Science, Technology and Society (STAS) 341

Information Technology and Society

Summer 2008

Tuesday, Thursday: 18:30-21:15        Room: PF126

Instructor: Delia Dumitrica

Office Location: SS 323

 

Email: dddumitr@ucalgary.ca

Office Hours:

Tuesday, Thursday: 17:30-18:30

Calendar Description:

A study of the implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for political, social and economic organization, individual psychology, and concepts of knowledge. Historical, ethical and legal implications will be discussed.

 

Course Description:

In this course, we will focus primarily on the internet and its societal implications. The purpose of the course is to make you reflect on the complexity of the relationship between ICTs and society. From a critical standpoint, we will discuss mainstream portrayals, as well as our own beliefs and understandings of the internet. Starting from our everyday life, we will ask ourselves about those societal implications that are visible to us, but also about those that are not so obvious. We will try to connect our everyday life experiences to the wider social structures/ processes in which we live, such as the nation-state, capitalism and globalization. You will be expected to participate in class discussions, to reflect critically on your own ideas, beliefs and practices, and to observe things/ processes from various perspectives. Classes will combine lecture with group work and guest speakers.

 

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, you will:

• - be familiar with a number of theories about ICTs;
• - be familiar with the history and development of ICTs in their social context;
• - be able to think critically about such technologies in terms of the social context of design, marketing and use;
• - develop in-depth knowledge about the societal implications of ICTs in particular sectors (e.g. health, personal identity, surveillance etc.).

Required texts:

Terry Flew (2008) New Media. An Introduction 3^rd edition. Oxford University Press

 

Required website:

STAS 341 Student Website available at wcm2.ucalgary.ca/stas341

(Note: you do not need to login).

Assignments and Evaluation:
You will be graded based on four components:

• Examinations (50%)
• Midterm (25%) - July 29, 2008
• Final  (25%) - Registrar Scheduled
• Group project (30%)
• Proposal (5%) - July 17, 2008
• Presentation (20%) - August 12 &14, 2008
• Webpage (5%) - August 12 &14, 2008
• Class Participation (10%)
• Reflection Journal (10%) - August 17, 2008

 

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to me if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

 

Please note: If your class is held in the evening, the Registrar's Office will make every attempt to schedule the final exam during the evening; however, there is NO guarantee that the exam will NOT be scheduled during the day.

Description of assignments

•1.      Examinations (50%) - Midterm (July 29, 2008) (25%), final (Registrar Scheduled) (25%)

The two exams will cover lecture material (including guest lectures and group projects) and assigned readings. The exams will contain factual questions, synthesizing questions, and critical analysis questions.

 

2. Group projects (30%) - June 24 & 26, 2008

This assignment will give you the chance to explore more in-depth the complexity of the relation between internet and society, and to gain some specialized knowledge in the presentation area. The focus should be on the interplay between technology and the social sphere of your choice. You will think critically about this interplay by choosing a specific topic (e.g. privacy in social networks), summarizing the problematic around it and raising relevant questions dealing with both positive and negative aspects of this interplay.

Students will work in small groups. The assignment has three components:

Group project proposal (July 17) (5%) which will contain a description of your proposed topic, one major author which has been writing on this topic and which you plan to use, and an outline of the presentation. I will consider the clarity of the proposed topic and the evidence of doing some preliminary research on it. You will receive feedback before you start working on the presentation.

Length: 1-2 pages.

Presentation (August 12 & 14) (20%): The group will give a 20 minutes presentation, followed by a 10 minutes Q&A session. I will consider the clarity of your presentation, the organization of the material/ arguments and the integration of readings and class work in your approach to this material. I will look specifically for how you have presented the interplay between technology and its social context.

Webpage (August 12 & 14) (5%): Instead of a final report, you will submit a mock webpage summarizing the main points of your presentation and including links to further resources. Please familiarize yourself with the STAS341 website and try to follow the format for your mock webpage. Use a simple Word document, but include references to any links or multimedia. The best webpages will be inserted into the website.

Length: 1-2 pages.

Note: Students will be required to do a peer-evaluation of their team members.

 

3. Class participation (10%)

You are expected to actively participate in class discussions and to be present for the group presentations. We will do several small class activities, which will be handed in to the instructor in the end of the class or submitted via email. If you fail to submit more then 2 such class assignments, your class participation mark will be affected.

 

4. Reflection Journal (10%) - August 17, 2008

You will keep a journal about your learning experiences in this course (6 entries spread throughout the duration of the course). The purpose of this assignment is to trace the development of your own reflection as you go through this course. You should use a personal voice, noting your own expectations, questions and thoughts about ICTs. I expect to see that everyday encounters with ICTs provoke you to reflect along the lines of this course.

Length: 4-6 pages.

Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

 

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: http://www.efwr.ucalgary.ca/ 

 

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

A+ (96-100); A (92-95); A- (86-91); B+ (81-85); B (77-80); B- (71-76);
C+ (65-70); C (62-64); C- (59-61); D+ (55-58); D (50-54); F (0-49)

 

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

 

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics
Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see

The Faculty of Communication and Culture Research Ethics site: http://www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/ethics

or the University of Calgary Research Ethics site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/compliance/ethics/info/undergrad/

Tentative Schedule of Lectures and Readings

Date	Topic	Readings (all readings are from Terry Flew, required text)	Assignments Due
July 3	Introduction - Logistics - Key concepts	NO READINGS FOR CLASS Read for midterm: Chapter 2: Twenty Key New Media Concepts
July 8	History & Theory - Internet history - Thinking about technology	Chapter 1: Introduction to New Media   From Chapter 3: Approaches to New Media, read sections: Beyond hype and counter-hype, Approaches to technological change (38-49)
July 10	Culture - ICTs & utopias in popular culture: from Neuromancer to Matrix and beyond. - Community on and through the internet	From Chapter 3, read section: Technology and Culture (53-54)   Chapter 5: Social Networking Media
July 15	Culture - Participation: new and old forms of civic engagement	Chapter 6: Participatory Media Cultures
July 17	Culture - Virtual identity: on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog... - Gender online: men and women of desire...	From Chapter 3, read section: Social psychology: identity and interpersonal relations online (49-52)	Group project proposal
July 22	Powers - Governance - Regulating the internet: policy and legal frameworks - Work in the time of the internet	Chapter 11: Internet law, policy, and governance   Chapter 10: The Global Knowledge Economy
July 24	Powers - Political economy of ICTs - Digital capitalism & the global knowledge economy Creative industries	Chapter 9: Creative Industries
July 29	MIDTERM EXAM	No readings	MIDTERM EXAM
July 31	Sectors - From telehealth to health consumption - Media and the new journalism	Chapter 8: Citizen Journalism
August 5	Sectors - Gaming - What do we learn and how?	Chapter 7: Games: technology, industry and culture
August 7	Transformations - What do biotechnologies, cybernetics, smart homes and AI have in common?	No readings	Reflection Journal
August 12	Group presentations	No readings	Webpage
August 14	Group presentations	No readings	Webpage
August 15	FINAL EXAM	No readings	FINAL EXAM