Youth culture in a digital world

Course goals

In this course, students will...

• be introduced to different theoretical frameworks in relation to the use of digital media sources among adolescents. They will learn how to understand and apply these frameworks to real-life examples. Moreover, they will develop a critical view towards the existing theoretical frameworks.

• learn to evaluate and describe trends in adolescents’ digital media use in relation to empirical findings. They will pay specific attention here to individual differences in adolescents’ media use and developmental processes.

• learn to critically analyze the influence of digital media sources on adolescents’ behavior. This means that they will focus on positive, negative, expected, and unexpected findings. They will also learn to evaluate the study design and sample critically in term of generalizability.

• learn to contrast research designs that are typically used in media studies among adolescents. They will evaluate advantages and disadvantages of the different designs within this specific context of adolescents. Moreover, they will reflect on how existing designs can be improved.

• learn to apply the theoretical frameworks and scientific findings concerning adolescents’ digital media use into a policy advice. They will reflect on opportunities and challenges of existing and new policy advice.

• learn how to develop your own point of view concerning media effects research among adolescents and formulate arguments in a convincing way. They will do that with an open mind and will pay attention to the different stakeholders who might have different opinions on these issues.
   

Content

Digital media are completely embedded in the lives of adolescents; they have become an essential element of the social environment in which adolescents grow up. Adolescents are key persons in the field of trends in digital media use; they play an important role in the popularity of different digital media sources. Adolescents give meaning to youth culture and youth lifestyle by the use of digital media and the development of adolescents can be better understood when considering the influence of digital media. In this course, we will introduce you to some central theories in media-use and effects research among adolescents. We will critically analyze these theories in the current context of social media and apply them to some specific topics, related to youth culture. Some of these topics are for instance gaming culture, celebrity culture, sexting culture etc. Within each of these topics, we will discuss the position of digital media and reflect on the influence it has on the (personal, social, emotional, and physical) development of adolescents. In this course, there will be a strong emphasis on applying scientific knowledge, both during class discussions as well as in a written assignment.

Academic skills

- Critically reflect on scientific findings
- Evaluate and contrast theoretical frameworks
- Searching for scientific literature
- Basic knowledge of statistical testing
- Design and write a well-founded argumentation/policy advice in accordance to the APA-style (American Psychological Association)


Effort obligation

In order to pass the course, attendance and active participation in seminars are required. If students are unable to attend a seminar, they must notify the seminar teacher about their absence and provide the reason before the class begins. Students are required to prepare reading questions related to the literature of the week. These questions will aid their comprehension of the literature and contribute to exam preparation. The prepared reading questions must be uploaded on Blackboard before the scheduled seminar. Students who miss two seminars and/or fail to prepare the reading questions will be required to complete an additional assignment to demonstrate their effort.

Please note that there is a maximum number of participants for this course, so register in time.