023 Assessment period ends 23 June 2023 Semester 1 contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 19 March 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Readings will be available online via the LMS.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Major Screen and Cultural Studies Informal specialisation Non-allowed Breadth Subjects within the Bachelor of Design - relating to specific majors - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 19 March 2024