Digital Culture & Sociology Syllabus 



Autumn 2005 (Tuesdays 
  13:30-16:00, room 2A14 
  and 16:00-18:30, room 2A52)


Teacher: T.L. Taylor, 
  tltaylor@itu.dk (office: 3D18, phone: 7218 5035)

  Teaching Assistant: Mikkel Sindberg Eriksen, mikkelse@itu.dk                                              
                    

Description: This course will examine the ways that the new information 
technologies are affecting everyday life, culture, institutions, groups, and identity, 
dealing with issues about the representation, identity, production, consumption 
and regulation of IT. Grounded in the fields of cultural studies and sociology, 
the course will explore a variety of topics from several methodological approaches 
(statistical, qualitative, ethnographic, reader response, storytelling, textual 
analysis, etc.). Each session a particular case study/issue will be focused on 
in order to bring theory and practice together (an example could be the new social 
practices regarding the use of mobile phones). Potential topics include: the Internet 
and the construction of identity; community, group, and subculture formation online; 
digital technology and the law (i.e. intellectual property, hacker culture, file-sharing, 
etc.); gender and technology; the growth of the digital entertainment industry; 
the relationship between technology, ideology and values; political and policy 
issues (i.e. regulation and ownership); the representation of technology in popular 
media; play and leisure in digital media; the role of design in social/cultural 
formations.
 Format and Grading: Lectures, discussion, group work, classroom 
exercises. Midterm group presentation and final group paper with oral examination. 
The group presentation will be produced in collaboration with team members in 
and out of class sessions. Midterm assignment will be graded pass/fail. Final 
examination will be oral format and based on short (3-5 page) synopsis. Grading 
will be according to the 13-scale.
 Literature: The course compendium 
should be purchased from the ITU Bookstore. Please make sure to refer to the course 
website for any updates to the syllabus during the term. Secondary resources also 
available as links at the website.










DDKS_E2005@itu.dk | Wiki 
| Midterm Guidelines | Synopsis and Exam Guidelines

If the Wiki is down you can find the links from the course here















  Schedule



August 30 – Introduction


September 6 – Technology &  Culture



  
Winner, “Do 
    Artifacts Have Politics?” (note the version in the compendium is a condensed and edited version of this one)

    Introna & Nissenbaum, “Shaping 
    the Web: Why the Politics of Search Engines Matter”

    Parker, “Absolute 
    Powerpoint”

	Explore: Search engines



September 13 –Remix Culture, Regulation, and Commodification



  
Jenkins, “Interactive 
    Audiences”

    Taylor, “Whose 
    Game is this Anyway?”

    Lessig, selection from Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace& Free 
    Culture

  McChesney, “So Much For The Magic of Technology and the Free Market”

Explore: Machinima, fanfic, modding, 
game EULAs 


September 20 – File-sharing Case Study




 Ebare, “Digital Music and Subculture: Sharing Files, Sharing Styles”

  McGee & Skågeby, “Gifting Technologies”

  Svensson & Bannister, “Pirates, Sharks, and Moral Crusaders: Social Control 
  in Peer-to-Peer Network

Explore: Sharing networks and sharing 
websites/discussions/etc. 


September 27 – Reframing  the Expert?




Dodson, “Worldwide Wikimania”

  Gallo, “Weblog Journalism: Between Infiltration and Integration”

  Udell, Audio interview on podcasting, available at http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/03/03.html

  Udell, Analysis of the Wikipedia heavy metal umlaut page, available at http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/umlaut.html

Explore: Wikipedia, journalism/activist  
blogs  


October 4 – Mid-term presentations I


October 11 – Mid-term presentations II


October 18 – No class due to Autumn holiday


October 25 – Private Lives, Public Spaces




Baudrillard, “The Ecstasy of Communication”

  Cooper, Green, Murtagh, and Harper, “Mobile Society? Technology, Distance, and 
  Presence"

  Nardi, Schiano, and Gumbrecht, “Blogging as Social Activity, or, Would You Let 
  900 Million People Read Your Diary”

  Powell, “E-Life and Real-Life: On- and Off-line Social Life in an Internet Café”

  Laurier, “’Busy Meeting Grounds’: The Café, the Scene and the Business”

Explore: Blogs, a net café, mobile 
use in public space 


November 1 – Social Networks & Online Communities




Donath & Boyd, “Public Displays of Connection”

  Wellman & Gulia, “Virtual Communities as Communities: Net Surfers Don’t 
  Ride Alone”

  Lockard, “Progressive Politics, Electronic Individualism and the Myth of Virtual 
  Community”

Explore: Usenet, message boards, 
Orkut/Friendster, Flick, mailing lists 


November 8 – Identities, Bodies, Technologies I




Turkle, selection from Life on the Screen

  Stone, “Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?”

  Avatars Offline (in class)

Explore: A MMOG, multiplayer 
  game, Second Life  


November 15 – Identities, Bodies, Technologies II




 Nakamura, “Race In/For Cyberspace”

  Munt, Bassett, O’Riordan, “Virtually Belonging: Risk, Connectivity, and Coming 
  Out On-Line”

  Kendall, “Class, Race, and Online Participation”

Explore: Continue from last week 
 


November 22 – Wrap-up / Final class


November 25 – Synopsis due (3 copies) in Exam Office by 
  15:00.


Jan 3, 4, 5 – Exams (daily schedule TBA)