I am currently working on my dissertation for my Media degree and my topic is on digital piracy. I am looking for case studies regarding the benefits of digital piracy in three areas; academic, music and visual media. So far I have a good amount of research for academic and music piracy but I am struggling to find cases of visual media piracy. I was wondering if anyone had any interesting cases that would apply here.

To explain, for example, with academic piracy I'm looking at Sci-Hub and academic knowledge in the Global South. For visual media I was thinking along the lines of how Akira brought anime to the West (this wasn't due to digital piracy from what I've read but if anyone knows otherwise I'd love to hear about it!) Any cases or examples you can think of would be a massive help and I'm happy to clarify anything in the comments :)

I’m doing a research project on how La India María has influenced the cultural identity and self-perception of Mexican girls aged 12-20. If you identify as Mexican, I’d love for you to fill out my survey!

At the end, you can opt to participate in a follow-up interview where I’ll send you clips of La India María and ask a few questions. Even if you don’t know who she is, your input is valuable!

https://forms.gle/mV7fAsmj8RcNQS2s8

Please share this with anyone who fits the criteria. Thank you so much for your help! 💕

Just wanted to share this nice book I found at a used book store. I've been looking for something to learn about queer studies for a while now. https://books.google.com/books/about/Perversions.html?id=RvZKDwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description

I'm born in Canada, my ethnicity is Norwegian. I ask my family, but nobody has answers; did my people come with the Vikings that coexisted in newfoundland? Were they part of the colonization or did we come later? The furthest I know is my family came from farmers in Alberta. Of course, no traditions or culture was taught, there was none to be had. I feel like there's a big, gaping hole where culture is supposed to be in my heart. I've put an authentic effort towards being a part of indigenous culture and traditions here in British Columbia, but no matter how I try it just doesn't /fit/. How weird is the idea that I'm craving a culture I've never known...am I even allowed to even consider the idea that I crave culture from Norway?

17th annual Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Graduate Student

Conference

The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, March 7-8, 2025

Keynote Speaker: Professor David Bates, UC Berkeley

The 17th annual Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Graduate Student Conference at

the University of New Mexico invites graduate students to examine the manner in which networks

of power, visibility, and technicity shape contemporary forms of social organization, ideological

formations, and cultural narratives. This interdisciplinary conference calls for critical reflection on

the ways media and technology intervene in configurations of identity, articulations of culture,

and modes of community in a globalized world.

As media and digital technologies increasingly shape the way we see and are seen, they become

central to how power is enacted, performed, and resisted. Our networks have become sites of

proliferation of authority, slow violence, and trauma. Digital age globalization speeds up and

intensifies our relational responses while simultaneously providing us with the tools to document

and strategize alternatives out of existential necessity. We are examining and making public our

individual and collective intergenerational traumas like never before. Counter-networks allow us

to record, exchange, and bear witness; construct social responses to trauma, and rewrite

histories.We invite graduate students to offer new perspectives on the interchange between visibility,

technology, and power in an increasingly digital world. We aim to explore the grids of vision and

influence produced through media and technological platforms, and how such networks of

technicity enforce, reinforce or challenge hegemonic and ideological formations. By interrogating

social responses to and integrations of technology, as well as its role in perpetuating or disrupting

cultural hegemony, we seek to foster a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of power and

collective trauma within global systems. We welcome papers from the fields of literary, cultural,

cinema, visual, and emergent digital media studies. Contributions that come from the disciplines

of Philosophy, Classical Studies, History, Anthropology, and Political Science are equally

welcome. Participants may consider technically mediated cultural and linguistic imperialisms,

their effects on marginalized communities, as well as the interplay between technological

change, the subject, and the polis. They are invited to rethink established frameworks, expand

boundaries, and contribute to the evolving discussions within the humanities and social

sciences, all the while considering the broader implications of their research in today's

technologically mediated society.

Paper topics may include but are not limited to:

• Networks, machines, mechanisms, apparatuses, and techniques (of vision and visibility,

ideology, hegemony, information, soft power, coercion, violence, warfare, and trauma)

• Networks, machines, mechanisms, apparatuses, and techniques (of counter-violence,

strategic interventions, resistance)

• Counter-networks, counter-apparatuses, and counter-techniques (of testimony, witness-

bearing, documentation, survivor accounts)

• Artificial Intelligence, Virtual or Augmented Reality

• Classical conceptions of technology

• Techniques/Technicities of self

• Technicity and the environment

• Technicity and modes of ability and capacity

• New media and new social arrangements

• Emergent forms of community and collectivity

• New media and new modes of political life (tekhnè, bios, and polis)

• Representations of any of the above in literary, cinematic, and cultural texts or the plastic

arts

Conference Structure

The conference will be in-person, consisting of a plenary roundtable, panels, the keynote

address, and a closing discussion led by the keynote speaker. Panel presentations will be 20

minutes in length, plus discussion time (10 minutes). There will also be a closing reception on

Saturday evening, which is open to all participants and audience members.

To submit your proposal, please send a 500 word abstract along with a brief biographical

statement to csconference.unm@gmail.com by January 30, 2025;

Hi everyone!

