Timeline and Project Description

 

Department of Fine and Performing Art, Dar es Salaam University and
School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University. Linnaeus Palme teacher exchange project.

 Project title:

Youth in Transition – A blog project between Malmö University and University of Dar es Salaam

 Timeline/events : Edited 2 April. Changes in red!

Week 10:

Dar es Salaam event only: Wednesday March 7, 14-15 (Tz time), Introductory lecture ‘Youth in Transition. A blog project between Malmö and Dare s Salaam’ for students and teachers at FPA in Dar es Salaam, Charles Kayoka and Ylva Ekström. (inviting those who are interested to participate.

Thursday March 8, 13.15-15, Case introductions MKV. Youth in Transition is one of three cases at MKV, introduced by Anders Høg Hansen, U433. Students placed on case 8 March. But groups not yet formed.

Dar es Salaam event only: Sat 10 March Full Day workshop. Covers some of the same methodology issues as Malmö’s teaching series/gemensam föreläsningsserie below, Ylva Ekström and Charles Kayoka.

Week 11:

Mån 12 March Mediapraktiker i det nya landet, Ulrika Sjöberg

Thur 15 March 10-12 Att observera, Ulrika Sjöberg, U455

Dar es Salaam event only: Sat 17 March. Full Day workship. Continued from 10 March. Ylva Ekström and Charles Kayoka in Dar es Salaam. During workshops groups are formed and research for the project starts under supervision by Ylva and Charles (in radio drama, film and other courses)

Week 12:

Wed March 21, 10.15-12, Lecture on Place, Anders Høg Hansen, U455 (With inspiration to From Village to City and Jamming in the City perspective and general inspiration to other case facilitated by Jakob)

Wed March 21, 13.15-15, Group creation and further elaboration of Case 1 Youth in Transition in U533 

Thur 22 March 10-13 Den kvalitative forskningsintervjun, Ulrika Sjöberg, C311

Thur March 22 13.15-15.00 Youth in Transition, supervision. D level, sofa. Possibilty to meet Anders for further supervsion. On topic specification, theoretical development, method choices etc.
(Previously planned 23 March supervision session is cancelled for Youth in Transition (Other MKV cases not related to Youth in Transition continutes with supervision as planned this day)

Fri 23 March 13-15 Att intervjua i Grupp, Ulrika Sjöberg, U456

Week 13:

Mån 26 March 10-15 Att analysera text, Jakob Dittmar

Wed 28 March 13-16 Visuella Metoder, Eric Snodgrass

For Communication for Development students only: Thur March 29. Introduction to Youth in Transition for Communication for Development students. Ylva and Anders introduces the project for the ComDev Culture and Media Analysis module, online from seminar at University of Westminster, London. In addition a range of web materials and recordings (from past and future Dar and Malmö sessions) will be available online. Online seminars with comdev students may be arranged in addition. 

Week 14:

3 lectures by visting lecturer (FPA, Dar es Salaam) Charles Kayoka with inspiration to themes and methods. These events are primarily for the Malmö MKV Youth in Transition case students, yet all MKV students are welcome:

Tue April 3, 10.15-12 Lecture
Charles Kayoka Introduction and Discussion (Preliminar title was: Citizen journalism and new modes of communication, content may change) C110

Wed April 4, 10.15-12
Visual culture, photography and Advertising/Billboards in public space, U455

Thur April 5, 10.15-12
Research examples (Preliminary title: The Past in the Present. Examples from e.g. museums, cultural centers and Islamic and oral culture) by Anders Høg Hansen and Charles Kayoka. U455

It will be possible to meet Charles Kayoka for supervision this week, after the lectures. Anders will also be available Tuesday and Thursday 1-2 pm. You can come to the sofas D-level!

