7AAVDC06 Mobility, Culture and Digital Media 2020/21: Essay questions

 

Students need to submit a 4,000 word critical analysis essay via KEATS, which will make up 100% of their grade for this module.

DEADLINE: 6 January 2021 15:59 (i.e. submit before 16.00!)

Remember: department regulations state that essays submitted up to 24 hours after the deadline can only receive a maximum ‘pass’ grade (50). Essays submitted over 24 hours late will be marked ‘zero’.

Beware of plagiarism (reference your sources properly) and note that the word limit does not include the bibliography.

Please choose one of the following questions:

• In the context of ‘undocumented’ migration towards Europe in recent years, have digital media technologies helped or hindered people’s mobility?
• “Digital media provide powerful tools that can enable the ‘integration’ of migrants into ‘host’ societies.” Critically evaluate this
• Do digital media technologies enable mobility and empowerment for marginalised people in restrictive societies?
• How do ‘digital diasporas’ use technology to influence their ‘homelands’?

 

 

Guidance:

Make  sure  you  draw  on  literature  from  the  relevant  parts   of  the  module reading list and critically engage with these theories/cases in order to develop your own argument. You are also  encouraged  discuss  ‘real world’  examples  from  these  or  other  sources (e.g. reliable media outlets, NGO reporting) in order to provide evidence for the argument that you wish to make.

We will specifically discuss this assignment in the final week of Semester 1. Throughout the semester you are welcome to raise questions about the assignment in seminars, by email or in the convener’s office hours.

 

Week 1  – Mobility and migration: an introduction

Week 2 – Nations, mobility, and media

Week 3 – Borders, surveillance and mobility ‘crises’

Week 4 – Citizenship and multiculturalism

Week 5 – Mobility and digital democracy

Week 6  – Reading Week

Week 7 – Integration/assimilation, transnationalism, and digital media

Week 8 – African Digital Diasporas

Week 9 – Transnational digital contestation in the Middle East

Week 10 – Mobility, empowerment and ICTs: examples from the Middle East and Africa

Week 11 – Asian migration and digital diasporas

Week 12 – Revision and essay preparation