Communication / Information Science 3200 -- New Media and Society

readings online via Blackboard
COURSE BLOG

e-mail: tlg28@cornell.edu
office hours: Wed. 10-12, 315 Kennedy

TAs:
Josh Braun: jab343@cornell.edu
Dima Epstein: de56@cornell.edu
Tony Liao: cl566@cornell.edu

synopsis   We are all immersed in a complex and pervasive media culture, which makes it particularly difficult for us to recognize the complex relationship between media and society: how what we see, hear and read is in some ways the product of our society and its particular political, economic, and cultural shape, and how it also shapes our understanding of ourselves, our community, and our world. And at the moment, our media culture is undergoing a series of transformations - as new forms of entertainment, new venues for political debate, and new models of journalism emerge online, and as the established producers of media struggle to adapt to the challenge. This course will interrogate how the cultural landscape has changed in relation to media and information technologies, how broadcast media and traditional publishing are converging with networked computing, and what implications these changes may have for society, politics, and culture. It will focus on cases drawn from new, information-based media - online news, blogs, Wikipedia, YouTube, search engines, social networking applications , etc - but will examine them so as to understand the underlying relationship between media and society.   requirements   * the most important assignment is to complete all of the reading assigned, for the day it is assigned; comprehension of the arguments is crucial to your success in this course. * you also must regularly read the course blog: posts from me and from your colleagues will be showing up there throughout the semester. Develop a habit of looking at it daily to see what's new. * attendance is also required; attendance will be taken at my discretion. Attendance counts towards your overall grade. (10%) * throughout the course, you will be contributing to your own personal blog, commenting on the readings and/or responding to prompts and challenges that I post to the course blog. YouÕre required to post at least one substantive post every week. The undergrad TAs will be reading your posts Wednesday evenings and indicating to me some of the trends in the discussion, some of the best posts, and useful questions, which will emerge in the Thursday lecture. (30%) * in addition, every week you should read and rate at least five of your colleagues posts on their own blogs. Doing so will help to 'graduate' the best posts onto the course blog. * two "response papers" are due during the semester. For each I will state a "position" on some aspect of new media and its social implications; you will need to draw on the course readings to respond to, defend, or critique that position. (15% each) * a final paper, will ask you to expand upon one of the issues dealt with in the course. Details will follow. (30%)   materials   There are no books for this course; All of the readings are available online. If there is no URL listed, you can find the article in the course space on Blackboard.

From the Cornell "Code of Academic Integrity": "Absolute integrity is expected of every Cornell student in all academic undertakings. Integrity entails a firm adherence to a set of values, and the values most essential to an academic community are grounded on the concept of honesty with respect to the intellectual efforts of oneself and others. Academic integrity is expected not only in formal coursework situations, but in all University relationships and interactions connected to the educational process, including the use of University resources. While both students and faculty of Cornell assume the responsibility of maintaining and furthering these values, this document is concerned specifically with the conduct of students. A Cornell student's submission of work for academic credit indicates that the work is the student's own. All outside assistance should be acknowledged, and the student's academic position truthfully reported at all times. In addition, Cornell students have a right to expect academic integrity from each of their peers." The full text of the Code of Academic Integrity can be found online.