The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Wilfrid Laurier University
Izmir University of Economics
SIT Study Abroad
Minnesota State University, Mankato
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Georgia Southern University
University of Montana, Missoula
James Madison University
University of the Pacific
Amazon Web Services, The Lacanian Unconscious, And Digital Life,
2023
University of North Texas
Amazon Web Services, The Lacanian Unconscious, And Digital Life, Marshall N. Armintor
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
In late 2011, ex-Amazon developer Steve Yegge’s rant about his former company described Amazon’s rapid transformation from an online bookstore to a web-services entity with a ruthlessly unified platform, all guided by the idea that the company’s effort to streamline its internal efficiency could be monetized, and the resultant software products sold through Amazon Web Services. The media consumerism that fed Amazon’s early years funded a surveilling behemoth, one that everyone feared Microsoft would become. As such, AWS has become a manifestation of the internet’s Lacanian unconscious (even providing the services and hosting for Reddit), structured around the optimization of …
Purloined Significance: How Recidivism Algorithms Capture, Transform, And Automate Our Intersubjective Unconscious As Data,
2023
SUNY University at Buffalo
Purloined Significance: How Recidivism Algorithms Capture, Transform, And Automate Our Intersubjective Unconscious As Data, Macy Mcdonald
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
Ever since ProPublica published their groundbreaking analysis of Northpointe’s Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions Core Risk and Needs Assessment software (COMPAS) in 2016, this web-based decision support system (DSS) has spawned a wide range of critiques and charges of racial bias. COMPAS provides a full suite of decision support applications to the US prison-industrial complex, including algorithmically derived recidivism predictions that increasingly guide parole decisions. The larger conversation surrounding COMPAS raises the question of how we analyze powerful, and yet opaque, data assemblages. In this article, I model an allegorical analysis of data assemblages. I argue the skills …
Community Despite Connection: Resisting The Digital Logics Of Optimization And Failure,
2023
Brown University
Community Despite Connection: Resisting The Digital Logics Of Optimization And Failure, Irina Kalinka
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
If a certain brand of aspirational tech-utopian discourse is to be believed, those privileged enough to be plugged into digital information technology are living through a golden age of connection. Platforms claim to facilitate sharing and partaking, bring people together, and bestow upon them new and improved spaces to gather and build communities. While reality differs decidedly from such idealized conceptions, it is nonetheless crucial to ask what kind of guiding vision is being instituted through such representational efforts: namely, the figure of community made operational and optimizable. This project will reject such idealized visions of coherent communities drawn together …
The Social Sinthome,
2023
Pomona College
The Social Sinthome, Ryan Engley
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
Much of the critical discourse on social media misidentifies its problematic features as bugs, or problems to solve. Supposed solutions to these problems tend to focus on individual actions. We should delete the apps, own our own data, never click on recommended videos, and realize that we are the product. But if predatory algorithms succeed by individuating people—selling people “choice” and “options” as it harvests user data—then an entire online ecosystem arranged through the logic of that design can neither be meaningfully challenged nor effectively understood at the level of the individual alone. Transformative action addressing social media can only …
Everybody Wants To Be A Fascist Online: Psychoanalysis And The Digital Architecture Of Fascism,
2023
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Everybody Wants To Be A Fascist Online: Psychoanalysis And The Digital Architecture Of Fascism, Anthony Faramelli, Imogen Piper
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
Félix Guattari and Franco Berardi have both argued that media ecologies and psychic ecologies are intimately intertwined and as such, any exploration of the collective unconscious must engage with how the mind is formed with and through media. This understanding of networks of interdependence necessitates an exploration of how platformization has impacted users” collective psyche. Drawing from psychosocial theory, psychoanalysis and the work of Félix Guattari, this article analizes the micropolitics of desire of digital platforms, with an explicit focus on how algorithmic structures amplify extreme Right content, allowing fascisms to metastasis throughout digital spaces. It will first examine the …
“There Is No Pandemic”: On Memes, Algorithms And Other Interpassive Forms Of Right-Wing Disbelief,
2023
Colorado College
“There Is No Pandemic”: On Memes, Algorithms And Other Interpassive Forms Of Right-Wing Disbelief, Scott Krzych
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
