Dr. Claudia Pinkas-Thompson
Dr. Claudia Pinkas-Thompson, specialized in media studies at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, will present a workshop on media studies at the University of Dschang, Cameroon, from the 28th of September to the 8th of October 2015. The workshop's theme is; Introduction to Media Studies: Theory, History, and Aesthetics, presented in English and German respectively. She will be assisted by Annegret Scheibe, a holder of a Master of Arts and has enrolled for a PhD in the same field. This seminar is justified by the fundamental role played by the media in this era of globalization which enables worldwide network communication. Thus allowing access to participation and providing platforms where various contents circulate within and across different cultures.
Annegret Scheibe, M.A.
The disciplines of humanities and cultural studies have increasingly included new perspectives of Media Studies. Thereby, focusing on questions such as the role of language and literature in the media system, intermedial relations of texts and audio-visual media as well as the profound changes in spoken and written language in the context of the development of digital media. The theoretical component consists of discussions on terms, such as “media” , “Media Studies” key concepts and theories of Media Studies (works by Walter Benjamin's essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and Marshall McLuhan's “Understanding Media”). It also consists of dealing with the theory, history and aesthetics of individual media, such as oral and written language, photography, film, television and digital media. A Reader with theory texts (in English) for each lesson will be provided.
The workshop, essentially for lecturers, aims at providing a basis for addressing the above issues.
Two guests speakers
Dr. Claudia Pinkas-Thompson. Fellow of the Postdoctoral Research Institute of German Philology and Literature Studies (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and Coordinator of the bachelor/master study program, Science –Media- Communication. She is interested in the relations between media, culture and knowledge as well as questions of film narratology, and the communication of science in audiovisual media. With specific interest in the representation of under waterworlds in popular science and fiction.
Annegret Scheibe, M.A.. She studied psychology, literature and media studies in Heidelbergand Karlsruhe. She graduated with a thesis in media studies on the German crime TV series “Tatort“. Since 2014 she is a research associate at the Institute of German Philology and Literature, Department of Science Communication at KIT; working title of the dissertation project: “Science in Series”. Research interests: popular culture, seriality, regionality, and German Heimatfilm.
Programme (theoretical component)
Part I
1. What is a Medium? What is Media Studies?
2. Man and Technology
3. Reproduction and Representation
4. Mass Media and Popular Culture
(Analytical and practical component)
Part II
1. Oral and Written Language
2. Photography
3. Film
4. Television
5. Digital Media