Media, globalization and popular culture

This course is part of the BA Online Culture: Art, Media and Society or the MA Online Culture at Tilburg University. Click on the link for more info on the courses and the programme.

In this international program Online Culture: Art, Media and Society (Culture Studies) the focus is on digital culture and (new) media. From disciplines such as cultural studies and media studies you study how digitalization and globalization influence our way of living. You discuss new ways of communication, art expressions as well as (social) media expressions like memes and trolls. You research how such ways of communication and expressions are established and how they manifest in, and have influence on a society that increasingly takes place online. Additionally, you actively contribute to digital culture by writing papers and opinion pieces for our own online platform Diggit Magazine.

Fortnite characters

Convergence culture in the video game industry

Paper
Szymon Zbiegniewski
05/12/2022
10 minutes to read

The NorCal and SCal culture industries are converging on multiple levels, and one of them is the video game industry. This paper explores how Fortnite revolutionized the way we perceive games.

Vinyl posts on Instagram

The fandom of vinyl collecting on Instagram

Paper
Simone Sprangers
25/10/2021
26 minutes to read

There is a whole community of vinyl collectors on Instagram. These vinyl collectors have very specific fan practices. This article answers the following question: What can the vinyl community on Instagram tell us about fandom? 

Celebrities' Flex Culture - Who Are You Flexing On?

Article
Savina Karneva
24/05/2021
13 minutes to read

Celebrities online post content that can be seen as flexing which can be defined as bragging or showing off by displaying expensive commodities. This paper investigates what flex culture exactly is and delves deeper into the consequences of flexing

Lin Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda: Broadway Playwright or Latin activist

Article
Joël Eduard Nicholas Grassère
26/10/2022
14 minutes to read

Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda is a well-known figure both as a Broadway playwright and Latin American activist. His celebrity image has the potential to reshape his fans' social norms. Still, there is no determinism.

Finstagram: A chance to show the real 'you' on Istagram?

Paper
Emily van der Veen
04/09/2018
9 minutes to read

Finstagrams are a new social media phenomenon. This essay discusses why people are creating Finstagrams and argues why this is not necessarily a more true representation of yourself.  

Why you should not take participants in reality shows seriously

Article
Nesrine Benyakhlaf
14/07/2017
7 minutes to read

Everybody loves a good reality television show, right? However, these shows aren't as innocent as they seem. This article argues that reality shows aren't as innocent as they seem.