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City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong Information on a Course offered by the School of Creative Media with effect from Semester B in 2012 / 2013 Part I Course Title: Visual Ethnography and Creative Intervention Course Code: SM4134 Course Duration: 1 semester No. of Credit Units: 3 Level: B3 Medium of Instruction: English Prerequisites: (Course Code and Title) NA Precursors: (Course Code and Title) NA Equivalent Courses: (Course Code and Title) NA Exclusive Courses: (Course Code and Title) NA Part II 1. Course Aims: This course unfolds the many issues involved in studying everyday urban culture via ethnographic research methods. As a participant or observer, what kinds of information do we collect from the field? How does the medium employed to collect data and make field notes impact on what we learn and what know? Are the different creative media only tools? What can we learn from history and current practices the variety, diversity and complexity of ways. When we present our findings via visual narratives, such as a documentary, what are the implications? How have documentary makers so far tackled these issues? Ethnography can be summarized as ‘being there, observing, collecting and recording’, whereas Cultural Studies open up this research method (from anthropology) into ‘ethno-methodologies’, allowing flexible, reasoned combination of other research methods such as interview, textual and discourse analysis, and participatory research. Ethno-methodologies are important because they pay attention to specific live moments of specific subjects, the opposite of turning people into types and numbers. 1 Visual ethnography has become an important aspect of the study of culture, and has found ways into the research-creation process of many contemporary artists. Visual ethnography has the following FOUR aspects: (1) Deploying photography, sketching, mapping, video-making and other visual methods to record data and conduct fieldwork (2) Collecting and studying visual/audio artifacts to gain insight into cultural practices and everyday life as these objects are highly organized visual representations with embedded meanings, e.g. family photos, video games, stamps, posters, advertisements, movies, front pages of personal blogs, maps etc. (3) Representing (analyzed/interpreted) fieldwork – i.e. representing ethnographic knowledge – via visual media, e.g. a photo album, a hyper-textual archive, documentary/anthropological videos, an artist’s book etc. (4) Moving beyond pure recording and visual representation to a series of participatory, performative and interventionist activities, often also practiced by contemporary artists who want their art-making to be find ways into everyday life. The course will conclude with the examination of two latest trends: A. There is no pure visual/audio objects: new ethnography has paid more attention to It is also about investigating the varied ‘lives’ of objects based on actual usage, and human activities that involve self-made visual logic and aesthetics, such as decorating one’s living room, arrangement of the kitchen space, the actual use of a physical desk in one’s room, the display of family photos and so on. B. There is a recent trend in the growing use of ethnographic research in the commercial sector as new ways to probe consumers’ views and to give evidence to consumers’ needs in the context of marketing research. This requires some attention with assessment. 2. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to: No. CILOs 1. Explain and defend the use of ethno-methodologies in the study of urban, everyday culture 2 Give an accessible account of the idea of visual ethnography and its varieties; 3. Conceive a research of everyday life based on informed views in cultural studies that deploys visual ethnography; 4. Design, conduct and manage ethnography independently; *5. Turn the findings of ethnography, the work of collecting, classification and archiving into creative/artistic projects; 2 *6. Deploy audio-visual tools effectively in research and be aware of the difference they make *Negotiated Learning Outcome (NLO) explicitly articulating the elements of Discovery oriented learning. 3. Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) (designed to facilitate students’ achievement of the CILOs) Indicative of likely activities and tasks students will undertake to learn in this course. Final details will be provided to students in their first week of attendance in this course. TLAs ILO No Lecture, critical reading, class discussion, and issue- and sample-work-based CILO 1-3 small group presentation Class presentation: case-studies (group), individual assignments, assigned CILO 1, 2 readings Case studies via lecture (exposition), class discussion (integration), and CILO 3 small group presentation (integration), Field studies – short exercises to polish field work techniques and CILO 4, 6 familiarize students of the sub-tasks of the research process, e.g. preserving documents, filing, classification, coding, interviews, frame analysis etc. Log book (journal) to record all individual field exercises with critical CILO 1, 2, review, and case studies 4, 6 Self-designed research-creation projects; proposal-writing; class CILO 1, 3-6 presentation and final report (critical essay) 4. Assessment Tasks/Activities (designed to assess how well the students achieve the CILOs) Indicative of likely activities and tasks students will undertake to learn in this course. Final details will be provided to students in their first week of attendance in this course. Type of assessment tasks/activities Weighting ILO No Remarks (if applicable) Small group presentation: case studies and/or assigned 20% CILO 1, 2 readings Log book (journal) to record all individual field 15% CILO 1, 2, exercises critical review, and case studies 4, 6 3 small-scale research exercises on show to set up a 30% CILO 4, 6 research, fieldwork, collecting and analysis + report: representation of findings plus one-page review Semester-end research-creation (with exhibition option): 30% CILO 1, 3-6 creative work (creative representation of research findings) plus critical review 3 5. Grading of Student Achievement: Refer to Grading o Courses in the Academic Regulations. 100% coursework Standard (A+AA-....F) Grading is based on performance in assessment tasks / activities A. Class Participation This assessment task reviews students’ participation and performance in discussions, debates and peer critique during the tutorial sessions. The evidence of ‘negotiation’, the sign of discovery, lies in students’ pre-class preparation and interpersonal sensitivity to his/her peer members. Letter Grade Grade Description Grade Point Definitions A+ 4.3 Excellent Active in-class participation, positive listening, strong ability to stimulate A 4.0 class discussion and comment on other points A- 3.7 In-depth pre-class preparation and familiarity with peer reports and other materials Interpret others’ views with an open mind and ready to negotiate Readiness to share personal insight via analysis and synthesis with informed views Constructively critical, thus facilitating the discovery of new issues B+ 3.3 Good Active in-class participation, positive listening, ability to initiate class B 3.0 discussion and comment on other points B- 2.7 Adequate pre-class preparation and familiarity with peer reports and other materials Interpret opinions effectively C+ 2.3 Adequate Attentive in in-class participation, listening with comprehension, but only C 2.0 infrequently contributing C- 1.7 Adequate pre-class preparation but little familiarity with peer reports and other materials Fair ability in interpreting opinions D 1.0 Marginal Unmotivated to participate in class discussion or comment on other people’s views Little pre-class preparation and familiarity with peer reports and other materials Poor ability in interpreting opinions F 0.0 Failure Unwilling to participate in class discussion and comment on other points, even when requested by the teacher No pre-class preparation and familiarity with peer reports and other materials Minimal ability in interpreting opinions Note: All A+/A/A- grade assignment should comply with the highest performance of Discovery-oriented learning. 4 B. Group Presentation This assessment will grade on content and fluency of presentation. Students should show their co-operation to conduct a well-organized presentation with their own argument and evidence from readings and notes. The threshold of ‘discovery’ lied in a student’s self initiatives to conduct additional research and to personalize theories for her/his personal daily experience. Letter Grade Grade Description Grade Point Definitions A+ 4.3 Excellent Rich, informative content, excellent grasp of the material with in-depth A 4.0 and extensive knowledge of the subject matter A- 3.7 Rigorous organization, coherent structure, and systematic exposition with a strong sense of narrative Superior presentation skills: distinct pronunciation, fluent expression and appropriate diction, exact time-management Critical analysis with insightful comments opening up new issues, or suggesting the ability to theorize B+ 3.3 Good Adequate content with firm grasp of the material that informs the B 3.0 audience on a subject matter B- 2.7 Reasonable organization, balanced structure and composition Good verbal communication: comprehensible pronunciation, fluent expression and diction, fair time-management C+ 2.3 Adequate Adequate content
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