Information,
Images, and Inequality
SOC
425
Spring
2003
Office:
208010 FD
Hours: 11-12 on Tues. and Thurs. and 9-12 on Wed.
832-2979
COURSE
THEMES AND OBJECTIVES
The information age, post-industrial society, post-modern society, the network society, the new world order, the third wave, the global society. These are just some of the most common labels that have been used to describe the new social reality we are coming to inhabit. The sheer number of labels reveals that many agree that something fundamental has changed, but that there is not a lot of agreement as to exactly what the change has been. The objective of this course is to come to terms with the nature of the debates by seeking to identify the most important and most fundamental forces that are changing the qualities of society and human life as we start a new millennium.
The course has been designed as a series of critical explorations at the intersections between technology, culture and money (or wealth). The intersections will be considered in a spirit of social criticism in order to open up emerging realities to reflection and evaluation. At the core of the social critiques, and thus the underlying assumption of this course, is that the initial emergence and development of the "information age" has resulted in greater social inequality. Our common task is to explain why this greater inequality has come to be and to consider the social and human consequences that may follow.
Out of necessity, this course will, at least at times, border on science fiction. If we are now living through a transition from a modern to a post-modern society, from an industrial to a post-industrial society, or from a mechanical to an information society, then some "older" social forms are in the process of being replaced by some emergent reality. The intellectual difficulty associated with considering the transition is that at times we can only guess at the potential significance of things that are present only in an early form, and we cannot be certain that some social forms that seem to be in the decline, will continue to weaken.
I am looking forward to this course. We will be considering a lot of cutting-edge ideas, where there are a lot more questions than there are answers. I think it will be fun.
REQUIRED
TEXTS
The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business and Society, Manuel Castells, Oxford University Press, 2001.
Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity, Siva Vaidhyanathan, New York University Press, 2001.
web.studies: Rewiring Media Studies for the Digital Age, David Gauntlett editor, Arnold Publishers, 2000.
Ways of Seeing, John Berger, Penguin Books, 1972.
The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age, Allucquère Rosanne
Stone, MIT Press, 1996.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
Students are expected to attend class, participate in class discussion, complete all of the assigned readings, and complete all written work on time.
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Four Projects: essays, reviews, presentations, etc. 50%
Attendance and participation 15%
One Report on Readings 5%
Two exams (each weighted equally) 30%
Details on the exams will be provided in class. The final exam will be given during the final exam period.
I will provide a list of possible projects for you by the second week of classes. The projects will provide many different ways you can develop the themes and ideas discussed in class by engaging in your own research. Most of the projects will require a written paper, but for some a classroom presentation or other form of expression may be sufficient. You will not be restricted to only the projects I suggest. You can pursue subjects of interest to you provided that you check them out with me first. My sole criteria will be that your project must be directly related to the themes and objectives of the course. Although I require you to complete four projects, an extended and involved piece of work may count for two projects, or possibly even three. Students who choose can complete an extended research paper, but you will need to check this out with me.
Projects that are submitted late will have a full grade deducted (an A will become a B). If you intend to complete an extended project that will count for two or three projects, you must receive approval prior to the first due date to avoid late penalties. All papers must be handed in by the last class meeting. All graded work (with the exception of class presentations) may be redone provided it was originally handed in on time. If you rewrite a paper, please pass in the original with your rewrite. All written work should be typed; hand-written work is not acceptable.
I have made attendance and participation a relatively large portion of your grade not only because you need to be in class to learn the material, but also because I would like you to take some responsibility for teaching others. This grade is based not only on your attendance and verbal participation in class, but also on completing your work on time, staying up to date with the readings, and my overall evaluation of your effort to create a learning context for yourself and others in the classroom. If requested, I will tell you the grade you received for attendance and participation at the end of the semester.
Once during the semester, you will be asked to produce a one-page summary of a required reading and initiate class discussion by identifying the central idea or thesis of a chapter (or chapters) that we will be discussing that day. You will not be expected to make a formal presentation, but merely get us started by introducing the key idea from the reading.
Students who need course adaptations or accommodations because of documented disability, or who have emergency medical needs, or who need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated should see me as soon as possible.
COURSE
SCHEDULE
The schedule is tentative. Changes will be discussed in class. The dates refer to when we will begin new topics. You should try to complete the assigned reading by the specified date.
Part
I: Introduction: Digital Culture and the Internet
1/21 Introduction to course
1-23- The Network Society Castells pp. 1-35
1-28 History of the Internet Gauntlett pp. 2-30 (Readings # 1 and 2)
1-30 The Culture of the Internet Castells pp. 36-53
2/4 Digital Culture I: Hackers Gauntlett pp. 202-211 (Reading 23)
and Entrepreneurs
2/6- Digital Culture II: Technology Stone pp. 123-164
2/11 and the Self Stone pp. 1-32
2/13 Digital Culture III: Life on the Net: Gauntlett, 43-73, 122-129 (Readings 4, 5, 6, 7,14)
Home Pages, Webcams, Voyeurs Castells p. 188-203
Part
II: Information Ownership and Intellectual Property:
New
Forms of Wealth, New Forms of Accumulation
2/18 e-Business Castells p. 64-115
Gauntlett pp. 103-121 (Readings 12, 13)
2/20 Getting Paid on the Net Barlow Reading: “Selling Wine Without
Bottles”
2/25 The History of Copyright Vaidhyanathan pp. 1-80
2/27 Copyrighting Movies and Music Vaidhyanathan pp. 81-148
3/4 Digital Reproduction Vaidhyanathan pp. 149-190
3/6 Intellectual Property, Inequality and
Accumulation
3/11 Midterm Exam
3/13 Publicity Berger p. 129-154
Berger film: Ways of Seeing
3/18 “Men look at women. Women watch
themselves being looked at.” Berger p. 45-64
3/20 Art, Ownership and Reproduction Berger p. 7-33, 83-112
Part 3: Virtual Communities
4/1 Virtual Communities Castells, p. 116-136
Gauntlett pp. 170-179
4/3 Origin Myths of Virtual Communities Dibble Reading: “A Rape in Cyberspace”
4/8 Stone, pp. 65-97; 99-121
Gauntlett pp. 88-94, Reading 10
4/10 Virtual Communities, Real Economy Readings: tba
4/15 Virtual Self? Cyborgs? Stone pp. 33-64; 83-96
4/17 The Cyborg Habitat Stone pp. 165-183
4/22 Democracy in the Digital Age Castells pp. 137-187
-4/24 Gauntlett pp. 150-169
4/29 The Digital Divide Castells pp. 207-282
-5/1 Gauntlett pp. 194-201
5/6 Review
Evaluations
Final Thoughts
Final Exam