Contemporary culture : new directions in arts and humanities research / edited by Judith Thissen, Robert Zwijnenberg and Kitty Zijlmans.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction / Judith Thissen -- Part I: MEDIA CITIES. Mediacity: On the Discontinuous Continuity of the Urban Public Sphere / René Boomkens -- Orkontros: Brazilian Migrants, Social Network Sites and the European City / Martijn Oosterbaan -- Imagining the City: The Difference that Art Makes / Judith Vega -- Body Movies: The City as Interface / Martijn de Waal -- Part II: THE LUDIC TURN. Homo Ludens 2.0: Play, Media and Identity / Valerie Frissen, Jos de Mul and Joost Raessens -- Digital Cartographies as Playful Practices / Sybille Lammes -- From Gengsi to Gaul: Mobile Media and Playful Identities in Jakarta / Michiel de Lange -- Transformations in Perception and Participation: Digital Games / Renée van de Vall -- Machinima: Moving on the Edge of Rules and Fiction / René Glas -- Part III: THINKING ANALOGUE. Sound Technologies and Cultural Practices: How Analogies Make us Listen to Transformations in Art and Culture / Karin Bijsterveld, José van Dijck, Annelies Jacobs and Bas Jansen -- The Case of ccMixter: Credit-Giving within a Communal Online Remixing Practice / Bas Jansen -- Part IV: HYBRID PRACTICES. On the Need for Cooperation between Art and Science / Robert Zwijnenberg -- Laboratory on the Move in Retrospect / Ni Haifeng and Kitty Zijlmans -- Embedded in the Dutch Art World / Judith Thissen -- Roots and the Production of Heritage / Alex van Stipriaan -- How to Succeed in Art and Science: The Observatory Observed / Geert Somsen and Jeroen Werner -- Part V: LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD. Introduction -- Interview with José van Dijck and Robert Zwijnenberg / Marcel ten Hooven.

Are the humanities still relevant in the twenty-first century? In the context of pervasive economic liberalism and shrinking budgets, the importance of humanities research for society is increasingly put into question. This volume claims that the humanities do indeed matter by offering empirically grounded critical reflections on contemporary cultural practices, thereby opening up new ways of understanding social life and new directions in humanities scholarship. The contributors argue that the humanities can regain their relevance for society, pose new questions and provide fresh answers, while maintaining their core values: critical reflection, historical consciousness and analytical distance.