Week 15:

Tue April 10, 13.15-15 Youth in Transition case group supervision, facilitation and possible site/field visits with students, Charles (and to some extent Anders and Ylva, Ylva doing online work with ComDev students), B304

Week 16:

Mon April 16, 10.15-12.00 Youth in Transition case + Malmö case group supervision, facilitation and possible site/field visits with students, Charles (and to some extent Anders and Ylva, Ylva doing some online work with ComDev students). 2 different rooms. A202/D202

Thur April 19 Students upload draft material on blog, 12 noon. Charles and Anders do commentary plan for MKV, ComDev and Dar students (Dar students may have uploaded material earlier)

Fri April 20 Charles, Anders and Ylva (including ComDev) read material, students prepare presentations and read peer group material

Week 17:

Dar es Salaam students work with their projects, under supervision by Herbert Makoye and other teachers in Dar (and Ylva and Charles online)

April 23 10.15-12.00 MKV (and ComDev online) Discussion session of material, A202. Recorded and handed over to Charles who will play for Dar when going back. Charles, Anders, Ylva, Micke + 13.15-15.00 Malmö case supervision with Jakob Dittmar.

Week 17:

Fri 27 April Submission of final material for blog. Feedback in writing on blog from teachers, per group, later in May)

Fri 27 April Oral presentation and examination of material. Anders Hög Hansen/Eric Snodgrass. Room C107

(7 May, week 18, session is cancelled!)

For Malmö MKV students participation and submission for the blog (process material, feedback and final material) is considered as passing the case work on Youth in Transition. Other requirements may apply to Dar course and ComDev.

For criteria/instructions on 1) process submissions 19 April, 2) feed back session 23 April, and 3) oral presentation/exam 27 April, see instructions below. These instructions are for the MKV students only (Dar es Salaam and ComDev students may have slightly different criteria according to course plans and deadlines).

 

Project Description / ‘What?’:

A shared platform in the form of a weblog/blog with the overarching theme ‘Youth in Transition’; an inclusive frame which can embrace  several disciplines/subjects and encourage many students to come along with work pointing in that direction.  The project will be adapted to and integrated with existing courses in Dar and Malmö and be facilitated by teachers based on each location. Teachers and students may work on more specific sub-themes depending on which course , skills and interests.

The exploration of Youth in Transition is guided by four avenues or perspectives:

From the Village to the City – young peoples travel into a new urban environment, negotiating rural/suburban and urban lives and cultures.

Tales of My Roots and Routes – an exploration of the notion of ‘tribe’, in a Tanzanian sense, where the notion of tribe is well-known but contested, but in this perspective/avenue of work you may also investigate other meanings, i.e. senses of belonging and heritage.  This avenue give you an opportunity to focus on different layers of identity, to sub-culture, gangs, societies, social movements, community and narration of history, collective memory and the present. One belonging relates to others.

Genderbender – Masculinity and Femininity in the city, at university, at home, among my peers. How to be a girl, boy, a person today in the communities we live.

Jamming in the City – Traffic jams, cultural jams, drum jam, jammed houses, jammed futures? The notion of ‘cultural jamming’ taken in a variety of directions, mixture, re-cycling, appropriation (détournement?) of cultural influences, from food to architecture.

The overarching theme (or/and the subthemes) may be brought to life/flesh in any given modality or type of text, although with adaptation to the specific courses and curriculum the work will be part of.

Many current theoretical themes in media and cultural studies will be possible to explore through the umbrella ‘Youth in Transition’ and its sub-themes. Such as, mobility, narration, recycling, relations between rural and urban.

 

 

Courses and students participating:

About 20 students on Malmö BA Media and Communication Studies course ‘Medier och Metoder’
About 10 students on Malmö MA Communication for Development module Culture and Media Analysis.
Students from BA Fine and Performing Art Dar es Salaam.

Students in Dar is likely to have an emphasis on radio drama, theater for development and photography, film and visual culture, but also music and fine arts students may be involved. Students in Malmö can wok with any given modality or combination of modality, yet we will in teaching concentrate on citizen journalism, interviewing, photo narratives and essays and participant observation/cultural geography and place and media ethnography. Students on ComDev will also have lectures or material on narratology, semiotics and discourse analysis. Students on MKV will have a stronger focus on method/data generation techniques.

The aim is that the variety of types of text, sound and imagery (moving images included) on the blow will in different ways speak or represent youth in transition (researchers as well as the researched).This may be about how young people experience changes, new educational challenges, and new locations and people. It may also be about the notion of ‘youth’ itself in transition.

