Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 1 session / week, 3 hours / session

Prerequisites

None

Course Overview

This course focuses on the social and cultural aspects of networked life through internet-related technologies (including computers, mobile devices, entertainment technologies, and emerging media forms). Theories and readings examine the cultural, social, economic, and political aspects of internet use and design. Topics include online communication and communities, social media, gender and race in network spaces, activism and hacking, networked publics, remix culture and intellectual property. Students taking the graduate version complete additional work. After successful completion of the course the student should be able to:

• Discuss major themes in the critical study of network cultures and situate them with broader cultural conversations
• Read and evaluate a full academic monograph
• Carry out an independent, social science-focused, project on a subject related to the themes of the course

Learning Activities

The scheduled activities consist of short lectures, seminar discussions, group exercises, and presentations. Course readings will consist of a number of full-length books, as well as articles made available on the course website. You must bring copies of all assigned readings with you to class, either in electronic or paper form.

Policies and Expectations

Engagement policy: All students are expected to attend the sessions and fully participate in group discussions, come prepared (having done the readings, bringing them to class, and being ready to be involved in our shared time), and be working at a serious level. Full participation means not simply attending, but being truly engaged; not only speaking, but also actively listening to fellow class members and engaging in conversation together.

Library and research assistance: The work you do in this course requires you to be able to undertake social scientific literature searches (well beyond just "Googling") and evaluate those materials. The libraries offers useful help and advice for how to find relevant materials. See MIT Libraries Research Support for assistance. You may also find the research resources I link to on my website of use.

Grading

Your final grade will consist of the following components. Your hand-ins must reflect your sole work and authorship (rather than a group effort). Graduate students are expected to work at a level commensurate with advanced study and their final paper will be of longer length.

Additional details will be provided on the various assignments. They will be due at the beginning of class on the assigned date, printed (12 point, double-spaced), and stapled.