Subject Area: Media, Culture and Technology

Publishing practices are deeply involved in the constitution of social life, because of the kind of publics they help bring into being. This course examines the different formations of "publics" in relation to different publishing technologies and practices. Students will examine the history and theory of this relationship, and then explore the key influence of data in the contemporary transformation of this relationship. New uses of data make print, images and other media elements more dynamic, and more open to combination, across increasingly varied publishing platforms. This makes for a more complex and flexible series of publics—in concept and reality—from the global to the "hyperlocal", with possibilities of both enhanced control and participation. Topics examined will include: publishing theory, history and cultures; changing archives; the shifting commons; new forms of expression such as visualization; participation, distribution and aggregation via new platforms such as eReaders and social media.