Technology & Culture in America 01.050.314.01 – Spring 2010 Department of American Studies – Rutgers University Mondays 6:40PM-9:30PM – Lucy Stone Hall A143 Course SAKAI Site: https://sakai.rutgers.edu/portal/site/techculturefall2010 Course Blog: http://techculturefall2010.blogspot.com/
Instructor Matthew B. Ferguson, M.C.R.P. E-mail: [email protected] (Subject Line: Technology & Culture-Monday)
Office Hours Monday 5:30PM – 6:30PM & By Arrangement Office Hours Location: Livingston Student Center 107D
Required Texts Computers - The Life Story of Technology (Approx $17.00) By: Eric Swedin & Dave Ferro- ISBN: 9780801887741 Technopoly - The Surrender of Culture to Technology (Approx $10.00) By: Neil Postman - ISBN: 9780679745402 The World and Wikipedia – How We Are Editing Reality (Approx $25.00) By: Andrew Dalby - ISBN: 9780956205209 Made to Break – Technology and Obsolescence in America (Approx $18.00) By: Giles Slade - ISBN: 9780674025721 The Facebook Effect (Approx $17.00) By: David Kirkpatrick - ISBN: 9781439102114 Additional Readings on SAKAI site or provided by Instructor (Free!) Books are available at online retailers such as BN.com, Amazon.com & Half.com
Course Description This course looks to examine the effects of web 2.0, social media and digital technology on American culture and identity. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the growing phenomenon of user generated web content and interactive multimedia technology paying special attention to how these institutions are changing how we access information, how we communicate and how we identify within our culture. Additionally, this course will explore the potential consequences of multimedia technology on current and future generations and representations of race, class, gender and sexuality within these media outlets. Specific examples of study will include Wikipedia, Google, and YouTube.
Departmental Learning Goals Met By This Course Students will be able to comprehend and synthesize an interdisciplinary dialogue among the different fields and methodologies that compose American Studies. Students will investigate American culture and society across time and space through an examination of history, politics, literature, and arts of the peoples of the United States, as well as the Americas. Students will be able to write well; speak articulately; and think critically, analytically, and creatively.
Course Specific Learning Goals By the end of this course, students will be able to: • demonstrate basic knowledge of the history/development/use of the internet, web 2.0 technology and social media. • analyze technology as it relates American identity, culture and values. • critically examine the role that technology plays in our communication and learning patterns and social constructs of race, class, gender and sexuality. • construct succinct and textually supported analysis of primary and secondary sources. • assemble effective visual presentations/group discussions and develop effective public speaking skills.
Course Outline
Wednesday September 8 – Course Introduction & Syllabus Review
Monday September 13 – Internet, Blogs & Culture Review of Blog Assignments Sample Current Event Presentations Current Event Date Sign-Up Networking the Nerds(1998) Film Screening
Wednesday September 15 – Set-Up of Blog & First Blog Entry Due! Set-Up Your Blog Using Blogger.Com Personalize Your Blog. Send The URL of Your Blog To Prof. Ferguson By 6:00PM Today. (Include Your Entire Name in the Email) Post First Blog Assignment!
Friday September 17 – TFLN Optional Extra Credit Event Livingston Hall, Livingston Student Center – FREE! Piscataway, NJ 8:00PM (Check In With Professor By 7:45PM) Blog About Experience Due Friday September 24 at 6:00PM
Monday September 20 – Early Computing & Personalized Computing Experience **Sample Current Event Presentation**
READING DUE: Swedin/Ferro’s Computers pgs 1-83 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Friday September 24 – EXTENSION: Blog Entry Due By 6:00PM READING DUE: Swedin/Ferro’s Computers pgs 85-149 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Today at 6:00PM**
Monday September 27 – Tools Technocracy Technopoly Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Postman’s Technopoly pgs xi-91 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday October 4 – Technology: The Good & The Bad Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Postman’s Technopoly pgs 92-199 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday October 11 – The YouTube Generation Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Dalby’s The World and Wikipedia pgs 7-113 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday October 18 – All About Wikipedia Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Dalby’s The World and Wikipedia pgs 114-225 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday October 25 – Patterns of Consumerism Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Slade’s Made to Break pgs 1-81 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday November 1 – American Consumption Group Midterm Presentations
READING DUE: Slade’s Made to Break pgs 83-185 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday November 8 – E-Waste and the Green Revolution Group Midterm Presentations
READING DUE: Slade’s Made to Break pgs 186-281 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday November 15 – Social Networking Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect pgs 1-106 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Tuesday at 6:00PM**
Monday November 22 - NO CLASS Meeting! (Wednesday Classes – Change in Class Day!)
