Find Hidden Urban Infrastructure with Fieldwork Assignment

Scout Infrastructure That Underpins Urban and Communicative Life

The Fieldwork assignment invites you to go out in the world in searchof data, impressions, observations, photographs, sound recordings, drawings, maps or any other material that furthers your understanding of the hidden infrastructure and logistical systems that underpin urban and communicative life. In consultation with your TA, you will choose a specific site for fieldwork—this can be on campus or off, but must be a public place. Brainstorm sites that you typically take for granted, but which—like the port lands, loading bays, shipping containers, and warehouses we will discuss during weeks on ‘Supply Chain’, ‘Cosmotechnics’, and ‘Water’—are essential to our systems of civic, commercial, and communicative life.Regarding content and form, keep in mind:(1)Your chosen site must be outdoors and public. You must remain a passive observer. You may collect notes, draw sketches, take appropriate photographs, and make sound recordingsof the area. However, youmust ensure your site is notone where any people you encounterhave a reasonable expectation for privacy(i.e. do not surveil any homes or private residential areas).Given the ongoing Covid-19 situation, please also ensure that your fieldwork abides by the latest guidance and protocols offered by Ottawa Public HealthThe idea here is that you are scouting infrastructure, not people, so it should be very easy to follow these guidelines.(2)Successful projects will require careful planning. Start thinking earlyand do some research. Where might communicativeandlogisticalinfrastructure be located? As the readings and lecture material will discuss, infrastructures are often designed to be hidden. Thus, scouting infrastructure requires us to retune our senses. A few ideas to get you thinking: cell phone towers, power plants,industrial districts and/or ports, University campuses, waterways,etc.You will compile your findings in a written report. It is to be about 1500wordsand must engage with 4-5scholarly sources from Communication and Media Studies(at least twoof which must beexternal to the course. Check out, for instance, journals like Media + Environment, Journal of Environmental Media, Media, Culture and Societyor Cultural Politics). Superior reports will include notes, drawings, photographs, or sound recordings as appropriate (either in-text or as appendices). Think of this report as a curated selection of your fieldwork impressions, which you interpret, explain or otherwise theorize using ideas discussed in lecture material and the texts you cite. From the other direction, you will‘ground’ideas from readings and lecturewith the ‘dirt’ of your fieldwork impressions.A good way to think about the assignment is that it has foursteps:1.Conduct research about logistics and infrastructure (starting with course texts and working your way to sources external to the course)2.Choose a site that you think will help to you learn more3.Gather dataand observations from that site4.Synthesizeyour preliminary researchand the data you gatherdoingfieldwork in a way that allows you to draw conclusions and/or make an argument about the infrastructure of culture, communication and/or commerce