The Environmental Screenscape (SCRN30005)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 2
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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
  • 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
  • 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: 9 April 2025

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: 9 April 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

An online blog

  • 1500 words (equivalent)
During the teaching period40%

A written essay

  • 2500 words
During the examination period60%
Hurdle requirement: 1. Attendance hurdle requirement: This subject has a minimum requirement of 80% attendance at tutorials, seminars, or workshops. There is an expectation that students attend lectures and screenings. Throughout the teaching periodN/A
Hurdle requirement: 2. Late Penalty and Assessment hurdle requirement: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at five per cent (5%) of the possible marks available for the assessment task per day or part thereof. All pieces of assessment must be submitted to pass the subject. Each submitted assessment must be complete, constitute a genuine attempt to address the requirements of the task and will not be accepted after 20 University business days from the original assessment due date without written approval. Throughout the semesterN/A

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Dates & times

  • Semester 2
    CoordinatorSean Cubitt
    Mode of deliveryOn Campus (Parkville)
    Contact hoursTotal 60 hours: a1.5-hour lecture, a 1-hour tutorial and a 2.5-hour screening per week
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Teaching period22 July 2024 to 20 October 2024
    Last self-enrol date 2 August 2024
    Census date 2 September 2024
    Last date to withdraw without fail20 September 2024
    Assessment period ends15 November 2024

    Semester 2 contact information

    sean.cubitt@unimelb.edu.au

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: 9 April 2025

Further information

Last updated: 9 April 2025