| 2:00-3:20 Monday, Wednesday ASC G26 Instructor:
Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen Douglas Thomas, Hacker Culture Course Syllabus, Here Course Assignments, Here Goals: This class is designed as an introduction to contemporary issues in communication technology. Beginning with the earliest technology (writing) we will explore the various social, political, cultural, and economic impacts of new communication technology. The course goals are threefold: Assignments: Students will be expected to attend class and discussion sections and complete all assignments. In addition, there will be two midterm examinations and a final (non-cumulative) exam, each worth 25% of your grade. Exams will be a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. There will also be four discussion section assignments, worth a total of 25% of your grade. These are "hands-on" assignments, where you will be expected to apply course concepts. Grades will be computed using a basic scale (97-100 = A+, 94-96 = A, 90-93 = A-, etc.). Unfortunately, there is no credit for effort, except as evidenced in your work. No late assignments will be accepted. Make up exams will be scheduled only in cases of documented physical illness or in case of emergency. Academic Integrity: The School of Communication is committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and ethical support. It endorses and acts on the SCampus policies and procedures detailed in the section titled: "University Student Conduct Code." See especially Appendix A: "Academic Dishonesty Sanction Guidelines." The policies, procedures, and guidelines will be assiduously upheld. They protect your rights, as well as those of the faculty. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism, cheating on exams, fabricating data for a project, submitting a paper to more than one professor, or submitting a paper authored by anyone but yourself. If you have doubts about any of these practices, confer with a faculty member.
Schedule1/11 Course Introduction. Syllabus review 1/13 "Technology as Communication Medium"
Reading: Week 2: Introduction to Culture and Technology 1/18 No Class. Martin Luther King Day (University
Holiday) 1/20 From Tool making
to Electronic Media Reading:
Arnold Pacey, "Technology: Practice and Culture" Week 3: Narratives of Technology
1/25 From Programming to
Simulation Reading: Turkle, "The
Triumph of Tinkering" 1/27 Utopian and Dystopian Visions Reading: Winner, "Sow's Ears from Silk Purses"; Excerpt from Bill Gates, The Road Ahead; William Gibson, Johnny Mnemonic; David Nye, "Technological Prediction: A Promethean Problem."; Wired "Wired Scared Shitlist" (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.01/shitlist_pr.html) Week 4: Cultures of Technology 2/1 Science Fiction and the Culture of Technology Reading: Paul Edwards, "Computers and Politics in Cold War II"; Excerpt from Bukatman, Terminal Identities 2/3 Virus Culture: Metaphors of Infection Reading: Thomas, "Viral Style: Information, Subculture, and the Politics of Infection" (Note: this is in the course reader, not Hacker Culture); Spafford, "Computer Viruses" Week 5: Cultures of Technology (Con't) 2/8 Exam One Reading: Turkle, "Identity in the Age
of the Internet"; Cheung, "A Home on the Web"; Pariser, "Artist's
Websites", Julian Dibble, "A Rape in Cyberspace" (Note: these appear in
the course reader after the readings from Week 2) Week 6: Cultures of Technology
(Con't) 2/15 No Class
(President's Day) 2/17 Redefining Place Readings: Larry Gross,
"Somewhere there is a place for us"; Chabran and Salinas, "Place Matters";
Gibbs, et al. "The Globalization of Everyday Life"; Hafner, "When the
Virtual Isn't Enough." Week 7: The
Birth of the PC 2/22 From Analog to Digital: The
Origins of Computing Reading:
Burger, "The Nature of Technology"; Turkle, "A Tale of Two
Aesthetics"; Steven Levy, "The Tech Model Railroad Club" 2/24 The Birth of the Silicon Valley (From the
Homebrew Computer Club to Apple and beyond) Reading: Robert Cringely, "Amateur Hour"; Steven Levy,
"Secrets" Week 8: Inside the
Black Box 3/1 How a PC works (Parts and
Pieces and How They Work) Reading: Nikhil
Hutheesing, "Faster, Cheaper, Better--Forever" 3/3 Basic software(BIOS,OS, etc.) Reading: from Fundamental Computer
Concepts Week 9: Inside the
Industry AI and the Future of Technology 3/8 Applications, End Users, and
GUIs Reading: Cringely, "Software
Envy"; Stephenson, Excerpt from In the Beginning was the Command
Line." 3/10 The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Open Source Software
Readings: Eric Raymond, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar"; Bruce
Sterling, "A Contrarian View of Open Source." Applications, End Users, and
GUIs SPRING BREAK 3/15 & 3/17 Week 10: AI and the Future of
Technology Readings: Turkle, "Artificial Life as the New
Frontier"; Turing, "Can a Machine Think?"; Gauntlett, "The Future:
Faster, Smaller, More, More, More"
3/24 Censorship,
(In)decency, and the Net Reading:
EFF Press Release; Software Publisher's Press release; White House
Press Release; Supreme Court Ruling Week 11: Cultural Issues in Technology: Censorship and Decency on
the Net 3/29 Exam Two 3/31 MP3 and the History of
Copyright Readings: Thomas, "Piracy and
the Ethos of New Media"; Excerpt from from Lessig, Code and Other Laws
of Cyberspace (Note: these appear in the course reader after the
readings from Week 12) Week 12:
Computers and the Culture of Secrecy 4/5 Database Culture and the Future of Surveillance
Reading: Excerpt from Garfinkle, Database
Nation; Agre "Beyond the Mirror World" (Note: these appear in the
course reader after the readings from Week 10) 4/7 How to keep a secret (Enigma, ROT13, and
"Jul lbh pna'g ernq guvf") Reading:
Excerpt from Dyson, Release 2.0 ("Privacy"); "ITAR Civil
Disobedience"; Bruce Schneier, "Why Cryptography Is Harder Than It
Looks" Week 13: The View from
Underground 4/12 Hacker Culture Reading: Thomas, "Hacking History" (Thomas, Section
1) 4/16 Viewing: Freedom Downtime Week 14: The View from Underground
(Con't) 4/19 Hacker Culture Reading: Thomas, "Hacking Representation" (Section
Two) 4/21 Hacking
and the Law Reading: Thomas,
"Hacking Law" (Thomas, Section 3) Week 15:
The Future of Technology 4/26 Special Topic (to be
announced) 4/28 Exam Three |