Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

w
n
This subiect also examines various schools of thought and
practices of industry innovation and development h the
context of information industries - telecommunications and
information technology. It will analyse the last decade of
Australia's information industry policy under Labor, especially
research and development policy, the Partnerships For
Development program, IDAs, export enhancement and
attempts at technological diffusion. Alternative international
industry approaches, from the different perspectives of
parties and government, carriers and suppliers, will be
examined in the context of comparative policy models. The
lessons of innovation will be drawn from case studies of
success and failure in Japan, U.K., U.S.A., Sweden and New
Zealand.
References
Alvarado, M. and Thompson, J. (eds.) The Media Reader. London: BFI
Publications, 1990
Collins, R. Language, Culture and Global lnformation Markets. South
Melbourne, CIRCIT, 1989
Ferguson, M. (ed.) New Communications Technologies and the Public
Interest. London: Sage Publications, 1986
Garnham, N. Capitalism and Communication. London: Sage
Publications. 1990
Skovin. M. and Schroder, K.C. (eds.) Media Cultures: Re-Appraising
Tmnsnational Media. London: Routledge, 1992
5 AMSOI Communication Environments
Y
4
No. of hours per week: three hours
9
Prerequisites: nil
2
Assessment: presentation of research proposal
50%, final report 50%
This subject examines the convergence of broadcasting and
telecommunications in the context of political, economic and
social change, especially in terms of the future of Australian
society. Key questions are addressed about the
communications revolution, such as who decides about the
introduction of new technologies, and how, what choices
may be available, whose interests are served. and whose
needs may be met by these technologies of abundance. The
new policy paradigm in Australian Broadcasting and
Telecommunications - competition and choice - will be
analysed, with special emphasis on the Telecommunications
Act 1992 and the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. Methods
of technological assessment will be examined, including
issues related to the information needs of different
Australians. Vexed questions about the cultural impact of
programming, access and diversity, especially for indigenous
people will be canvassed. Special attention will be given to
major social and communications trends in Australia, and to
the methodologies of future studies. Some modelling of
strategic planning and strategic thinking will be offered,
especially in the construction of possible scenarios for the
future of Australian communications.
References
ABC 2000 (Australian Broadcasting Coporation)
Australia As An Information Society: Grasping New Paradigms. Report
of the House of Representatives Standing Committee for Long Term
Strategies, Canberra: AGPS, 1991
lnformation Society 2000. Telecom Australia (forthcoming)
Alternative - AM407 lnformation Society 2000
Wilson, L. "The State of Strategic Planning", Techndcgical Forecasting
and Social Change. Vol. 37. No. 2, April 1990
Note - Course attendanced based on AM3071
lnformation Society Promises and Policies, but with more
substantial assessment requirements.
AM502 Asian Commumnications
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: seminar paper 40%, final paper
60%
This subject will offer a panorama of print, broadcasting and
telecommunications issues, policies and practices in Asia and
SE Asia. It will examine the relevance of western
communications perspectives on Asia, and the complexity of
issues such as media freedom, satellite lV and development
journalism, in an Asian context. The changing scene in Asian
broadcasting will be analysed, with special reference to
debates about new communications technology - especially
cable, pay and Star television - as well as about multimedia
systems and the prospect of a Pan-Asia broadcasting
network. In telecommunications, the significance of network
modernisation will be analysed, especially in the context of
the drive for privatisation and deregulation, and of the
staggering levels of contemporary investment in new
systems. Vexed issues will include the use of alternative
media for social development, and the cultural impact and
access of western media throughout Asia. National
dewlopment models, especially those of Singapore, Malaysia
and Thailand, will be analysed as comparative studies for
desirable communications srjtems and development for Asia
and SE Asia.
References
A Vision of an Intelligent Island. National Computer Board,
Singapore, March 1992.
Jussawalla. M. and Hukill. M. "Structural Chanae of
~elecomm~nications in ~duth East Asia': in ~ &ia Asia. Volume 19,
No. 1, 1992
Peterson, N. "Asian News Values: Challenges and Change", in Media
Asia. Volume 19, No. 4, 1992
Sussman, G. and Lent, J. Transnational Communications: Wiring the
Third World. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1991
Syed Salim Agha. Sustainability of Information Systems in Developing
Countries, An Appraisal and Suggested Courses of Action. Ghana:
IDRC, 1992
AM503 Interrogating Texts: Cultural Dreaming
No, of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: nil
Assessment: seminar paper 40%, final paper
60%
This unit will explore issues attendant upon those in AM500
Globalisation, using as a launching pad the study of a
variety of texts selected from film, television, literature, and
print and sound media. Questions to be explored will be
chosen from amongst: the function of theories of language
and society in making "sense" of texts; the representation of
journalism and the media on screen (in film and television);
the depiction of the Third World in western fiction and
nonifiction: the representation of technology in and through
film and literature (with special emphasis on science fiction);
the American entertainment industry's representation of the
US in film and on television; images of Australia offered in
the arts and the media; Australian film, television and
literature into the '90s.
References
Dittmar, L. and Michaud, G. (eds.) From Hanoi to Hollywood: The
Vietnam War in American Film. U.S.A.: Rutgers University Press, 1990
Hartley, I. The blitics of Pictures. London: Routledge, 1992
Parrinder. P Science Fiction, Its Criticism and Teaching. London:
Methuen & Co. Pty. Ltd.. 1980
Selden, R. Practising Theory and Reading Literature. New York:
Harvester Wheatsheaf. 1989
Turner, G. National Fictions: Literature, Film and the Construction of
Australian Narrative Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1986