Introduction to Digital Media Studies

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

10:00 a.m to 10:50 a.m.

Wilson 402

 

Professor Christopher Ali - cfa2z@virginia.edu

Office hours Monday & Wednesday 1:30 to 4:30pm and by appointment

Office: Wilson Hall Room 229

 

Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan - sivav@virginia.edu

Office hours Wednesdays 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment
Office: Wilson Hall Room 223

 

TAs:

Francesca Tripodi – fbt8pa@virginia.edu

Fan Mai - fm5b@virginia.edu
Ahrum Lee – al8ba@virginia.edu

 Introduction

This class is an introduction to digital media studies. It explores
the ways digital media have had an impact on various aspects of
contemporary culture such as concepts of community, communication,
identity, privacy, property, and so on. The class takes a political
 economy approach, but our questions will be informed by a variety of
theoretical perspectives including cultural studies, media studies,
and technology studies. The course is grounded in the history and
theory of media technology as a site of cultural production.
The class is a prerequisite for both the major and minor in Media Studies.


Here are some of the questions we will ask during this course:

 

The two big ones:

 

• What becomes of us as digital media and networks pull our information ecosystems toward extremes of anarchy and oligarchy?

•  How should we think and talk about technological change in culture and society? Can technologies liberate minds, bodies, or nations?

• How does “power” operate within digital media ecosystems? 

• How should we think and argue about technology, technological change, and digital media?

Here are some lesser questions we will ask:

• What is a network?
• What are its features?
• What are its flaws?
• And what's so "new" about "New Media?"
• How is the Internet regulated?
• How should the Internet be regulated?
• How have digital media changed science, knowledge, commerce, and social relations?
• How central are digital media to movements that push political and social change?

This course will approach each of these questions through a
consideration of some key texts in "cyberculture," new media studies,
and “Critical Information Studies.” It will begin with a series of
 descriptions of some common networks: the "Internet;" "peer-to-peer"
networks; "social networking" sites and software; "Web 2.0"; etc.
Students will be encouraged to use Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, Wikipedia as laboratories for
exploring networked communication and the principles of new media.


Requirements:
• You must submit the exams.

• You must complete the weekly quizzes.
• You must be registered in, attend, and contribute to a discussion section.
• Weekly readings will be the basis of class lecture and discussion.
• If you miss three discussion sections you will be subject to a failing grade for your section grade.

•You must maintain a "digital portfolio" on a Wordpress blog. Details are below.


Exams will contain a combination of short-answer and essay questions
and will demand a mastery of the assigned reading.  All questions will require knowledge of the
readings, arguments, issues, and case studies discussed in lecture.

Quizzes will be multiple choice and will be delivered outside of class via Collab.

No lecture notes will be posted since lectures will include
discussions that cannot be scripted in advance. Lab sessions will be used to discuss the readings and experiment with
various methods of networked digital communication.

 
Grades:

• Two exams: 100 points each = 200 points

• Ten quizzes: 10 points each = 100 points

• Discussion participation/ Digital portfolio project = 100 points

All exams will be take-home on Collab. They will usually be posted on Fridays and due SOME DAYS LATER AT A TIME TO BE ANNOUNCED.

There will be no extensions. No exceptions. Don’t ask.


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE compose your answers on a separate document and paste the answers into Collab. Do not type into the Collab window. The system WILL crash and you WILL lost hours of work. We will not accept computer-failure excuses.

 

 

Portfolio:

 

In addition to two exams the final graded assignment will consist of students creating individual e-Portfolios. The goal of the e-Portfolio is to provide students with a tangible resource that they can continue to build during their time at UVa and take with them on the job market after graduation. During the semester students will create an e-Portfolio around their current class schedule as well as create an introduction page and a resume page. Student's e-portfolios will only be accessible by the professors and will not be made public until individuals wish to share them.  The purpose of the assignment is to get students familiar with WordPress (an increasingly important tool in digital communication) and also provide them with a platform to showcase everything they have learned at UVa.  In addition to coursework, students should feel free to add other pages that represent their time here (for example if you play a sport or are involved in the Greek system adding pages of those activities is welcomed, but not required).  

 

A rubric regarding the expectations of the portfolio will be made available in your first week of discussion. However, if you want to familiarize yourself with the technology early on feel free to access this help site from SHANTI 

https://wiki.shanti.virginia.edu/display/KB/Getting+Started+with+WordPress+in+UVaCollab

 
Evaluation and Policies:


A:    Rare and outstanding work that shows thought, enterprise, and
attention to detail (spelling, grammar, structure, citations). Do not
expect an A in this class.

B:     Very good work that shows care for and understanding of the
material.


C:    Fair work that demonstrates a pedestrian or superficial
familiarity with the material in the class or is presented in a
sloppy fashion.


D:     Unsatisfactory work that demonstrates a lack of understanding
of the reading or lectures.
F:    Failure because work was not submitted, the student missed more
than three sessions, or the student committed an abrogation of
academic trust and a commitment to honesty.


