Digital Media Technologies in East Asia

Undergraduate / Graduate

Digital technologies including Sony headphones and TikTok have become ubiquitous in our everyday life, to the point that people sometimes take their presence for granted. But how do we understand the diverse ways they exert effects on us in today's global culture? This course examines the cultural, political, and technological dimensions of digital media in East Asia. Through readings in media theory, cultural studies, and science and technology studies, as well as screenings and hands-on labs, students will explore the intersection between regional histories and digital forms of media technologies-including Nintendo videogames and virtual K-pop idols. The specific geographic focus trains students to decenter the history of technology from a U.S.-centric perspective by discovering diverse narratives and frameworks. Selective topics include early Internet culture, platform economies, video games, and emerging debates around AI. Besides analytical inquiries, the course also spends one week introducing digital humanities methods such as text mining, network analysis, and visualization, asking students to engage both the media they study and the tools that may be constitutive to new kinds of research projects. By the end of this course, students will be able to evaluate and apply theories of culture and technologies to challenge common conceptions of digital media in everyday life.