The purpose of the blog is to create not just a vessel for communicating results of student work, but a processual platform where students experiment with means of shaping their experiences to people outside their academic or/and artistic discipline or walls (each group may define their own interest groups, communication strategy, and do the activism/linking etc to other blogs and media). In the process the students will receive comments and impressions from others, peers and teachers . There is one compulsory presentation of material and review session in late April, a few weeks before final submission. Many of the review will be arranged across education programme and geography, i.e. students in Dar giving feedback to Malmö students and visa versa. importantly also a cultural exchange would have taken place and have become a part of the learning process

The students will work in groups, inspire each other and divide work and tasks. Contributions on the blog can be divided into individual parts or group based.

Participation and contribution on the blog is considered as passed for the case work. ComDev students will a an additional brief analytical essay using semiotics, narratology, discourse analysis or/and other. MKV students will have assignment according to criteria/assignments set by course responsible.

 

Setting up and administrating the blog:

Micke Rundberg, in cooperation with Anders, Charles and Ylva. The blog is set up/prepared 2 Feb by Micke Rundberg and Anders

 

Data generation techniques / methods:

We recommend, in particular, the following data generation techniques, i.e. means of producing material and exploring the theoretical themes:

Observation, interviewing, questionnaire and survey research, visual and audio methods, content analysis, semiotics, discourse analysis, narratology. Various methods can be used in combination.

 

Which teachers / Teacher Exchange Linnaeus Palme:
Ylva Ekström (K3) goes on the first Linnaeus exchange, teaching period 3-4 weeks in March, just after term start. Facilitate on existing spring courses and guide selected groups of students. Ylva will be a surplus teacher and everyday coordinator and tutor for students group that are selected for media productions that are going to be represented on the blog. She will help students define and limit their projects, give input to methodology and research questions, help with transforming material to the blog, facilitate commenting etc. She will work with Charles Kayoka in Dar – but also with Herbert Makoye in Dar (and other teachers), and Anders Høg Hansen who will coordinate from the Malmö end.

Dar students may upload blog material earlier than Malmö students if suitable. Malmö students will work 2-3 weeks in April, upload first draft 19 April and final 7 May.

Charles Kayoka (FPA) goes on the Palme exchange to Malmö 27 March-27 April to facilitate group work on MKV and ComDev, and hold a handful of inspirational lectures, see time schedule below. Charles will be a surplus teacher and tutor (with help from Ylva and Anders) for student groups selections for media productions on the blog.

 

Case inspiration. Teachers will give inspirational lectures around the following case studies:

Students are welcome to research similar cases, but are also free to come up with their own cases.

FPA students (Radio Drama, Theater Criticism, Photography and other)

1)      Youth, Sport and Gender. In particular for subtheme Genderbender. Method/media work for blog: radio drama as e.g. script, sound, video

2)      Visual culture and Advertising. On billboards, public space and youth representation. In particular for subthemes Tales of My Tribe, Genderbender or Jamming in the City. Method/media work for blog: visual citizen journalism, photography

3)      Village Museum, National Museum and House of Culture, or other. Performing the past and the present. For all 4 subthemes. Method/media work for blog: radio drama, photography, citizen journalism, theater/fim for development

Malmö students (Media and Communication Studies, Media and Methods + Commuication for Development, Culture and Media Analysis)

1)      Youth, Sport and Gender. Sport practices, identity and social change. Focus on a particular club/fan media/culture, event or icon, e.g. Zlatan autobiography etc. In particular for subtheme Tales of My Tribe, Genderbender (sexuality and sport), or From the Village to the City (the boy from the hood turning rich etc.)

2)      Visual Culture and Advertising. The semiotics of youth in public spaces, e.g. billboards etc, concentrate on specific public spaces, i.e. Malmö Stad campaigns or i.e. portrayal of the new Malmö. In particular for  subtheme Tales of My Tribe. Method/media work for blog: citizen journalism, semiotic analysis, visual reportage

3)      Present pasts in a Malmö Cultural Center, a Museum’s work or another cultural center or event. For all 4 subthemes. Method/media work for blog: citizen journalism, visual essay, media/cultural criticism

Case no. 1 group in Dar cooperate with no 1 in Malmö, i.e. will be commenting on each other’s material. And so forth for case 2 and 3.