Monday November 29 – TED, Online Dating & Other UGC Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect pgs 107-214 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Sunday at 6:00PM**
Monday December 6 – Does Facebook Run The World? Solo Current Event Presentations
READING DUE: Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect pgs 214-333 **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Tuesday at 6:00PM**
Monday December 13 – Final Paper Presentations **Analytical Blog Entry Due By Tuesday at 6:00PM**
Grading Components Grading Cut-Offs Weekly Blog Entries 60 Points 90.0+ Points = A Solo Current Event Presentation 5 Points 85.0+ Points = B+ Blog/Class Participation 15 Points 80.0+ Points = B Group Presentation 10 Points 75.0+ Points = C+ Final Paper/Presentation 20 Points 70.0+ Points = C 60.0+ Points = D Total Possible Points 110 Points 59.9 Points or Below = F
How Set-Up/Manage Your Blog • Go to Blogger.com. Set-Up a blog related to Technology and Culture in America. Personalize the blog. (Have fun with it!) • Email the URL to Professor Ferguson to be linked to our class blog page. • Create at least 20 blog posts including the following: o 1 Reaction Post to Technology Log/Setting Up a Blog o 12 Critical Analysis Posts o 1 Solo Current Event Presentation Post o 1 Group Midterm Project Post o 2-3 Final Paper/Project Posts (during the process) o 2-3 Posts of Your Choosing (i.e. current events, websites, etc) o 1 Post about Extra Credit Opportunity (if applicable) o NOTE: Blogs are due at 6:00PM on the Sunday BEFORE Class Meeting! All Blog entries should be 300-500 words and academically appropriate. • Check our Course Blog for Updates on Assignments/Etc • View/Comment on the blogs of your fellow classmates – (Factored into Course Participation Grade.)
First Blog Post • Log your usage of the internet/computers for 2-3 days. • Construct a blog reaction to your internet usage, the process of creating a blog and your reaction to entering the blogosphere. • Have fun with this post and introduce yourself to me! • Due by 6:00PM on Wednesday September 15.
Critical Analysis Blogs In order to reinforce the main concepts of the assigned course readings, students will be asked to write a critical analysis blog for each week that reading is assigned. Each critical analysis blog should include the following: • Brief synopsis of the assigned reading including primary concepts/arguments (use textual references where appropriate) • Reaction to the author’s primary arguments as compared to other course texts and personal experience. (It is expected that comparison to previous course literature will occur more frequently as the semester goes on) • Textually supported commentary on what the author’s work says about the relationship between American culture and technology, specifically as it relates to communication, representations of social constructs and American identity. • NOTE: I am NOT looking for a summary or a string of quotes. I am looking for a textually supported academic analysis of what each work tells us about the relationship between American culture and technology. Also, while I encourage you to include personal experience in your responses, you should not rely solely on those anecdotes to support your arguments. • As long as you introduce the name of the book and author, you can simply refer to the page number of the quote or section that you are referring to in your entry. Example: Feguson tells us “American culture can’t survive without email for a day.” (p.46)
Solo Current Events Presentations Since technology and our relationship to it is constantly expanding, shrinking and changing, a key element of this course will be making ourselves aware of what ways technology is playing a role/shaping our current events. Accordingly, each member of the course will be asked to research a current event, present a summary to the class and lead the class in a brief discussion about the subject of the current event. Each member of the class will be assigned a specific course meeting date and needs to complete the following steps: • Research current events and locate a topic, news story or controversy of interest. • Email the topic to Prof. Ferguson by 6:00PM on the day before class to confirm that another member of the class isn’t already covering the topic. • Once given the green light, prepare brief remarks to summarize the subject/position of the article to present to the class (2-3 minutes). In addition, prepare 1-2 discussion questions to ask members of the class and elicit engaging class discussion (2-3 minutes) • Bring a copy of the article/news story to class (with your name on it) and give it to Professor Ferguson prior to presenting. • Complete a blog entry following your presentation including not only summary information and links but also relevant information that emerged in the class discussion. This blog is due by the Sunday after your presentation at 6:00PM.
Attendance You are expected to attend all classes but attendance will not be recorded. You are responsible for all material and media presented in class, as well as all assigned readings. Your success in this class will be directly related to your attendance and participation in class.
When reviewing student grades from previous semesters, students who ACTIVELY attended class regularly did significantly better than those who did not.