I’ve recently started a short podcast series with 20-minute episodes that examine emotions through the lens of significant artists and thinkers. The latest episode, “On Loneliness,” explores the cultural and social dimensions of loneliness, particularly in the context of modern urban life.

Drawing from the work of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, David Foster Wallace and others, it investigates how loneliness is shaped by the structures we live within—what it means to feel isolated in cities surrounded by consumerism, curated perfection, and $9 beers.

If this sounds like something you’d find interesting, here’s the link: https://pod.link/1775429900

I’d love to hear your thoughts or any connections you make! Thanks for reading. :)

My grade 9 class is covering case studies of discriminatory policies–including women's suffrage.

Each week, they do a socratic seminar debate on an opinion article which is loosely tied to their topic.

I would like to give them a misogynistic POV article to discuss but I'm having trouble finding one that fits the bill I'm looking for.

I would like:

-Biological essentialism for why women should(n't) do x, y, z.

-Nothing too radical–I want students to feel conflicted, like they might agree, in order to reveal biases.

-Nothing containing explicit dealings of assault.

Listening to 70's music groups from the UK it becomes apparent that there was a reckoning with how children were treated in schools. Those children grew into adults that could recognize that the way there were treated was unjust, and could now freely voice those opinions i.e. Pink Floyd, Supertramp. There is a recurring dynamic where the society does not validate the complaints of the oppressed, so long as they are or identify with the oppressor. In the US, children are given few rights, and sometimes are subject to incredible levels of abuse from their families. The legal system is also arguably cruel to children, as evidenced by the school to prison pipeline. So my questions are: A) Was there ever reform as to the way children were treated in the UK and other European countries (France, Germany, Italy)? B) If so, what were the causes and the arguments that justified and argued against that reform?

Historically, both Russian and Japanese peasants had this naming convention where sons could be literally named "First", "Second", or "Third", like Первак (Pervak), Вторак (Vtorak), Третьяк (Tretyak, as in Tretyakov Gallery) and 一郎 (Ichirou)、二郎 (Jirou), 三郎 (Saburou), and so on. Were there similar conventions in any other cultures, or are these two just and odd outlier coincidence?

As the title says, I am seeking an individual with non-Western cultural beliefs to conduct a brief interview for an intercultural communications course. If anyone would be willing to participate I would be eternally grateful.

"Cultural displacement refers to the feeling of alienation and loss experienced by individuals or communities when they move from their original cultural environment to a new one". I've only ever seen this word used in a global context, but never in a national one, so I'm curious on whether it still applies in the latter.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to inform you of my rare book and paper business, Peek-a-Book Rare Books & Ephemera. It is, as far as I'm aware, the only South Asian American-owned rare book business and it is also, as far as I know, the only specialist in South Asian American historical documents. We operate by mail-order catalogs, direct offers, and we are hoping to make some inroads through social media. Our goal is to show that South Asian American historical documents have just as much inherent interest as documents by East Asian Americans and African Americans. To that end, we catalog all of our items extensively, and are happy to direct readers to resources where they can learn more.

If you are interested, you can access my site here: Peek-a-Book Rare Books & Ephemera. Feel free to drop me a line on reddit or at the email listed on my contact page. I am working on optimizing my site's view-ability on phones, but for now, everyone can find downloadable pdfs of my catalogs on the "Catalogs" page.

Hope this gives rise to some fruitful discussions!

https://youtu.be/c4P7OmcsBdk?si=scxKbCZZv9BRYqld

Did u know these things?

https://youtu.be/wzZVdyvnZAE?si=lRy2gW1m9VDT7P4d

I was thinking about that, most of russian artists and films are unknown in the mainstream, india has bollywood which everybody knows but I have never seen a bollywood film in the cinema, most of chinese content in the stream are actually frok taiwan and not continental china and then brazil(if you check brazil is one of the few countries if not the only which all most listened songs on spotify are national but their singers arent popular like k-pop bands) even some small countries like japan and south korea have a stronger soft power. The usa is the only exception

Enjoy our nepali tharu culture

Hello r/Culturalstudies!

I’m conducting a study on how cultural backgrounds influence our interpretation of cinema, comparing Western and East-Asian perspectives.
My thesis explores how elements like colour and movement are perceived differently across these cultures.

If you’re interested, I’d love your insights through this 5-10 minutes survey: https://forms.gle/sWoxyDHaRNYP43Er7

Thank you for supporting my research!

So I have to give presentation i have selected the topic, which is duality of music in pop culture I tried making 4 times but it's not satisfactory.so please someone help me

I didn’t have a particularly close relationship with my grandparents, but recently I’ve been reading about how their involvement can deepen your connection to your culture. I’d love to hear from those of you who do have that bond.

How do you spend time with your grandparents? How do you share and navigate different aspects of your daily lives together?

I think mantillas are absolutely beautiful, so I'm wondering if it would be okay for me to incorporate one into a costume? I'm aware that they're part of Spanish culture, so I just want to be sure.

I make phone cases as a hobby and I make matching ones for me and my boyfriend sometimes. For our next theme we had just watched “The Book of Life” and we had the idea to do La Muerte and Xibalba though I’m Filipino and my boyfriend is Ecuadorian, so neither of us are Mexican. Would it be culturally okay to do this?