All the readings are linked to below, either as PDFs to download or pages elsewhere on the web. There are no books for you to buy— everything is available for free online. Check this course blog regularly for the most up-to-date information on readings and assignments and to keep up with the latest blog posts.
Technology
Mon 1.23: What is the Internet?
Section: 1.23/1.24: Course and assignment introductions
Wed 1.25: Early Internetworking
- Janet Abbate, “Cold War and White Heat: The Origins and Meanings of Packet Switching,” from Inventing the Internet
- David Bell, “Storying Cyberspace,” from Introduction to Cybercultures
Mon 1.30: The Emergence of the Web
- Tim Berners-Lee, “Enquire Within Upon Everything” and “Tangles, Links, and Webs,” from Weaving the Web
Section: 1.30/1.31: Digital networking and the social shaping of technology; Practicum projects assigned
- Blog 1: Set up your account and post an introduction of yourself, with a picture!
- Blog 2: Watch and react to this clip about internet technology and structure— make sure to include any technical questions you still have
Wed 2.1: The Dot-com Era
- John Cassidy, “Prologue” and “Irrational Exuberance,” from Dot.con
- Megan Sapnar Ankerson, “Web Industries, Economies, Aesthetics: Mapping the Look of the Web in the Dot-com Era”
Mon 2.6: Web 2.0
- Tim O’Reilly, “What is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software”
- Josh Green & Henry Jenkins, “The Moral Economy of Web 2.0: Audience Research and Convergence Culture”
Section: 2.6/2.7: Web 2.0, participation, and amateurism
Wed 2.8: Software and Interfaces
- QUIZ 1
- Steven Johnson, “The Desktop,” from Interface Culture
- Lev Manovich, “The Interface,” from The Language of New Media
Mon 2.13: Discourses and Representations
- Alice Marwick, “To Catch a Predator? The MySpace Moral Panic”
- Jean Burgess & Josh Green, “YouTube and the Mainstream Media” (pp 17-21), from YouTube
Section: 2.13/2.14: Representations of the internet and technopanics; Midterm paper assigned
- Blog 3: Try out some technopanics for yourself! Pick one and write about it: look at 15 random MySpace profiles, watch an i-dosing video, or spend some time on Chatroulette
Sociality
Wed 2.15: Identity
- Lisa Nakamura, “Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet”
- Nancy Baym, “Identity” (pp 105-119), from Personal Connections in the Digital Age
Mon 2.20: Community
- Nessim Watson, “Why We Argue about Virtual Community: A Case Study of the Phish.net Fan Community”
- Constance Steinkuehler & Dmitri Williams, “Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen)Name: Online Games as ‘Third Places’”
Section: 2.20/2.21: Online Communities Practicum presentations
Wed 2.22: Social Networking
- danah boyd, “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life”
Mon 2.27: Challenging Communities
- Susan Herring, et al, “Searching for Safety Online: Managing ‘Trolling’ in a Feminist Forum”
- Julian Dibbell, “The Assclown Offensive: How to Enrage the Church of Scientology”
Section: 2.27/2.28: Identity and Social Networking Practicum presentations
Wed 2.29: Bodies and Disabilities
- QUIZ 2
- Gerard Goggin & Christopher Newell, “Blind Spots on the Internet,” from Digital Disability
- Liz Ellcessor, “Partici-bility: The Rhetoric and Realities of Participatory Culture and Disability Online”
Mon 3.5: Space and Geography
- William Mitchell, “Recombinant Architecture,” from City of Bits
- Lee Humphreys, “Mobile Social Networks and Urban Public Space”
Section: 3.5/3.6: Mobile internet use and virtual/physical space
Wed 3.7: Mobility
- PAPERS DUE
- Mimi Ito, et al, “Portable Objects in Three Global Cities: The Personalization of Urban Places”
Politics
Mon 3.12: Power
- Evgeny Morozov, “How Dictators Watch Us on the Web”
- Clay Shirky, “The Net Advantage”
- Jesse Lichtenstein, “Did Twitter Make Them Do It?: The Battle over Social Media Revolutions”
Section: 3.12/3.13: The internet and democracy
Wed 3.14: Democracy
- Zizi Papacharissi, “The Virtual Sphere 2.0: The Internet, the Public Sphere, and Beyond”
- Yochai Benkler, “Critiques of the Claims that the Internet has Democratizing Effects” and “Toward a Networked Public Sphere,” from The Wealth of Networks
Mon 3.19: Privacy
- QUIZ 3
- boyd & Marwick, “Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies”
- Joseph Turow, “The Internet as a Test Bed,” from Niche Envy
Section: 3.19/3.20: Privacy and publicity
- Blog 4: Google yourself and write about what you find (and don’t find)
Wed 3.21: Digital Divides
- Eszter Hargittai, “Digital Na(t)ives? Variations in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the ‘Net Generation’”
- Henry Jenkins, et al, “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” (pp 12-21)
Mon 3.26: Copyright
- Lawrence Lessig, “’Property,’” from Free Culture
Section: 3.26/3.27: Copyright, fair use, and free culture
- Blog 5: How do copyrights affect your experience of content online— or do they?
Wed 3.28: Net Neutrality
- Tim Wu, “Network Neutrality FAQ”
- Lessig, “Commons on the Wires,” from The Future of Ideas
Mon 4.2-Fri 4.6: SPRING BREAK!!
Mon 4.9: Regulation and Governance
- Lessig, “Regulating Code” and “Regulating by Code,” from Code
- Milton Mueller, “A Battle for the Soul of the Internet,” from Networks and States
Section: 4.9/4.10: Internet Users Practicum presentations
Wed 4.11: Freedom
- Lessig, "'Free,’” from The Future of Ideas
- Tarleton Gillespie, “The Politics of ‘Platforms’”
Culture
Mon 4.16: Participatory Culture
- Pierre Levy, “Collective Intelligence,” from Collective Intelligence
- Jenkins, et al, “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” (pp 1-11)
Section 4.16/4.17: Social Production Practicum presentations
- Blog 6: Watch one YouTube video and one Hulu video, compare and contrast the two
Wed 4.18: Peer Production
- Benkler, “A Moment of Opportunity and Challenge,” from The Wealth of Networks
- Jonathan Zittrain, “The Lessons of Wikipedia,” from The Future of the Internet
Mon 4.23: Remix and Remediation
- Jay David Bolter & Richard Grusin, “Immediacy, Hypermediacy, and Remediation” (pp 44-50), from Remediation
- Lessig, “RW: Revived,” from Remix
Section: 4.23/4.24: Interactive Media Practicum presentations
Wed 4.25: Gaming
- QUIZ 4
- James Paul Gee, “Good Video Games and Good Learning”
- Hector Postigo, “Video Game Appropriation through Modifications: Attitudes Considering Intellectual Property among Fans and Modders”
Mon 4.30: Web Comedy (guest lecture by Evan Elkins)
- Nick Marx, “Web Comedy and New Media Industries”
- Aymar Jean Christian, “The Past and Future Market for Web Comedy”
Section: 4.30/5.1: Ubiquitous computing and networked futures
- Blog 7: Keep track of every computerized thing you use in an evening
… and Beyond
Wed 5.2: Networked Futures
- Mark Weiser, “The Computer for the 21st Century”
Mon 5.7: Sustainability
- Elizabeth Grossman, “The Underside of High Tech,” from High Tech Trash
Section: 5.7/5.8: Final exam review session
Wed 5.9: The Web Showcase!!
- PRACTICUM PROJECTS DUE
Fri 5.18, 12:25-2:25 pm: FINAL EXAM [location TBA]