This essay examines several prominent memes that have circulated on Right-wing social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. The memes coordinate what I describe as a mode of interpassive humor, which positions those who “believe” in the crisis as naïve dupes, infantilizing those subjects who have fallen prey to the idea that they should take the pandemic seriously, and thereby delegating fearfulness to the other so that reactionary Covid-19 denialists may continue with their lives unaffected. The essay thereby seeks to draw suggestive lines of affiliation between studies of digital memes, evolutionary mimetics, and psychoanalytic theory, pointing to the algorithmic …
“Love Thy Social Media!”: Hysteria And The Interpassive Subject,
2023
Sheffield Hallam University
“Love Thy Social Media!”: Hysteria And The Interpassive Subject, Jack Black
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
According to the 2020 docudrama, The Social Dilemma, our very addiction to “social media” has, today, become encapsulated in the tensions between its facilitation as a mode of interpersonal communication and as an insidious conduit for machine learning, surveillance capitalism and manipulation. Amidst a variety of interviewees – many of whom are former employees of social media companies – the documentary finishes on a unanimous conclusion: something must change. By using the docudrama as a pertinent example of our “social media malaise,” and while remaining aware of the problems and unethical practices encompassing international digital/social media companies, this paper …
Lacan And The Algorithm,
2023
Simon Fraser University
Lacan And The Algorithm, Clint Burnham
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
Exploring the development of algorithms in Lacanian theory, specifically the "R schema" in the 1950s, I argue that psychoanalysis, read through contemporary debates about the "algorithmic cult" of Netflix and other avatars of popular culture, can be said to reveal the inhuman, machinic essence of subjectivity. The etiology of algorithms, mathemes, and other formulae and diagrams in Lacan’s oeuvre has been under-studied, in part because for some readers they are not as attractive as his more bravura flourishes of word play as exegetical excess, and in part because they derive largely from the ‘hard’ structuralist moment of his work in …
Platform Psychoanalysis: What Does The Algorithm Want?,
2023
University of Winnipeg
Platform Psychoanalysis: What Does The Algorithm Want?, Matthew Flisfeder
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
No abstract provided.
Identity And Perception Among Aspec Consumers Of Mass Media,
2023
University of Kentucky
Identity And Perception Among Aspec Consumers Of Mass Media, Jericho Franke
Theses and Dissertations--Communication
The portrayals of sex and romance, as well as asexuality and aromanticism, in mass media can have a profound impact on the way asexual and aromantic media consumers view relationships and their own identities, and affect the perception and treatment of the aspec community as a whole. This study uses mixed qualitative methods of online discourse analysis and participant interviews to examine the how mass media has shaped the self-perception and life experiences relating to sex and romance among aspec audience members.
Elizabeth Robins Portrays Working Women In Suffragette Literature: A Reflection Through The Lens Of The 2015 Film, Suffragette,
2023
Jacksonville State University
Elizabeth Robins Portrays Working Women In Suffragette Literature: A Reflection Through The Lens Of The 2015 Film, Suffragette, Joanne E. Gates
Presentations, Proceedings & Performances
I place the 2015-released film Suffragette within a context of the efforts Elizabeth Robins made to document and, by witnessing, to advocate, the early phases of the British Women’s Suffrage Movement in England. Robins wrote and participated across margins. An expatriate American living in England, she had no personal advantage to gain with a franchise. In her late forties and in ill health, she took perhaps only "safe" opportunities to thrust herself into the fray. But as Jane Marcus points out, with her research on the play that became Votes for Women, she took efforts to experience how working-class …
My Physical-Digital Self: Exploring The Detrimental Effects Of The Metaverse On Relationship & Identity Development,
2023
Claremont Colleges
My Physical-Digital Self: Exploring The Detrimental Effects Of The Metaverse On Relationship & Identity Development, Sophia De Castro
CMC Senior Theses
The metaverse, which is the next iteration of the internet--an immersive, virtual world--poses a threat to the essential human need for healthy relationship and identity development. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of isolation and virtual socialization led many to prefer physical experiences, despite society’s overall dependency on and connectedness to the internet and technological devices. Framed by Maslow’s hierarchy of human psychological needs, Turkle’s analysis of the human relationship to earlier forms of virtual reality, and Foucault’s principles of caring for and knowing the self, this paper argues that the metaverse will be detrimental towards developing participant’s …
The Power Of Anime: Artistic Power, Social Consciousness, And Cultural Impact,
2022
The University of San Francisco
The Power Of Anime: Artistic Power, Social Consciousness, And Cultural Impact, Natalie Ortez-Arevalo
