MEVIT4310 ¨C Media Innovations

Course content

Innovation is one of the key terms of our current era. We all know the imperative: to innovate, change, disrupt, transform, make new - all in the service of new business opportunities, technologies, efficiency, and progress. In this course we will critically interrogate this concept, asking what innovation is or can be, and examining how innovation is practiced and who is recognizable as an innovator. Why has it become a dominant way of conceptualizing organizational and cultural transformation in the 21st century? Why do we often think of innovation in terms of new, shiny objects or new technologies? What ways of living and making are marginalized in mainstream ideas of innovation?

The main aim of this course is to encourage students to question assumptions about the nature, actors, practices, actors and locations of innovations. It will do so by exploring what the technological, creative and innovative might mean, and who or what gets to be part of those definitions, studying a wide range of examples from the media sector, including TV, journalism, and the cultural industries. The course will draw on perspectives from science and technology studies (STS), organizational studies, sociology, anthropology and design, human-computer interaction (HCI), as well as media and communication studies.

Learning outcome

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Develop their critical acumen with regards to ideas of innovation, as they relate to the media sector in particular.
• Familiarize themselves with a wide range of scholarly perspectives on critical innovation theory.
• Situate a reflection on innovation within broader discussions of identity (e.g. gender, race, class, disability) and practice (e.g. hacking, subversion, repair).
• Conduct independent research (in groups or individually) on a self-selected case of media innovation and present this in class.
• Critically evaluate and analyze media innovation as a multi-dimensional phenomenon

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

The course is available to students admitted to Media and Communication Studies (master) (being phased out), Politisk kommunikasjon (master) and Screen Cultures (master).

Teaching

In addition to lectures and seminars, this course is built around the student¡¯s own work and participation in and outside class. This may take different forms, depending on the teacher and the respective semester, but may consist of: group work, a practice-oriented research component, student-led case studies of innovative processes and products in the media sector, concept development, media design and other hands-on work (not all in one semester).

In order to qualify for the exam, students will have to complete the following:

- A mandatory oral presentation in groups (this must be handed in digitally if you can not participate in the physical tutorials)

- Submit a term paper outline to be discussed in smaller groups as part of the class.

We highly recommend students to actively participate in the physical tutorials as long as this is possible.

Both compulsory activities must be completed in order to qualify for the exam.

Obligatory activities and absence

It is the student`s own responsibility to stay informed about the obligatory activities, comply with the requirements for attendance and to uphold deadlines. Everyone must familiarize themselves with the rules concerning obligatory activities at the Faculty of Humanities. If you get ill or have other valid reasons for being absent from obligatory activities, you must apply for a leave of absence as soon as possible and no later than the day of absence or the deadline. Documentation of the absence must be sent to the institute within three working days.

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Examination

The exam for this course is a term paper of up to ten (10) pages, where each page is calculated to approximately 2300 characters excluding spaces. The page count does not include the front page, literature list/bibliography or appendices.

The obligatory activities must be fulfilled to be able to hand in the term paper.

The three obligatory activities must be fulfilled to be able to hand in the term paper.

See also the department`s exam information

Examination support material

No examination support material is allowed.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Students on Screen Cultures and the programme option Political Communication: Nordic Perspectives must submit their exam in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• How to use AI as a student
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.