Etiquette:

 A polite and respectful environment is essential to the success of
any class (and any professional relationship). We expect and demand
that students will treat us and peers with the utmost respect. We
will not tolerate insults or taunts in class. We will abruptly wake
up a student who dozes off and ask her or him to leave the class for
the day. If a mobile phone should ring in class, we will pause to
allow the owner to turn off the ring. And we will consider such
 carelessness to be very rude. So please turn off all potentially
 annoying devices.

A special note on Facebook use: I have a Facebook profile and use it often. However, I would ask that you not add me as a friend on Facebook until you have graduated from UVa. I do not want to be flooded with dozens of requests during the semester. If, after your time at UVa has ended, you still like me, then please feel free to request a friendship on Facebook.

 

Readings:
 
All reading materials for class are listed in this syllabus or in the "resources" section of Collab.  If a link fails to work, let the instructor know by email. Additional 
readings may be assigned during the semester. You are responsible for reading the materials in the syllabus and coming to lecture ready to discuss the issues set in discussion.


Here are the books available for purchase in the UVa book store (in roughly the order we will read them) and some alternate sources:

Books for MDST 2010 - Enrollment: 250

AUTHOR - TITLE - ISBN - Price at UVa bookstore

1) ABELSON - BLOWN TO BITS - 0-13-713559-9     Also available for free download via Google Books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Y7DOltmSGjgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=BLOWN+TO+BITS+ONLINE&source=bl&ots=p3nWgUKO8L&sig=Ov82A_VNrBRbcmrDKKmikYUy2xM&hl=en&ei=EAEmTefkGoKclgef2uzEAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=BLOWN%20TO%20BITS%20ONLINE&f=false

BAYM - PERSONAL CONNECTIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE - 9780745643328 - $19.95/$15.00

BOGOST - HOW TO DO THINGS WITH VIDEOGAMES - 0-8166-7647-X - $18.95/$14.25

VAIDHYANATHAN - GOOGLIZATION OF EVERYTHING (AND WHY WE SHOULD WORRY), UPDATED - 0-520-27289-7 - $21.95/$16.50

BREVINI - BEYOND WIKILEAKS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION - 1-137-27573-1 - $28.00/$21.00

MARWICK - STATUS UPDATE - 0-300-17672-4 - $27.50/20.65

 

Class Schedule (NOTE: EVERYTHING BELOW IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

READINGS MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE TIME OF YOUR DISCUSSION SECTION EACH WEEK.

1) Week of January 13: What the heck are “Digital Media Studies”?

Read:
 
Vaidhyanathan, Siva. "Why Thomas Jefferson would Love Napster," MSNBC.com, July 3, 2001. Available on Collab.

Vaidhyanathan, "Critical Information Studies: A Manifesto"
 
No discussion sections this week

 
2) Week of January 20:  How does the Internet work?

Read:

Blown to Bits: Chapter 1.

How Stuff Works: How the Internet Works: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet.htm

How Stuff Works: How the Internet Infrastructure Works: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-infrastructure.htm

 

No discussion sections this week

Quiz 1 on Friday

3) Week of Jan 27: Networks and Network Neutrality

Read:

Wu, The Master Switch (excerpts available on Collab)

Pickard, V. W. & Meinrath, S.D. (2008). Transcending Net Neutrality: Ten Steps Towards an Open Internet. Journal of Internet Law, 12(6), 1, 12-21 (on collab)

Public Knowledge Primer on Net Neutrality: Available at: http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/what-net-neutrality

 

Quiz 2 on Friday

4) Week of February 3: Big Data, Wikileaks, Snowden, and Surveillance

Read/Watch:
 
Beyond Wikileaks: Beyond Wikileaks: Introduction through Chapter four; Chapters 12 through 16.

Anderson, Chris. “The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete.” Wired, June 23, 2008. Available on Collab.

Quiz 3 on Friday

5) Week of February 10: The Googlization of Everything

Read: The Googlization of Everything: Introduction through Chapter 3

Quiz 4 on Friday

6)  Week of February 17: Privacy, youth, and the social

Read:

Abelson, Harold, Ken Ledeen, and Harry R. Lewis. Blown to bits : your life, liberty, and happiness after the digital explosion. Upper Saddle River NJ: Addison-Wesley, 2008.  Chapter 7

"White Paper" of Ito, et al.Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Chicago: MacArthur Foundation, 2008. Available on Collab. Also available at http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/files/report/digitalyouth-WhitePaper.pdf 

Baym, Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Chapters 1-3

Quiz 5 on Friday

7) Week of February 24: Reputation, Privacy, and “Internet Famous”

Read:

Marwick, Status Update: Entire book.

Quiz 6 on Friday

 
8) Week of March 3:  Youth, Generations, and The Social

Watch:

Frontline: Digital Nation (Available on Collab)

Read:

Zuckerberg, Mark. Letter to Investors. Available on Collab.

Vaidhyanathan, “Generational Myth,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2008. Available on Collab.

Smith, Zadie, "Generation Why," The New York Review of Books. Available on Collab.
 