1, 2 and 3 are related. It is the idea that a group in Dar working on no. 1 will comment on a group in Malmö or online (ComDev) working on no. 1

Criteria / Instructions for submission and presentation events and commenting (MKV students)

19 April Upload of work in progess on blog. Requirements:

Upload of work-in-progess / selections of material for the blog. The criteria are the following
1. A text that shows your research theme, key ideas, research questions, key data collection methods and also som key concepts and readings that inform the work. It is likely that group individuals work on different subthemes, approaches etc, explain who works on what and try to show/explain how the different individuals contribute to an overall idea or theme

2. Length requirements: each individual should contribute with approximately 1 A4 page. You are strongly recommended to, in addition, to include extracts of data collection material or other formats that can show, and explain your work: this may be photography (possible with captions), questionairres used, interview extracts, very brief audio or film clip, a few minutes for each (you will receive guidance on how best to link/submit such material!). 

The 1 A4 page plus additional text/material, should be seen as material that can generate commenting and discusion. You are welcome to raise questions in the material which you’d like Dar students to comment on or issue you will discuss at the 23 April feedback session.

 

23 April feedback session. Half an hour per group. Requirements:

1. Explain your themes, key ideas, key research questions, the concepts/theories that inform your work, and the data collection methods you use to answer/explore your questions (you may use from your 1 A4 page, and present as group as well as individually)
2. Contribute with some general reflections on the theme of Youth in Transition and your subtheme (e.g. Tales of My Roots and Routes or other) that relate to the work you have done. Which readings and methods have inspired you and why? 
3. Show us selections of other formats (a part fom the written text, 1 A4 page per individual ca.) and present some reflections on the material as well as pose questions on how to work a bit more with it. 

 

27 April final submission blog entry as well as oral presentation/exam:

The final presentation can concentrate on the last 3 days (24,25, 26 April) of work, presenting the final material for the blog. You will present individually, 10 or max. 15 minutes each. You can explain how/to which extent individual work forms a part of a group division of work, sub-projects or/and group idea and theme.

You will have reworked your 1 A4 page to a slightly longer text, possibly 2 pages per student in average. You may consider to be genre-reflective. Depending on your skills and previous experience, and the input you have got from the program so far, you can choose to present the text as essay, citizen journalism, a piece of reportage or other?
You should however be aware that your text on the blog should include the following: key themes, key ideas, key research questions and key data collection methods. And references must be included in the end. This means that your text will in the end have an academic aspect; meaning you make transparent which sources sources you are inspired by or have used. This may give you trouble if you prefer a more personal, essayistic text. You can therefore consider to break your text up in parts. For example, a general introduction – and then another more genre-conscious text.

You can in the final material have a larger selection of photos/audio/video clip or other material you have worked with or produced.  Again you should not show all data or everything you produced. Concentrate on extracts that ‘tells the group’s story’, shows some relevant data extracts, problematizes/discusses your questions and concepts – and reflects upon the methods used.
In total length/quantity of material on the blog should be approximately:
– A few pages of text per student
– Extracts from a few interviews whether oral transcripts or questionnaires
– A selection of photography, video or audio or other mapping or drawing/visual material, if visual methods like photos have been essential for the work, up to 10 pics per students is recommended.

 

Commenting on the blog. General requirements.

When you post comments on the blog, whether as an individual student or as group to another group (See the commentary scheme entry on ‘Home’) be aware of the following:
1. Ask about key ideas again if there are issues that are unclear.
2.  You may ask further questions about conditions in Dar es Salaam related to the topic the group works with.
3. Contribute with your own experiences and views, briefly add to the discussion with experiences from your own context (city, neigbhbourhood or home etc).
4. You can to a minor extent also pose questions and ideas related to readings, theoretical/conceptual ideas and method. Be aware that the students come from different backgrounds. The exercise/challenge here is to communicate clearly and not take particular cultural references, theories or methods for granted.