PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY
Bachelor	TR-NQF-HE: Level 6	QF-EHEA: First Cycle	EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code	Course Name	Semester	Theoretical	Practical	Credit	ECTS
VCD3132	Cyberculture	Spring Fall	3	0	3	5

This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester.

Basic information

Language of instruction:	English
Type of course:	Non-Departmental Elective
Course Level:	Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle)
Mode of Delivery:	Face to face
Course Coordinator :	Dr. Öğr. Üyesi İPEK TORUN
Recommended Optional Program Components:	None
Course Objectives:	The electronic communication technologies produced new notions of information and entertainment. These new technologies have begun to alter our perception of presence and the real. It has transformed our experience of the body, identity and self. Our understanding of concepts like public sphere, urban space and architectural space has been altered. This course is designed to situate the changes in a broader cultural history of vision, visuality and cyber-culture. It will explore the culture of cyberspace through artwork, movies and literary work (novels) that use virtual reality to speculate about society, reality, self and the boundary between human and artificial life.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
1) Introduced to both definition and application of concepts such as cyberspace, virtual identity, cyberculture, cyberpunk, technoculture, presence, telepresence, artificial intelligence, the real, intertextuality, ect.

2) Analyse and discuss the social, cultural, psychological, and political impact of these "new" technologies.

3) Develop basic understanding of vision, visuality and art within the culture of cyberspace.

4) Formulate an adequate critique of the direction and use of changes in the cultural history.

5) Introduced to the theory of Cyberpunk, which they can relate to cultural products within areas of fine arts, music and film.

6) Be able to discuss the issues revolving around pornography, race , gender, public sphere, identity and freeedom in relation to cyber culture.

7) Be able to carry discussions on the literary work of the field

8) Be able to make virtual presentation through constructing a simple site or a blog

Course Content

Students will be introduced to the topic of cyber culture and will inspect the reflections of cyber culture in our lives through lectures, readings and project assignments throughout the semester.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Subject	Related Preparation
1)	Introduction to the Course / Review of the Syllabus	none
2)	İntroduction to Visual Culture in new technologies: What is cyberspace and how does it relate to art, literature, movies, music, lifestyles, politics, and sexuality of the postmodern world?	The reading related to the subject
3)	A cultural history of the Virtual: new modes of cultural experience and questions of pornography, hacking, race and gender stereotypes, freedom of information, and copyright.	The reading related to the subject
4)	Roots of Social Cyberspace: When Technology and Community Collide, The Virtual Public Sphere	The reading related to the subject
5)	Constructed Human Body and Art: The Art and Work of Stelarch and Transhumanism, Art between Body and Machine Screening: Ghost in the Shell	The reading related to the subject
6)	Virtual Bodies and the Definition of the Human: Human and Machine in Science Fiction Screening: The Matrix	The reading related to the subject
7)	Beyond the Screen and in to the interface of of Virtual Reality: Art and Work of Jeffery Shaw	Preparation for midterm
8)	Term Review	Review of the reading done during the term
9)	İnteractive Narratives in Art and Artificial Intelligence: Banishing linear sequence. Online artworks and online galleries, art with no object.	The reading related to the subject
10)	The Virtual City: Cyberspace and the Information Superhighways Works of Bill Viola, Dennis Oppenheim and Diana Thater	The reading related to the subject
11)	Virtual İdentity , Virtual Learning, Telepresence and Self in the Digital World	The reading related to the subject
12)	The Evolution of Cyberpunk (Technoculture): Discussion on Neuromancer Screening from Anime Series: ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ dir. Hideaki Anno.	The reading related to the subject
13)	Post and Post-post Cyberpunk in postmodern times Screening: Bladerunner dir. Ridley Scott	The reading related to the subject
14)	Review of the semester	review

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks:

Course reading will be given on a weekly basis

References:

1) McLuhan, "Understanding Media"
2) Jean Baudrillard, "Simulations and Simulacra"
3) Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
4) Lev Manovich, "The Automation of Sight: From Photography to Computer Vision"
5) Bill Nichols, "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems"
6) Donna Haraway, "Manifesto for Cyborgs"
7) Paul Virilio, “Speed and Information: Cyberspace Alarm!”
8) Slavoj Zizek, "From Virtual Reality to the Virtualization of Reality"
9) M. Christine Boyer,"The Imaginary Real World of Cybercities"
10) Marshall Berman, “All That is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity”
11) Michael Rush, “New Media in Late 20 th Century Art”
12) Andrew Butler,” Cyberpunk”
13) Theodor W. Adorno, “The Culture Industry - Selected Essays on mass culture”
14) Mark Dery, “Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century”
15) William Gibson, “Neuromancer”
16) Neal Stephenson, “Snow Crash”
17) Fredric Jameson, "Progress Versus Utopia; or, Can We Imagine the Future?"

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements	Number of Activities	Level of Contribution
Attendance	15	% 10
Homework Assignments	2	% 30
Midterms	1	% 20
Final	1	% 40
Total		% 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK		% 60
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK		% 40
Total		% 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities	Number of Activities	Workload
Course Hours	14	42
Study Hours Out of Class	14	60
Homework Assignments	2	10
Midterms	1	5
Final	1	5
Total Workload		122

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect	1 Lowest	2 Low	3 Average	4 High	5 Highest

	Program Outcomes	Level of Contribution
1)	To prepare the students to become communication professionals by focusing on strategic thinking, professional writing, ethical practice and innovative use of traditional and new media
2)	To be able to create effective public relations plans using fundamental planning components that include situation analysis, public profile, objectives, strategies and tactics.
3)	To be able to apply theoretical concepts related to mass communication, consumer behavior, psychology, persuasion,sociology, marketing, and other related fields to understand how public realtions works.
4)	To be able to have the ability to explain and identify problems associated with the relationships between events and facts in the areas of public relations, persuasive communication, communication management, corporate communications.
5)	To be able to analyze primary and secondary research data in the fields of perception and reputation management and corporate communication practices.
6)	To be able to search, write, and design articles, newsletters, and fliers, brochures, and announcements, in styles and formats appropraite various audiences, mediums and settings.
7)	To be able to apply the underlying theories of communication and the necessities of work safety to different types of public relations processes and campaigns.
8)	To be able to develop creative and persuasive management skills in terms of reputation, employee relations, leadership and similar corporate practices.
9)	To be able to take responsibility in an individual capacity or as a team in generating solutions to given scenarios which can occur in public relations processes.
10)	To be able to understand how an organizational culture works and how employees and leaders create messages as a communication tool.
11)	To be able to critically discuss and interpret theories, concepts, methods, tools and ideas in the field of public relations.
12)	To be able to to use information, communication technologies and computer software with the required level of public relations, marketing communication, persuasive communication, communication management, corporate communications.
13)	To be able to explain and describe business marketing activities, economics, business law and global business practices.
14)	To be able to recognize national and international, social and cultural dimensions of public relations.