Vargas, "The Face of Facebook Opens Up," from The New Yorker. Available on Collab.

boyd, It's Complicated, Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2. Book available in PDF on Collab.

Sawchuk, K. & Crow, B. (2012). I’m G-Mom on the Phone: Remote grandmothering, cell phones and inter-generational dis-connect. Feminist Media Studies, 12(4), 496-505.

9) Week of March 12: Spring Break

10) Week of March 17: Can Digital Media Change the World?

Listen to NPR: "Twitter, Facebook As Political Tools In Arab World" (Interview with Jillian C. York). Link available on Collab.

Read: 

Malcolm Gladwell "Twitter, Facebook, and Social Activism" from The New Yorker (available on Collab)

Henry Jenkins on Gladwell (available on Collab)

Fallows, James. "The Connection has been Reset." The Atlantic. March 2008. (link available on Collab)

Edge dialog between Clay Shirky and Evgeny Morozov. (on Collab)

Starkman, "Confidence Game." Columbia Journalism Review (available on Collab)

Watch: Sec. Clinton on Internet Freedom (Link on Collab)

MIDTERM EXAM RELEASED UNDER "ASSIGNMENTS" IN COLLAB ON FRIDAY MARCH 21. EXAM IS DUE (UPLOADED TO COLLAB) AT 11:55 p.m. SUNDAY, MARCH 30.

11) Week of March 24: Mobile, the Social, and the Political

Read:

Gerard Goggin . (2008). ‘The Models and Politics of Mobile Media’. Fibreculture Journal 12. Available at: http://twelve.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-082-the-models-and-politics-of-mobile-media/

Wendy Robinson and David Robinson. (2007). ‘Tsunami Mobilizations: Considering the Role of Mobile and Digital Communication Devices, Citizen Journalism, and the Mass Media’. in The Cell Phone Reader eds. Kavoori and Arceneaux. op. cit: 85-105.

Moyo, D. (2009). Citizen Journalism and the Parallel Market of Information in Zimbabwe's 2008 Election. Journalism Studies 10(4), 551-567. (on collab)

Ladly, M. (2008). Desgining for Mobile: A Walk in the Park. Canadian Journal of Communication. (Available on Collab)

Quiz 7 on Friday

12) Week of March 31: Journalism and Citizenship
Read:

Rosen, J. (2008, 14 July). A most useful Definition of Citizen Journalism. Pressthink. At: http://archive.pressthink.org/2008/07/14/a_most_useful_d.html.

McChesney, R.W. & Nichols, J. (2010). The Death and Life of American Journalism. Philadelphia: Nation Books. Chapter 1: The Crisis of Journalism. (Collab)

Curran, J. (2010). The Future of Journalism. Journalism Studies, 11(4), 464-476. (Collab)

Usher, N. (2011). Professional Journalists, Hands Off! Citizen Journalism as Civic Responsibility. In R.W. McChesney & V. Pickard (Eds.), Will the last reporter please turn out the lights: The collapse of journalism and what can be done to fix it, (pp. 264-276). Philadelphia: Nation Books. (Collab)

Atton, C. (2009). Alternative and citizen journalism. In K. Wahl-Jorgensen and T. Hanitzsch (eds) The Handbook of Journalism Studies (pp.- 265-278). London: Routledge. Available at: researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/2482/1/Atton_chapter_revrev.doc‎

 

Quiz 8 on Friday
 
13) Week of April 7: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Watch on your own: Vaidhyanathan lecture "The Classroom is Sacred" available on Collab.

Thursday: Watch on your own  debate between Vaidhyanathan and Kamenetz (link on collab)

Read:

Carr, “Is Google Making us Stupid,” The Atlantic, July 1, 2008. (Available on Collab)

Chad Wellmon, "Why Google Isn’t Making Us Stupid…or Smart" from The Hedgehog Review. Available on Collab or http://www.virginia.edu/humanities/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wellmon_essay.pdf

Vaidhyanathan, Googlization, Ch. 5

 

Quiz 9 on Friday

 

14) Week of April 14: How (not) to think about technology

Read:

Coordinating Committee for Media Reform (2011). Time for Media Reform. Available at: http://www.mediareform.org.uk/

McChesney, R. (2012). What is the Elephant in the Digital Room. Digital Disconnect. New York: New Press. (pages 1-16)

Mosco, V. (2005). When Old Myths Were New. The Digital Sublime. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Morozov, To Save Everything, Click Here. Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2.

 

Quiz 10 on Friday

 

 15) Week of April 21: Games

Read:

N. Baker on Video Games (New Yorker article on Collab)

S. Johnson, "Your Brain on Video Games," from Discover Magazine. (On Collab).

S. Johnson on IQ (Wired article on Collab).

I. Bogost, How to Do Things with Video Games

 

Quiz 11 on Friday

16) April 28:  Copyright  and Conclusion

Read, Vaidhyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs (available from ebrary via UVa library). Introduction, Ch.1 and Ch. 5.

 

FINAL EXAM

Final Exam due in Collab by 11:55 p.m. on May 8.