Students
MMCC3031 – Forensic Media
2020 – Session 2, Special circumstance
Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
General Information
Download as PDF
| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lecturer and tutor
Joseph Pugliese
10HA room 252
Please make an email request for an appointment. Consultations will be via Zoom.
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|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
10
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| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above
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| Corequisites |
Corequisites
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| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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| Unit description |
Unit description
This unit examines the crucial roles that forensic media play in news media organisation. It offers a brief history of the emergence of forensic media, tracking the development of the police mug shot, forensic photography and the establishment of criminal archives. It then examines the broad spectrum of contemporary technologies that are shaping the field of forensic media, including: forensic typical body charts, biometrics and other border technologies, satellite imaging, CCTV, interoperable networks and megadata surveillance, drones, Twitter, Instagram, thermal imaging and emergent technologies. Forensic technologies have now become foundational for news organisations in order for them to illustrate and evidence their news stories - from mobile phone apps such as Metadata news feed to record and communicate secretive drone strikes to satellite imaging to evidence unfolding humanitarian crises. This unit places forensic media within news media contexts in order to address the ethical, geopolitical and social questions that the use of such media raises. |
Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- ULO1: research and evaluative the historical, political and technological forces that have been constitutive in the emergence of forensic media.
- ULO2: apply critical and analytical skills in the examination and evaluation of the key concepts and arguments that underpin the use of forensic media across different platforms and news organisations.
- ULO3: analyse local and international perspectives on forensic media.
- ULO4: apply critical argumentation skills in order to articulate and evidence different viewpoints on the social, geopolitical and ethical uses of forensic media.
- ULO5: communication the key ideas, issues and disciplinary debates on the use of forensic media across diverse platforms and contexts.
- ULO6: apply ethical and socially responsible skills that demonstrate the ability to analyse and reflect on the ethical implications generated by the uses of forensic media in their respective geopolitical contexts.
General Assessment Information
Final essay to be electronically submitted via Turnitin.
NB: In your final essay, do not write on the same topic that you used for your tutorial presentation.
Late Assessment Penalty: Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.
MMCCS Session Remark Application: http://www.mq.edu.au/pubstatic/public/download/?id=167914
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Essay | 60% | No | Due on the assigned day of the tutorial presentation. |
| Online tutorial presentation | 40% | No | 06/12/2020 |
Final Essay
Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 50 hours
Due: Due on the assigned day of the tutorial presentation.
Weighting: 60%
A formal essay that fulfils the conventions of the academic genre, including critical address of key issues, analytical argumentation and buttressing of all assertions with relevant evidence. Refer to iLearn for further information.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- research and evaluative the historical, political and technological forces that have been constitutive in the emergence of forensic media.
- apply critical and analytical skills in the examination and evaluation of the key concepts and arguments that underpin the use of forensic media across different platforms and news organisations.
- analyse local and international perspectives on forensic media.
- apply critical argumentation skills in order to articulate and evidence different viewpoints on the social, geopolitical and ethical uses of forensic media.
- communication the key ideas, issues and disciplinary debates on the use of forensic media across diverse platforms and contexts.
- apply ethical and socially responsible skills that demonstrate the ability to analyse and reflect on the ethical implications generated by the uses of forensic media in their respective geopolitical contexts.
Online tutorial presentation
Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 24 hours
Due: 06/12/2020
Weighting: 40%
An online task that demonstrates a student’s disciplinary knowledge and skills through verbal communication to the class. Refer to iLearn for further information.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- research and evaluative the historical, political and technological forces that have been constitutive in the emergence of forensic media.
- apply critical and analytical skills in the examination and evaluation of the key concepts and arguments that underpin the use of forensic media across different platforms and news organisations.
- analyse local and international perspectives on forensic media.
- apply critical argumentation skills in order to articulate and evidence different viewpoints on the social, geopolitical and ethical uses of forensic media.
- communication the key ideas, issues and disciplinary debates on the use of forensic media across diverse platforms and contexts.
- apply ethical and socially responsible skills that demonstrate the ability to analyse and reflect on the ethical implications generated by the uses of forensic media in their respective geopolitical contexts.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
- the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
- the Writing Centre for academic skills support.
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Delivery and Resources
All lectures and tutorials commence in Week 1 of semester.
An MMCC3031 Forensic Media Reader will be available online from the MQ Library. All required reading list titles
will be available via ‘Unit Readings’ in MultiSearch:http://multisearch.mq.edu.au/?course and via the Leganto link on the MCC3031 iLearn site.
Unit Schedule
Lecture Schedule
Week One: 30 July: Introduction to Forensics and Forensic Media
Week Two: 6 August: Forensic Art and Illustration
Week Three: 13 August: Suspicion: Dealing with the Forensic Photograph
Week Four: 20 August: Forensic CCTV
Week Five: 27 August: Crime Scenes: Using Forensic Evidence in Nonfiction Writing
Week Six: 3 September: Deathscapes 1: Indigenous Deaths in Custody
Week Seven: 10 September: Deathscapes 2: Asylum Seeker and Refugee Deaths at the Border
RECESS: 14 September to 27 September
Week Eight: 28 September to 2 October: READING WEEK: NO CLASSES
Week Nine: 8 October: Forensic Genetics and the ‘CSI Effect’
Week Ten: 15 October: Geopolitics of Forensic Geospatial Technologies
Week Eleven: 22 October: Forensic Uses of Social Media
Week Twelve: 29 October: Forensic Biometrics
Tutorial Schedule and Readings
Week One: 30 July: Introduction to Forensics and Forensic Media
Readings:
Simon A. Cole 2013, ‘Forensic Culture as Epistemic Culture: The Sociology of Forensic Science,’ Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological Biomedical Sciences, vol. 44, pp. 36-46.
