Lives Online: CyberCultural Studies

Lives Online: Cyber•Cultural•Studies
Meditations

Meditations must be at least 2 full, double-spaced pages (12-point font, 1 inch margins), and may be as long as 3 full double-spaced pages. These meditations are spaces for you to think through the issues and elements that are most important to the cultures that form, and are formed by, digital technologies. Meditations are your opporunity to do your own theorizing about cybercultures and their enabling (or possibly crippling) technologies. You may want to use these meditations to reflect on the (inter)connections between cybercultures and cultures in the so-called real world.

As your own inspiration and insight is unlikely to follow a regular (and regulated) schedule, you may turn in the meditations as you complete them. That is, whenever you would like, with the following conditions:

• No more than two (2) meditations may be turned in during any calendar week (Monday through Friday)
• No meditation will be accepted after May 2 (the last regular day of class)

OPTION A: OPEN-ENDED MEDITATION

Clifford Geertz, in his essay “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” sets forth a handy example of what a polished, well-thought-out cultural analysis might include. Geertz:

• Identifies an interesting/disturbing/provocative/surprising cultural element
• Describes, in detail, the element of the culture he is analyzing
• Analyzes that cultural element on its own terms (and in relation to itself)
• Analyzes that cultural element in relation to the larger Balinese culture and society
• Meta-analyzes his process of analysis, reaching conclusions about what culture is, and what cultural analysis is

In 2-3 pages you do not have the time or space to accomplish all of this. Therefore, I would like you to include in your meditations the following items:

• Identify an interesting/disturbing/provocative/surprising cultural element from a particular cyberculture
• Describe, in detail, the element of the cyberculture you have identified
• Analyze the important aspects of that cybercultural element, either in relation to itself or in relation to either the larger cyberculture or the non-cyber-society in which the cyberculture exists

As the analyst, it is your job to explore the cultural phenomena you will be writing about in sufficient detail that you will be able to share your insights with others through your writing. You will also be responsible for determining the scope of your analysis (whether it will be more informative and productive to analyze the phenomenon in relation to itself, its larger culture, or its encompassing society). As the expert, you have the power to make that determination and then to act upon it. Of course, this assumes you have the perspicacity, experience, and knowledge to be the expert.

OPTION B: MEDITATIONS AS CASE STUDIES

If, on the other hand, you’re having a tough time of it, here’s a different model to follow. I hope that this one will provide you with concrete goals to meet, and a set format, and that these strictures will allow you to rise to the occasion admirably.

As before, each meditation is to be about the cultural (on- and off-line) implications of a single cybercultural focus. However, the Option B format will make your meditations appear more like “case studies,” which may be more familiar.

Begin each meditation/case study with a brief (1 paragraph) prose description of a single, well-defined moment or instance of your chosen cybercultural focus. (If you want to write about eBay, for instance, focus on the time you got ripped off by a scammer “selling” a bogus AlienWare laptop, rather than trying to summarize all of eBay.)

List 3 significant, non-obvious observations about your focus. These observations should arise from your analysis and examination of your focus. (These may be bullet-points.)

The next (and last) two sections are brief explanations of at least 2 points you see as being significant, non-obvious implications of your focus for on-line and off-line culture and social practice. One section should explore, briefly (1-2 paragraphs), the significant, non-obvious implications of your focus for on-line culture and social practice. The last sections should do the same for off-line culture and social practice.

So, your meditations/case studies should look like this:

• SUMMARY: 1 paragraph description of your specific instance/example of your cybercultural focus
• ANALYSIS: 3 significant, non-obvious observations about your focus (can be bulleted)
• IMPLICATIONS - ON-LINE: 1-2 paragraph discussion of at least 2 significant, non-obvious implications of your focus for on-line culture and social practice
• IMPLICATIONS - OFF-LINE: 1-2 paragraph discussion of at least 2 significant, non-obvious implications of your focus for off-line culture and social practice

As always, if you have any questions, please come and talk with me. I look forward to discussing your meditation ideas and insights with you, and will happily do so at any stage of your meditative process.