Master's Projects and Capstones
This project explores the widespread popularity and impact of anime on Japanese culture. In my research, I demonstrate how the integration of anime into Japan’s culture creates big splashes—like stones being thrown into a lake—that, at the same time, ripple out in various directions and reverberate on multiple levels. First and foremost, this research centers around an important concept: that anime contains well-crafted storytelling and powerful imagery that demonstrates wider historical, cultural, and social issues—both the positive and negative. In anime films and shows, symbolism plays an important part as it can be found throughout the imagery and the storylines …
Cello In Film And Television Music,
2022
Belmont University
Cello In Film And Television Music, Annastasia M. Yoshida
Composition/Recording Projects
Throughout the ages, the cello has had a specific role in symphonies, operas, musicals, and pop concerts. In the last century, one of the fastest-growing music practices has been soundtracks to film and television shows. String instruments and specifically the cello hold an integral role within this type of music. In this project I present a study on the use of the cello in film and television show music, using eight representative soundtrack cues. In this project, I seek to do an extensive study of the use of cello within film and TV show music. I have chosen a selection …
Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests,
2022
California State University, San Bernardino
Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell
Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
Much attention has been paid to Black male athlete activism both historically and in the contemporary movement for black lives. Black female athletes have also made historic contributions as activists, and they continue to do so. However, Black female athlete activism has not always been acknowledged or heard. This is a problem, as Black women in American sports and society face overlapping racial and gender inequities and injustices that distinctly marginalize and oppress them. However, some Black female athlete activists (BFAAs) have begun using social media to challenge media narratives about themselves, to redefine what it means to be a …
Filmmaking As A Practice In Critical Theory,
2022
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Filmmaking As A Practice In Critical Theory, Cora M. Lay
Masters Theses
This multi-part project pulls together all my fields of research under the umbrella of my ultimate interest– agriculture and its future. The film portion focuses on regional and seasonal agriculture in Southern Germany near Lake Constance. It focuses on several families who do small-scale agricultural production utilizing various methods but ultimately touches on our current disconnect from our food systems and nature. The written portion found in this document focuses on filmmaking as a practice in critical theory, a tool to visualize what written theory cannot. Filming happened over a three-week period in Summer 2021for the portion shot in Germany. …
Integrating Media Literacy Into General Education Core Courses For Undergraduates,
2022
National Louis University
Integrating Media Literacy Into General Education Core Courses For Undergraduates, Christen Embry
Dissertations
This study aimed to understand the essential nature of media literacy, evaluate pre-developed higher education classes for existing media literacy context, and recommend best practices for incorporating media literacy into an undergraduate curriculum. This mixed-methods study of media literacy in undergraduate college courses explored the presence and absence of media literacy lessons within core classes by auditing 15 online course shells accessed through the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Specifically, all the courses surveyed included the first skill of media literacy, Access; 33% of the classes included Analyze; 27% included Creation; 20% included Reflection; and 20% included Action. Once the …
Queering Marianne: Witchcraft As A Means Of Sexual Freedom,
2022
California State University, San Bernardino
Queering Marianne: Witchcraft As A Means Of Sexual Freedom, Amber Guerena
Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations
This thesis is divided in three parts to argue that Emma in the series, Marianne, is homosexual. The first section explains that the witch, Marianne, embodies Emma’s repressed homosexual desires and that her reintroduction to Emma’s life signifies her break away from heteronormative expectations. The second section centers on how religion contributes to Emma’s internal conflict regarding her sexuality. She struggles with choosing which religion to embrace: Christianity, which doesn’t support homosexuality, or witchcraft, which does support homosexuality. The third section explains the strategic choices that the series took to portray Emma’s acceptance of herself and witchcraft. The series …
Biblography For George Takei Display,
2022
Chapman University
Biblography For George Takei Display, Ruby Blakesleay
Library Displays and Bibliographies
A bibliography created to accompany a display about George Takei in November 2022 at the Leatherby Libraries to commemorate his visit to Chapman University.
Communication And One,
2022
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
