Russian Media and Society: Digital Culture in Russia, 5 cr

Description: This advanced level course will introduce students to various aspects of Russian digital culture. We will start with the historical perspective: what is information revolution? How can digital communication be studied in the broad context of the history of reading and how the Russian internet, Runet, has evolved technologically, culturally and socially? We will then take a closer look at specific areas of digital culture, such as, electronic libraries, social media activism, freedom of speech, internet regulation, and fan communities on the Russophone internet. All these topics offer important insights into Russian contemporary language, culture and society from the vantage points of digital communication and globalization, while introducing a range of theoretical and analytical frameworks that will be useful in further studies, for instance as applied to master’s theses. The course consists of 20 hrs of lectures and seminar work as well as individual assignments prepared outside the class work.

Lecture outline:

1. Introduction: Digital culture in Russia – what why and how?

2. Information revolutions and media technologies

3. (Cultural) History of the Runet

4. Electronic libraries and e-reading

5. Russophone netspeak and social media

6. E-democracy and questions of political participation online

7. Freedom of speech and internet regulation

8. Online participatory culture, fan communities, internet vernacular

9. YouTubers, influencers and internet celebrities: Russian digital culture in the age of globalization

10. Students’ presentations/ wrap-up