Life
in the
Matrix:
Information Technology and Society
Sociology
296G, Spring 2005, T-Th 2:00-3:15, Rm.100, 31 So.
Prospect St.
Assignments:
class participation (including demonstrating that
you’ve done assigned readings), frequent short writing
assignments on
the
readings posted to the class discussion list, responses to the class
discussion list, a final
research
paper or project,
and perhaps some additional assignments to be
announced. I am usually happy to be flexible with deadlines
if
you notify
me one week in advance;
if you notify me later than that, I
won't be.
All assignments must be
completed to pass the course.
The following schedule of readings and assignments should guide you
through the course. Most of the dates and times are quite specific; if
a time is not specified, assignments should be finished before class on
that day.
Look at this syllabus frequently, and plan ahead.
Please bring copies of relevant
readings to class on the day they are going to be discussed.
The readings should all be accessible with a click; often you will have
to type in your UVM netid and password. Print them out
rather than reading them on the screen, however. This not only makes
them easier to read, easier to carry around, and easier to write notes
on, but it also allows you to bring them to class.
Schedule of
Readings and Assignments
Introduction: the Matrix of
Modernization
For 1/20, view the McNally
photoessay and then write and post to the
list a
one-paragraph comparison of
something in your life to the photos in "Global Culture ..."
For 1/25, write a short
response to someone else's posting on the list from 1/20, read
Streeter, Baker, and Longman, and then write and post to the list a
two-paragraph
reflection on one or
more of the readings.
- Thomas Streeter, Online Lecture: "The Matrix of Modernity:
Industrialization and
Everyday Life": http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/Courses/Matrix_Lectures/lecture_modernization.html.
- Linda
Baker, "Urban renewal, the wireless way," Salon.com, Nov. 29, 2004.
- Phillip J. Longman, "The Slowing Pace of Progress," U.S.
News and World Report, December 25, 2000: http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/readings/Longman_slow_progress.html.
For 1/27, write a response to
someone else's posting on the list, and read Williams and Zizek.
The Original Information
Technologies: Writing, Books, Printing
For 2/1, read Bolter and the
Borges short story, and write and post to the list a reaction to one or
both of
them:
For 2/3, write at least one
response to one of the previous postings, and read Walter Ong. Then,
write and post to the list a description of a personal experience
of
yours that illustrates the difference between an oral and a print
culture.
- Walter J. Ong, "Orality,
literacy and modern media" (excerpts
from Orality and literacy :
the technologizing of the word,
Methuen, 1982)
chapter 9 from Communication
in history: technology, culture,
society, Boston, MA
Allyn & Bacon 2003, http://www.uvm.edu/bhreserves/humn/wongts301.pdf.
By midnight 2/6, read
Eisenstein, and write and post to the list a
question
about the reading.
Before
class on 2/8, post a response to someone
else's question.
For 2/10, read Nelson and
Duguid
and post an explanation of which author you think better captures the
future of the book and why:
[optional:] Robert Darnton, “The New Age of the Book“,
The
New
York Review of Books, March 18, 1999, pp. 5-7.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/546
Modern Selves and Modes of
Communication
For 2/15, read Platt and Stone,
and post a reaction to the list:
For 2/17, post a response to
the previous postings, and read Dibbell, Dery, and Tenner:
- 'Julian
Dibbell, "A Rape in
Cyberspace," Village Voice,
Dec. 21,
1993, pp.
36-42; http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html.
- Mark Dery, "The Cult of the
Mind," New York Times Magazine,
Sept.
28, 1997,
pp. 94-96; http://www.uvm.edu/bhreserves/soc/deryts295.pdf.
- Edward Tenner,"Body Smarts," The Wilson Quarterly,
Spring 2003 v27 i2 p12(4), http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/readings/Tenner_Body_Smarts.html.
For 2/22, read Turkle and
Foucault, and posting an answer to the
question, "Is there a true self?" referring to the articles in your
posting.
For 2/24, read Ellen Ullman.
[optional] Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg
Manifesto: Science, Technology, and
Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in
Simians,
Cyborgs, and
Women: The Reinvention of Nature,
New York: Routledge, pp. 149-181:
http://www.uvm.edu/bhreserves/humn/cymants301.pdf.
[3/1: Town Meeting Day, no class]
What causes what? Problems of
Determination
For 3/3,
research paper proposals are due!
Also, read Winner, and post a question about the article to the list.
For 3/8, post a response to
one of the postings from 3/3, read Chandler and Mcluhan, and post an
example of an argument based in technoligical determinism you find in
the media or in popular culture.
For 3/10, read Williams "Tech
and Society."
- Raymond Williams, "The
technology and the society," from Television: Technology
and Cultural Form,
Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan
University
Press ; Hanover, NH : University Press of New England, [1992]
(Originally
published: [London] : Fontana, [1974].) pp. 9-19. ISBN: 0819562599 (10
pp.) http://library.uvm.edu/e-res/bailey/soc/raywilts295.pdf
For 3/15, read Carey and Quirk,
and post a reaction to the list.
Privacy, Censorship, and Control
For 3/17, read Kang.
For 3/29, annoted
bibliographies are due! Also read Rosen, peruse www.epic.org, and post
a reaction to the list.
Politics and Technology: The Case of the
the Dean Campaign and the Internet
For 3/31, read the Sullivan
essay, Dean websites,
and Wolf, post a reaction to the list.
For 4/5, write a response to a
previous post, read
and listen to
the interview with Rosen, and post a reaction.
Capitalism and Information
Technologies: the Case of Copyright
For 4/7, read Valenti and
Kapica, and post a reaction to the list.
For 4/12, read Dan
Schiller and Lessig, and post a reaction.
[optional:] James Boyle's
excellent page of copyright links:
http://www.law.duke.edu/boylesite/copyright.htm.
For 4/14, rough drafts are due!