Research Lab 1: NMDC

Course goals

At the end of this module, students will have learned which method may serve which types of research questions, and they will be able to assess the ethical and practical viability of each such method. They will also have grasped which methods (and their implied epistemological traditions and theoretical underpinnings) will be appropriate for pursuing their own individual research interests. Students will have learned how to express all these aspects of the methodology trajectory in oral and written form by participating in in-class debates and in team presentations, and by working on a methodology assignment.

Content

This module will re-introduce students to the methods and methodologies that are viable in the field of new media studies in the humanities at Utrecht University. Additionally, students will engage in meta-reflection about the conceptual underpinnings of these methods, which entails they will learn about the traditions, assumptions, and the explicit/implicit connections with particular new media theories in the humanities which are taught in the concomitant New Media Theories module. In connection with learning to identify the assumptions and traditions behind these methods, students will learn to assess the possible ethical issues involved in the application of each individual method, including their justification in light of general research ethics when formulating a methodology or research question.

Additional information

This course is open only to students enrolled in the MA programme New Media & Digital Culture.