Overview
The 'selfie' as a site of critical study, looking at selfies as cultural objects and how researchers understand the selfie as a space for/act of communication.
This paper explores the idea of the 'selfie' as a popular cultural phenomena, as a digital process and as a space for communication and cultural expression. Through this paper you will learn to think critically about selfies as a discourse, as a cultural practice, as techno-socially enabled and as a rich space for communication and critique. You will also take many selfies!
About this paper
| Paper title | Studying Selfies: Celebrity, Surveillance and Cyberspace |
|---|---|
| Subject | Media, Film and Communication |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,103.10 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- MFCO 101 or MFCO 102 or MFCO 103 or 54 Arts points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- May not be credited together with MFCO242 passed in 2017 or 2018.
- Contact
- Department of Media, Film and Communication
Tel 03 479 3724
mfco@otago.ac.nz - More information link
View more information on the Department of Media, Film and Communication's website.
- Teaching staff
To be advised when paper next offered.
- Paper Structure
- Identity, interpellation and critiques of selfie culture
- Branding and celebrity
- Dataveillance, biometrics and facial recognition
- Sexuality, dating and gender
- Subalterns, criminals and others
- Space, place and 'appropriateness'
- Teaching Arrangements
The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught remotely.
The on-campus occurrence of this paper is delivered in Dunedin.
- Textbooks
- No textbook, but there will be set course materials.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Communication, Information literacy, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
- At the completion of this paper students will:
- Be able to both communicate and critique popular self-produced visual messages
- Understand the selfie as an international phenomenon that is subject to and reproduces cultural values and ideals
- Show an understanding of the ethical implications of engaging with, sharing and studying personal images in social contexts
- Be able to manage complex forms of information and structure and analyse these visual messages within a cultural, techno-social, political and economic context
- Assessment details
Assessments:
- Image Production Tasks (shortened self-reflection blogs) x 4 - 20%
- Critical essay - 40%
- Presentation/Diary - 40%
Overview
The 'selfie' as a site of critical study, looking at selfies as cultural objects and how researchers understand the selfie as a space for/act of communication.
This paper explores the idea of the 'selfie' as a popular cultural phenomena, as a digital process and as a space for communication and cultural expression. Through this paper you will learn to think critically about selfies as a discourse, as a cultural practice, as techno-socially enabled and as a rich space for communication and critique. You will also take many selfies!
About this paper
| Paper title | Studying Selfies: Celebrity, Surveillance and Cyberspace |
|---|---|
| Subject | Media, Film and Communication |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2027 (Distance learning) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- MFCO 101 or MFCO 102 or MFCO 103 or 54 Arts points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- May not be credited together with MFCO242 passed in 2017 or 2018.
- Contact
- More information link
View more information on the Department of Media, Film and Communication's website
- Teaching staff
To be advised when paper next offered.
- Paper Structure
Topics covered in this paper include:
- Identity, interpellation and critiques of selfie culture
- Branding and celebrity
- Dataveillance, biometrics and facial recognition
- Sexuality, dating and gender
- Subalterns, criminals and others
- Space, place and 'appropriateness'
- Teaching Arrangements
The Distance Learning offering of this paper is taught remotely.
The on-campus occurrence of this paper is delivered in Dunedin.
- Textbooks
- No textbook, but there will be set course materials.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Communication, Information literacy, Research.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this paper students will:
- Be able to both communicate and critique popular self-produced visual messages
- Understand the selfie as an international phenomenon that is subject to and reproduces cultural values and ideals
- Show an understanding of the ethical implications of engaging with, sharing and studying personal images in social contexts
- Be able to manage complex forms of information and structure and analyse these visual messages within a cultural, techno-social, political and economic context
- Assessment details
Assessments:
- Image Production Tasks - four shortened self-reflection blogs (20%)
- Critical Essay (40%)
- Presentation/Diary (40%)