If you must miss class for an extended period of time, please communicate with me ASAP so that we can figure out how to handle your particular situation.
Class Conduct All students are expected to be on time to class. If for some reason, you need to arrive late or leave early, please do so with minimum disruption. Please place all cell phones on silent and refrain from text messaging. Since this course involves discussion, it is inevitable that differing opinions will be presented. The University as a whole supports the free and open exchange of ideas and this course will be no different. All students are expected to be respectful of any and all opinions shared in class.
Emergencies In case of emergency, please check the University status page to see if the University is still operating. (http://rutgers.edu) If for some reason I need to cancel class, I will e-mail you all (from SAKAI) by 2:00PM on the day of class to let you know.
Academic Integrity Academic freedom is a fundamental right in any institution of higher learning. Honesty and integrity are necessary preconditions of this freedom. Academic integrity requires that all academic work be wholly the product of an identified individual or individuals. Joint efforts are legitimate only when the assistance of others is explicitly acknowledged. Ethical conduct is the obligation of every member of the University community, and breaches of academic integrity constitute serious offenses.
Maintenance of the standards of academic honesty and the successful administration of this policy depend on the mutual cooperation of faculty and students. Dissemination of the Academic Integrity Policy to all faculty, staff, and students will ensure that all members of the community are informed about academic integrity.
Faculty cooperation is essential for successful application of the procedures defined by the Academic Integrity Policy. Faculty members can help promote academic integrity by making clear on their syllabi their expectations concerning homework assignments, collaborative student efforts, research papers, examinations, and the like. Efforts should be made to detect and to prevent cheating and plagiarism in all academic assignments. If faculty members have evidence of academic dishonesty, they are expected to report such evidence promptly.
Students must assume responsibility for maintaining honesty in all work submitted for credit and in any other work designated by the instructor of the course. Students are also expected to report incidents of academic dishonesty to the instructor or dean of the instructional unit.
This policy seeks to demonstrate the University's concern with academic dishonesty and to guarantee a fair procedure for resolving complaints of academic dishonesty.
WHEN IN DOUBT…ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR!
Personal Note: I’ve worked very hard to create assignments and tests that are both interactive and challenging for you as a student. In addition to being insulting to me, when you cheat…you are cheating yourself out of a learning experience. Be forewarned that I will not hesitate to report you for any violation of academic integrity. All assignments will be run through TurnItIn.com plagiarism detection software.
Violations of Academic Integrity The various ways in which academic honesty can be violated are discussed below. The comments and examples within each section provide explanations and illustrative material, but do not necessarily exhaust the scope of these violations.
A. Cheating Cheating is the use of inappropriate and unacknowledged materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. The use of books, notes, calculators and conversation with others is restricted or forbidden in certain academic exercises. Their use in these cases constitutes cheating. Similarly, students must not request others (including commercial term paper companies) to conduct research or prepare any work for them, nor may they submit identical work or portions thereof for credit or honors more than once without prior approval of the instructor.
B. Fabrication Fabrication is the falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. "Invented" information may not be used in any laboratory experiment or other academic exercise without authorization from the instructor. It is improper, for example, to analyze one sample in an experiment and covertly "invent" data based on that single experiment for several more required analyses. The student must also acknowledge reliance upon the actual source from which cited information was obtained. A writer should not, for example, reproduce a quotation from a book review and indicate that the quotation was obtained from the book itself.
C. Facilitating Academic Dishonesty Students who knowingly or negligently allow their work to be used by other students or who otherwise aid others in academic dishonesty are violating academic integrity. Such students are as guilty of intellectual dishonesty as the student who receives the material even though they may not themselves benefit academically from that dishonesty.
D. Plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be properly cited in the text or in a footnote. Acknowledgment is required when material from another source stored in print, electronic or other medium is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: "to paraphrase Plato's comment..." and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material. Information which is common knowledge such as names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc, need not be footnoted; however, all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged.
In addition to materials specifically cited in the text, only materials that contribute to one's general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography. Plagiarism can, in some cases, be a subtle issue. Any questions about what constitutes plagiarism should be discussed with the faculty member.
E. Denying others access to information or material It is a violation of academic integrity to deny others access to scholarly resources, or to deliberately impede the progress of another student or scholar. Examples of offenses of this type include: giving other students false or misleading information; making library material unavailable to others by stealing or defacing books or journals, or by deliberately misplacing or destroying reserve materials; or altering computer files that belong to another.
The Full Policy on Academic Integrity and additional information can be found on at the Office of Student Conduct Website (http://studentconduct.rutgers.edu)