Media 2.0: Critical Studies in Digital Media
The emergence of digital media has radically changed our society. From the ways we spend money to the ways we socialize, and from how we travel to how we wage war, digital media have touched nearly every aspect of our lives. Keeping a critical eye on the dangers and promise of the digital age, we will talk directly to people who are producing and distributing their work on the Internet and other alternative channels, and we will explore how these new distribution forms challenge assumptions about how media should/do work. Students will not only learn to think critically about the social impact of digital media, but will also learn to use media creatively in their everyday lives.
UNIT I: INTRODUCTION: DEBATING TECHNOLOGICAL UTOPIANISM
January 16: Introduction
January 21: Critiquing Technology
Chellis Glendinning, “Technology Can Be Damaging”
January 23: Technological “Utopianism”
Ray Kurzweil, “Reinventing Humanity: The Future of Human-Machine Intelligence”
January 28: Watch Minority Report in class
January 30: Finish Minority Report, and discuss emerging technologies
UNIT II: SURVEILLANCE
February 4: The Surveillance State
Paul R. La Monica, “Government ‘Spying’ on Me: Who Cares?”
Glenn Greenwald, “On the Espionage Act Changes against Edward Snowden”
Somini Sengupta, “Privacy Fears Grow as Cities Increase Surveillance”
February 6: Corporate Surveillance and Free Labor
Ian Bogost, “Hyperemployment, or the Exhausting Work of the Technology User”
Stephanie Armour, “Borrowers Hit Social Media Hurdles”
Elizabeth Dwoskin, “What Secrets Your Phone is Sharing about You”
Read in class: Trebor Scholz, “Introduction: Why Does Digital Labor Matter Now” (pages 1-3)
UNIT III: ACTIVISM AND THE DIGITAL PUBLIC
February 11: Guest! Brittany Fitzpatrick of Mentor Me
February 13: Guest! Addie McGowan of Bigfish
February 18: Social Media and the Arab Spring
Jay Rosen, “The ‘Twitter Can’t Topple Dictators’ Article”
Philip N. Howard, “The Arab Spring’s Cascading Effects”
February 20: Guest! Shannon Little of Shannon R. Little Communication
UNIT IV: WAR PROPAGANDA AND WAR TECHNOLOGIES
February 25: War Propaganda
Stacey Leasca, “Social Warfare: Israel and Hamas Bring War to the Digital Age”
Zeina Karam, “Syria’s Civil War Plays Out on Social Media”
February 27: U.S. Propaganda
Eric Schmitt, “A U.S. Reply, in English, to Terrorists’ Online Lure”
Tom Vanden Brook, “White House Fights Bid to Kill Pentagon Propaganda Sites”
March 4: Weapons and War Technologies
Peter W. Singer, “Do Drones Undermine Democracy?”
Diane Weber Bederman, “Drones: The West’s Best Ethical Response to Terrorism”
March 6: Stuxnet and Cyber-Attacks
David E. Sanger, “Obama Order Sped up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran”
March 11: SPRING BREAK!!!
March 13 SPRING BREAK!!!
UNIT V: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING
March 18: Digital Advertising
David Carr, “Storytelling Ads May Be Journalism’s New Peril”
Amanda Holpuch, “Advertising in the Digital Age: A Global Idea is Still the ‘Holy Grail’”
Business Insider, “Why Social Media Advertising Is Set to Explode”
March 20: Advertising Presentations
UNIT VI: LITERACY
March 25: Digital English?
John McWhorter, "Is Texting Killing the English Language?"
Motoko Rich, “Online, R U Really Reading?”
March 27: Final Previews
UNIT VII: ELECTIONS AND DIGITAL POLITICS
April 1: Digital Voting
Roger Johnston, “How I Hacked an Electronic Voting Machine”
Keith Thomson, “Could Romney-Linked Electronic Voting Machines Jeopardize Ohio’s Vote Accuracy?”
April 3: Social Media and Political Campaigns
John Axelrod, “A New Study on Twitter’s Power Could Change How Politicians Campaign”
Nick Judd, “The Game: How Campaigns’ New Obsession with Social Media Is Hurting America”
UNIT VII: MUSIC INDUSTRY
April 8: Music in the Digital Age
Paul Resnikoff, “Technology Didn’t Kill the Music Industry. The Fans Did”
Steven Goldstein, “How the Digital Age Changed Hip-Hop”
April 10: Guest! Elizabeth Cawein of Signal Flow
UNIT IX: EDUCATION: MOOCs, ONLINE LEARNING, ETC.
April 15: Digital Education
Max Chafkin, “Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun, Godfather of Free Online Education, Changes Course”
Laura Hepler, “Coursera Founder Ng Counters MOOC Criticism”
Huffington Post, “Is Online Education Replacing the Classroom Learning Experience?”
April 17: Online Education Experiment
UNIT X: DOING BUSINESS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
April 22: Economy
Bill Halal, “How Netflix Beat Blockbuster: An Exemplar of Emerging Technologies”
Alex Pappademas, “Blockbuster Video: 1985–2013”
Chris Anderson, "The Long Tail"
April 24: Digital Media Debates
April 29: Digital Media Debates
Final Exam: T, May 6, 10:30a - 12:30p