Cultural Industries & Institutions

We live in a time of profound systemic change, and as in
similar periods in the past, there is considerable instability and
uncertainty before a new society and economy can take shape. This report presents recent thinking on the role culture  and creativity can play in reimagining our future towns and cities as equitable, resilient, and liveable.

Course description: This is a moment of major transformations in the ways that cultural work is produced, distributed and circulated around the globe. All of us are involved in these processes, as producers of video and film, music, podcasts or zines, as audience members who interact with cultural work, or as critics. The aim of this course is to look behind the screens and explore how cultural products (music, cinema, video games, digital news, television dramas, etc.) are produced, distributed and circulated. The course reviews the interrelated politics, economics, cultural contexts and aesthetic domains of five different sectors, including the legacy commercial media such as film, television, radio and the recording industry; the digitally based conglomerates (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc.); and the ancillary industries such as fashion, sports, and video games. Given our special concern about social equity and justice, we also address the roles of public service, independent, and community-based media groups. The course takes two distinct, if complementary approaches. The first is a study of the role that contemporary media and cultural industries play in the US and internationally. What tensions exist between media and cultural organizations as sites for public expression, information sharing and dialogue, versus their role as commercial enterprises, and sites of political and economic power? When and how do these roles conflict, and how are these conflicts resolved? How representative, accountable and participatory are media institutions to all of the publics they are obligated to serve? How does change come about, and how can students effectively participate in those changes? The second approach is to examine media and cultural industries from the point of view of media-makers. How do media organizations function as workplaces and sites for excellence in knowledge production and creativity? What factors influence full-time, freelance workers and citizen 'produsers'? What place does creativity take in large, medium and small operations, and in user or citizen-generated production? What prospects do students have for developing fulfilling, lifelong interests as creative producers? Students will be able to thoughtfully engage with these questions through a discussion of key texts, class lectures and discussions, guest speakers, course readings and short assignments. The course will provide an opportunity for

Between 1994 and 2007, SBS Independent (SBSi) operated as an autonomously administered commissioning house for SBS TElevision. One of the most significant legacies of the cultural institution was its contribution to Indigenous representation and self-representation. In collaboration with other federal and state financed agencies, in particular the AFC and FFC, SBSi developed a number of initiatives for aspiring Indigenous filmmakers. These include the Indigenous Drama Initiative (IDI) begining with From Sand to Celluloid in 1996, and the Unfinished Business package of dramatic and documentary programs in 2000. As has been demonstrated by Smaill (2000) and Collins and Davis (2004), the films commissioned under the aegis of SBSi constituted a significant representational intervention, and engaged contemporaneous debates regarding national identity, colonia history and cultural memory. There remains however, a significant gap in the literture. This paper develops a case study of the IDI and Unfinished Business initiatives to demonstrate how SBSi progressed Indigenous filmmaking.

""Abstract : Information Technology in language teaching probably began with papyrus. It has attracted admirers and detractors ever since. This paper takes a slightly irreverent look at current IT, as well as its actual and potential uses in foreign and second language education. The power of commerce in IT development has always been a prime motivator, so the analysis here recognizes the essential economic context, with the resulting effects on language learning. Technology itself is shifting at warp speed from 2005, the time of writing, but the essential choices dealt with in the paper are still of central interest.

An earlier, less referenced version of this paper was published in the Asian EFL Journal, vol.1, 2005 at http://asian-efl-journal.com/pta_jan_04_tm.html. A slightly shorter but more up to date version has also been published as "Brief Thoughts About IT in Language Education" in Teaching English With Technology, vol.5/2 May 2005 (IATEFL Poland)at http://www.iatefl.org.pl/call/j_article21.htm""

Screen-based practices permeate the lives of today’s young people. From screentots to screenagers, their engagement with multimedia, the internet and cell phones is reportedly high. Their technological capabilities are frequently understood to be substantial and easily adaptive to new media developments. Yet their mere attention to screens is no guarantee of conceptual understanding, perceptive interpretation, or creative production. Against this background, globally, educators are charged with preparing their students for increasingly complex life challenges and increasingly digitised futures. In many instances, the solution is said to lie in developing skills and attributes like digital proficiency, collaboration and problem-solving. In some cases, long lists of desired skills and learning goals are promoted, setting clear pedagogical targets for educators. When these lists combine across subject areas and with the demands of national curriculum and high-stakes testing, educators ...

Artykuł zwraca uwagę na powiązania procesu starzenia się społeczeństwa z kształtowaniem zmian organizacyjnych zachodzących w miejskich instytucjach kulturalnych i artystycznych w zakresie świadczenia usług dla osób starszych. Przybliżone zostają główne cechy zachodzących na początku XXI wieku przemian pracy i czasu wolnego oraz zjawiska kreatywnej gospodarki wraz z nową stratyfikacją społeczną i nowymi czynnikami rozwojowymi. Zarysowany został także paradygmat kreatywnego starzenia się, korzyści i bariery budowania kapitału kreatywnego seniorów oraz zagraniczne i krajowe przykłady wykorzystywanych na tym polu rozwiązań a zarazem obszarów dalszych badań.
**
Article draws attention to the relationship of ageing process and evolution of the organizational changes in cultural and artistic institutions in cities that are connected to provision of services for older people. Study shows main features of work and leisure time transformation at the beginning of the XXI century and the phenomenon of creative economy with new social stratification and development factors. It also describes creative ageing paradigm, benefits and barriers of building a senior creative capital, foreign and domestic examples of solutions used in this field which are also areas for further research.
**
A. Klimczuk, Kreatywne starzenie się. Przykłady zagranicznych i polskich zaleceń i praktyk (Creative ageing. Examples of foreign and Polish recommendations and practices), [in:] A. Zawada, Ł. Tomczyk (eds.), Seniorzy w środowisku lokalnym (badania empiryczne i przykłady dobrych praktyk), Wyd. Uniwersytetu Śląskiego, Katowice 2013, p. 24-46.