Media Archaeology
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with a general knowledge of the conceptual framework and the critical and theoretical tools of media archaeology, characterized by an interdisciplinary methodology that combines philosophy and critical theory with anthropology, the theory and history of cinema and media, and the history of technology. Through the in-depth analysis of selected case studies, the goal of the course is to reframe past, contemporary, or emerging media through an investigation of the dispositifs that anticipated them, as well as through an account of the genealogical processes and epistemic constructs that have informed their becoming. The course will particularly emphasise interrupted or dead-end paths, that have been neglected or overlooked from the institutional history of media and will pay special attention to the bodily techniques that the interaction with media implies. Through an archaeological approach to media and dispositifs, the course aims to offer a critical contribution both to further studies of media dynamics, and to future activities in the professional fields of multimedia design and communication.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students
- will have developed awareness of the non-linear and discontinuous character of the history of media, becoming familiar with some of the methodologies proper to media archaeology
- will be able to identify connections between contemporary media and the media of the past, as well as to explain the relationship between the emergence of ideas and concepts in a certain historical epoch and the evolution of technologies and dispositifs
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
- put into practice a set of tool to analyse the history of media phenomena and to critically discuss the dominant media trend in history through alternative genealogical trajectories
- tackle different types of sources for an archaeological investigation of media (literary texts, audio-visual materials, optical and technological apparatuses)
- apply the conceptual framework addressed by the course to a critical analysis of contemporary media culture, relying upon the examination of the case studies
- employ the notions acquired in various professional contexts of communication, especially those concerned with the design, project, and management of media processes
At the end of the course, students
- will have developed awareness of the non-linear and discontinuous character of the history of media, becoming familiar with some of the methodologies proper to media archaeology
- will be able to identify connections between contemporary media and the media of the past, as well as to explain the relationship between the emergence of ideas and concepts in a certain historical epoch and the evolution of technologies and dispositifs
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:
- put into practice a set of tool to analyse the history of media phenomena and to critically discuss the dominant media trend in history through alternative genealogical trajectories
- tackle different types of sources for an archaeological investigation of media (literary texts, audio-visual materials, optical and technological apparatuses)
- apply the conceptual framework addressed by the course to a critical analysis of contemporary media culture, relying upon the examination of the case studies
- employ the notions acquired in various professional contexts of communication, especially those concerned with the design, project, and management of media processes
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
Unit A (20 h; 3 CFU): What is media archaeology (methodology, examples, science and pseudoscience)
Unit B (20 h; 3 CFU): Screening Fears: phantasmagoria, cinema, telepresence
Unit C (20 h; 3 CFU): Genealogies of contemporary screens
In our daily practices, nothing seems more familiar and immediate than a screen: that of our smartphone or tablet, personal computer and the different devices we use activate through visual, voice and tactile interfaces. The pervasiveness of screens has become evident more than ever in the pandemic context: we ended up naturalising screens, i.e. taking them for granted and making them part and parcel of our environment, without questioning them. But what is a screen? In Longobard, the term 'skirm' meant a shield and any surface capable of providing shelter. How then did the screen come to mean the device we know nowadays? What were the social practices and uses that transformed it into a surface for projecting images? The screen has an ambiguous structure that refers at once to the action of exhibiting and protecting, of showing and concealing. This course aims to investigate this specific object through the method of media archaeology, understood as a form of thought as well as an artistic practice able to shed light on unexpected genealogies and enlighten our relationship with contemporary screens.
Unit B (20 h; 3 CFU): Screening Fears: phantasmagoria, cinema, telepresence
Unit C (20 h; 3 CFU): Genealogies of contemporary screens
In our daily practices, nothing seems more familiar and immediate than a screen: that of our smartphone or tablet, personal computer and the different devices we use activate through visual, voice and tactile interfaces. The pervasiveness of screens has become evident more than ever in the pandemic context: we ended up naturalising screens, i.e. taking them for granted and making them part and parcel of our environment, without questioning them. But what is a screen? In Longobard, the term 'skirm' meant a shield and any surface capable of providing shelter. How then did the screen come to mean the device we know nowadays? What were the social practices and uses that transformed it into a surface for projecting images? The screen has an ambiguous structure that refers at once to the action of exhibiting and protecting, of showing and concealing. This course aims to investigate this specific object through the method of media archaeology, understood as a form of thought as well as an artistic practice able to shed light on unexpected genealogies and enlighten our relationship with contemporary screens.
Prerequisites for admission
None
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussions, analysis of artworks and devices, visual materials of contemporary digital culture, collective discussion, internet tools for blended teaching (padlet, mentimeter).
Teaching Resources
Slides and suggested readings will be accessible on the Team "Archeologia dei media", Channel 2023-2024, codice: 8aqe3g0 and on the Ariel site.
Bibliography
UNITS A,B
A. C. Dalmasso, B. Grespi (a cura di), Mediarcheologia, Cortina, Milano 2024, pp. 417.
F. Casetti, Schermare le paure. I media tra proiezione e protezione, Bompiani, Milano 2023, pp. 273.
UNIT C
J. Bodini, M. Carbone, A.C. Dalmasso (a cura di), I poteri degli schermi, Mimesis, Milano 2021, pp. 260.
Not attending students are also required to study:
E. Modena, Nelle storie. Arte, cinema, e media immersivi, Carocci, Roma 2022, pp. 163.
Bibliography
UNITS A,B
A. C. Dalmasso, B. Grespi (a cura di), Mediarcheologia, Cortina, Milano 2024, pp. 417.
F. Casetti, Schermare le paure. I media tra proiezione e protezione, Bompiani, Milano 2023, pp. 273.
UNIT C
J. Bodini, M. Carbone, A.C. Dalmasso (a cura di), I poteri degli schermi, Mimesis, Milano 2021, pp. 260.
Not attending students are also required to study:
E. Modena, Nelle storie. Arte, cinema, e media immersivi, Carocci, Roma 2022, pp. 163.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral exam testing the knowledge of the texts in the syllabus and the acquired skills, with a particular focus on concepts and case studies.
The exam program of A.Y. 2022-2023 can be taken until the February 2024 roll call and no later, thereafter (i.e. from May 2024) it will only be possible to take the program of A.Y. 2023-2024.
The evaluation corresponds to:
- knowledge level of the theoretical frameworks;
- ability to apply concepts to case studies;
- making judgments;
- ability to argue with conceptual and linguistic precision.
The exam program of A.Y. 2022-2023 can be taken until the February 2024 roll call and no later, thereafter (i.e. from May 2024) it will only be possible to take the program of A.Y. 2023-2024.
The evaluation corresponds to:
- knowledge level of the theoretical frameworks;
- ability to apply concepts to case studies;
- making judgments;
- ability to argue with conceptual and linguistic precision.
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professors:
Dalmasso Anna Caterina, Grespi Barbara
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Thursday 4-6 p.m. Please contact me to schedule an appointment
Festa del Perdono campus or Microsoft Teams
Reception:
From 28 April to 12 May 2025, reception office will still take place on Mondays, but only online from 13:30 to 16:30, by appointment requested by email or Teams (due to research transfer in the US).
Dipartimento di filosofia, second floor, and/or Teams