CLASS DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS

Statement of Sociological Understanding:

"Sociology is a social science that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the relationship among individual actions, social institutions, societal forces, and social change. Sociological understanding provides us with tools for analyzing the practical impact and ethical implications of our choices and decisions in the workplace, family, and community."

Course Description

The development of the Personal Computer and the advent of the Internet as new means of communication--a global communication network of a new type--can be seen as salient examples of the complex, dialectical relationship between social change and technological development. This course will focus on the social context within which the key socio/technological developments that have made the present Internet what it is are taking place:

• The nature of the revolution in Info-Communications technologies characterized by the rapid expansion of networked PCs and the Internet. The social, historical and cultural foundations of this revolution will be examined.
• The digital revolution in information and the move from atoms to bits.
• The "accidental" nature of the emergence of the Internet as the foundation of a new National Information Infrastructure (NII) with the emergence of the World Wide Web.
• The nature of the new matrix of social and cultural interactions created by the new Info-Communications network: cyberspace, or virtual reality. The emergence of virtual communities, and the struggle to create structures of moral and legal order on the cyber-frontier.
• Online identity and the psychological and ethical challenges faced by us all on the frontiers of cyberspace.

At the same time, it is to be emphasized that the class also has an active hands-on component. The course will maintain an active Website, to which all students will be expected to contribute. Students will be instructed and guided in techniques of Internet research and elementary Web publishing by the instructor and each other.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, students will have a greater historical, theoretical and practical understanding of the social and cultural foundations and implications of the PC, the Internet and related technological systems and new strategic thinking by private and public actors in cyberspace.

Practically, by the end of the course, each student will understand and be able to demonstrate enhanced competence in the use of the primary Internet protocols, especially those related to the World-Wide Web. In particular, each student should be able to demonstrate use of and understand the differences between the primary Web search engines as the foundation for effective Internet research strategies and will have created his/her own web page as a foundation of the class group project.

Requirements

Students are expected to attend class, complete all required readings, and spend significant time, both in class and out of class, developing the skills and knowledge necessary for the class presentation. Grades will be based on a take-home mid-term examination in the fifth week on readings, lectures and discussion in the first four weeks, a comprehensive final examination, the group project/presentation, and class attendance and participation. The final grade will be based 25% on the mid-term exam, 30% on the final, 30% on the group project/presentation and 15% on attendance and discussion.

Project/presentation. Students will form small groups to do a project on any aspect of the sociology of the Internet and related technologies, subject to the approval of the instructor. The project will involve Internet research, creating and publishing a web page linked to the class website, and an in-class multi-media presentation in the last two or three weeks.

Like the Internet, this class is an evolving and somewhat experimental social space, in which all participants are invited to make a creative contribution.

Disability Accommodation Policy: To request accommodations for a disability, students must contact Disabilities Resources located in the Drahmann Center, Benson 214, 554-4111, TTY 554-5445. Students must provide documentation of a disability to Disabilities Resources prior to receiving accommodations.