Please note: this course was originally a Canvas site which is no longer available.

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FMMC 1025A. YouTube Culture & Practice Middlebury College | Department of Film & Media Culture Winter Term 2017

Professor Louisa Stein Email: [email protected] Office: Axinn 206

Class Sessions: Mon–Thu 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM in Axinn Center 105

Welcome to FMMC 1025A: YouTube Culture & Practice

Course Description

What does YouTube offer as cultural forum and cultural force, and what are its limits? How has YouTube changed since its 2005 origin, and how is it continuing to evolve? YouTube functions as a site of negotiation between professional and amateur, and between corporate and grassroots. It is home to evolving aesthetics and niche communities, and also functions as a commercial platform. In this course we will explore the commercial and cultural contexts of YouTube and the media forms evolving within its interface. Work for this course involves academic written analyses and media production, including vlogs, reaction videos, remix, and web series.

Week-by-Week Course Schedule

Week 1: Vlogging — Individual Narrative and Community Network

1/9 Monday: Introductions, YouTube account & vlogging brainstorm/set up.

First vlog reading responses (to Burgess & Juhasz) due Tuesday by class.
Reading: Jean Burgess and Joshua Green, “How YouTube Matters,” Chapter 1 in YouTube Culture: Online Video and Participatory Culture.
Alexandra Juhasz, “Learning the Five Lessons of YouTube: After Trying to Teach There, I Don't Believe the Hype.” Cinema Journal 48.2 (Winter 2009): 145–150. doi:10.1353/cj.0.0074

1/10 Tuesday: Vlogging screening.

Select one reading case study from the following. Vlog response to these case study reading due Wednesday by class:
- Kristin M. Peterson, “Beyond Fashion Tips and Hijab Tutorials: The Aesthetic Style of Islamic Lifestyle Videos.” Film Criticism 40.2 (June 2016). doi:10.3998/fc.13761232.0040.203
- Melvin L. Williams, Tia C. M. Tyree, and Markeil Lewis, “My Hair Is ‘Layed’ Like Cyberqueer: Video Blogging, Computer Cross-Dressing, and the Curious Case of Funky Dineva.” Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men 3.2 (Spring 2015): 99–122. doi:10.2979/spectrum.3.2.99
- Laura Jeffries, “The Revolution Will Be Soooo Cute: YouTube ‘Hauls’ and the Voice of Young Female Consumers.” Studies in Popular Culture 33.2 (Spring 2011): 59–75. JSTOR stable URL
- Simon Lindgren, “‘It took me about half an hour, but I did it!’: Media circuits and affinity spaces around how-to videos on YouTube”
- Brianna Castellini, “Don’t Forget To Be Awesome: An In-Depth Exploration of Nerdfighteria”

1/11 Wednesday: Case Study Comparison & Vlogger Partner Research

1/12 Thursday: Present-a-vlogger in class; Class community Vlog response due Thursday night.

Week 2: Celebrity — Micro or Macro?

1/16 Monday: [Martin Luther King Day]

Jean Burgess and Joshua Green, “YouTube and the Mainstream Media” & “YouTube’s Popular Culture.” YouTube Culture: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Vlog Reading Response due Tuesday by class.