Greg Siegel 2014, ‘Accidents and Forensics,’ in Greg Siegel, Forensic Media, Durham and London: Duke University Press, pp. 1-30.
Week Two: 6 August: Forensic Art and Illustration
Readings:
Joseph Pugliese 2005, ‘”Demonstrative Evidence”: A Genealogy of the Racial Iconography of Forensic Art and Illustration,’ Law and Critique, vol. 15, pp. 287-320.
Joseph Pugliese 2002, ‘”Super Visum Corporis”: Visuality, Race, Narrativity and the Body of Forensic Pathology,’ Law and Literature, vol. 14, pp. 376-396.
Week Three: 13 August: Suspicion: Dealing with the Forensic Photograph
Readings:
Katherine Biber 2013, ‘In Crime’s Archives: The Cultural Afterlife of Criminal Evidence,’ British Journal of Criminology, vol. 53, pp. 1033-1049.
Glenn Porter, ‘Visual Culture in Forensic Science,’ Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 39, pp. 81-91.
Peter Doyle 2005, ‘Public Eye, Private Eye: Sydney Police Mug Shots, 1912-1930, SCAN, vol. 2, URL: http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=67.
Week Four: 20 August: Forensic CCTV
Readings:
Gary Edmond 2012, ‘Just Truth? Carefully Applying History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science to the Forensic Use of CCTV Images,’ Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, vol. 44, pp. 80-91.
Katherine Biber 2006, ‘The Spectre of Crime: Photography, Law and Ethics,’ Social Semiotics, vol. 16, pp. 133-149.
Week Five: 27 August: Crime Scenes: Using Forensic Evidence in Nonfiction Writing
Readings:
Katherine Biber, Peter Doyle and Kate Rossmanith 2014, ‘Perving at Crime Scenes: Authenticity, Ethics, Aesthetics: A Conversation’, Griffith Law Review, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 804-814.
Dominick Dunne 1984, 'Justice', Vanity Fair, March,
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/archive/1984/03/dunne198403
Week Six: 3 September: Deathscapes 1: Indigenous Deaths in Custody
Readings: Read two or more cases on Indigenous deaths in custody from the cases available at: https://www.deathscapes.org/
Maria Giannacopoulos 2019, ‘Debtscapes: Australia’s Constitutional Monopoly,’ borderlands e-journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 1-16.
Week Seven: 10 September: Deathscapes 2: Asylum Seeker and Refugee Deaths at the Border
Readings: Read two or more cases on asylum seeker and refugee deaths at the border from the cases available at: https://www.deathscapes.org/
Perera, Suvendrini and Joseph Pugliese, ‘Repetitions of Violence: On David Dungay’s and Fazel Chegeni Nejad’s Inquests,’ Overland, 28 August 2018, https://overland.org.au/2018/08/repetitions-of-violence-the-inquests-for-david-dungay-and-fazel-chegeni-nejad/
RECESS: 14 September to 27 September
Week Eight: 28 September to 2 October: READING WEEK: NO CLASSES
Week Nine: 8 October: Forensic Genetics and the ‘CSI Effect’
Readings:
Barbara L. Ley, Natalie Jankowski and Paul R. Brewer 2012, ‘Investigating CSI: Portrayals of DNA Testing on a Forensic Crime Show and Their Potential Effect,’ Public Understanding of Science, vol. 21, pp. 51-67.
Simon A. Cole 2013, ‘A Surfeit of Science: The “CSI Effect” and the Media Appropriation of the Public Understanding of Science,’ Public Understanding of Science, vol. 0, pp. 1-17.
Week Ten: 15 October: Geopolitics of Forensic Geospatial Technologies
Readings:
Joseph Pugliese 2013, ‘Technologies of Extraterritorialisation, Statist Visuality and Irregular Migrants and Refugees,’ Griffith Law Review, vol. 22, pp. 571-597.
David Campbell 2007, ‘Geopolitics and Visuality: Sighting the Darfur Conflict,’ Political Geography, vol. 26, pp. 357-382.
Lisa Parks 2009, ‘Digging Into Google Earth: An Analysis of “Crisis in Darfur,”’ Geoforum, vol. 40, pp. 535-545.
Week Eleven: 22 October: Forensic Uses of Social Media
Readings:
Stuart Middleton, Lee Middleton and Stefano Modaferi 2014, ‘Real-Time Crisis Mapping of Natural Disasters Using Social Media,’ Social Intelligence and Technology, March/April, pp. 9-17.
Patrick Meier 2011, ‘New Information Technologies and Their Impact on the Humanitarian Sector,’ International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 93, pp. 1239-1263.
Mathew Ingram 2014, ‘Social Media has Changed the Way that War Reporting Works – and That’s a Good Thing,’ Gigacom, 28 July, https://gigaom.com/2014/07/28/social-media-has-changed-the-way-that-war-reporting-works-and-thats-a-good-thing/.
Week Twelve: 29 October: Forensic Biometrics
Readings:
Joseph Pugliese 2005, ‘In Silico Race and the Heteronomy of Biometric Proxies: Biometrics in the Context of Civilian Life, Border Security and Counter-Terrorism Laws,’ Australian Feminist Law Journal, vol. 23, pp. 1-32.
Kelly Gates 2006, ‘Identifying the 9/11 “Faces of Terror,”’ Cultural Studies, vol. 20, pp. 417-440.
Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Grade Appeal Policy
- Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy (Note: The Special Consideration Policy is effective from 4 December 2017 and replaces the Disruption to Studies Policy.)
Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Changes from Previous Offering
I have included new readings on both Indigenous and refugee deaths in custody.
I have developed two new lectures: one on forensic genetics and the 'CSI effect' and the other on forensic biometrics.