RTVF 4475 FALL 2014
DIGITAL MEDIA & SOCIETY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF RADIO, TELEVISION, & FILM
COURSE DESCRIPTION REQUIRED TEXTS This course examines digital media from a social and cultural perspective 1. The Social Media Reader by and focuses on how media technologies (re)configure practices of everyday Michael Mandiberg (Ed.); life. We will approach digital media from a broad definition to encompass paperback or e-book social networking sites, mobile technologies and applications, online communities, games, and virtual worlds. The course incorporates the perspectives of various stakeholders including citizens, consumers, 2. It’s Complicated: The Social industries, policymakers, and governments. This class primarily takes an American perspective but welcomes intercultural and international Lives of Networked Teens by perspectives as well. In addition to studying and analyzing social and digital danah boyd; hardcover or free media, we will also be actively communicating through and participating in e-book the platforms and networks we study. Students will have the opportunity to simultaneously conduct analytical research as well as create and participate in social media practices. 3. All other readings will be made available on Blackboard OBJECTIVES Offer students the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to
examine the real and potential influences of social media Provide students with a working knowledge of the development,
organization, and operation of different digital media technologies By the end of this course students will be able to: and industries Highlight the social choices students face as citizens, consumers, Describe how social media producers, and media professionals in their own encounters with enables the formation of digital technologies and applications community Provide students with opportunities to critically engage with social Analyze how identity is and digital media for the purposes of learning, collaborating, and performed, complicated, research complimented, and challenged in/with/through digital media Assess the commercial uses CLASS MEETS TUESDAY & THURSDAY 2:00 – 3:20 of digital media RTFP 180F technologies Critique debates about ownership, labor, privacy, Dr. Jacqueline Vickery, Ph.D. intellectual property, Office: RTFP 237 regulation, civic Hours: Tues./Thurs. 12:30-1:45 engagement, and ethics in a [email protected] @JacVick digital age
ASSIGNMENTS & POLICIES
ASSIGNMENTS Late Assignments: You will lose a full letter grade on the assignment for every day your assignment is late. Assignments DEBATES = 300 POINTS more than 3 days late will NOT be accepted; this means you • Oral Debate = 150 will receive an automatic “0” for the assignment. Assignments • Written Prep = 100 are considered late if they are not turned in by the dates and • Audience Participation = 25 X 2 = 50 times provided on the syllabus.
ESSAYS & REFLECTIONS = 400 POINTS • Tech & Society Essay = 100 Extra Credit: Your team will earn 5 extra points for winning • Identity Project = 50 the debate (as voted on by the class). No extra credit • Privacy Essay = 100 opportunities will be offered on an individual basis, so do not • Industry Essay = 100 ask. If you are struggling with the course materials, then come
see me for additional guidance and resources. Do not wait READING QUIZZES = 100 POINTS until the end of the semester to try to salvage your grade. • 10 quizzes worth 10 points each
EXAM = 125 POINTS
FINAL PAPER OR PROJECT = 125 POINTS • Individual research paper • OR Creative project as a group (3-4 people) Attendance Policy: I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences. Everyone is granted one “free” 1000 TOTAL POINTS absence during the semester, no questions asked. Each additional absence will result in a loss of 5 points from your A = 900-1000 B = 800-899 C=700-799 overall grade. Additionally, you will lose points for arriving D = 600-699 F= fewer than 600 late or leaving early. If you experience extenuating circumstances during the semester (e.g. extended illness, death of a close family member, etc.) talk to me ASAP.
This class uses the Twitter hashtag #RTVFDMS. I encourage you to use it to connect with me (@JacVick) and your peers so we can communicate and share relevant information. If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, come see me for a brief tutorial.
I have a “Bring Your Own Device” policy for this class. I encourage you to bring your laptop or mobile device to class as we will occasionally use them for in-class assignments. If you prefer to take notes on a laptop, I ask that you sit in the back or on the sides so as to minimize distractions to your peers. Technology can and should enhance the learning environment, thus I trust that you will only use it responsibly in my class.
This class has a Twitter hashtag I encourage you to follow it and connect with your peers via Twitter so you can share and
WEEKLY READING SCHEDULE & DUE DATES
IMPORTANT DATES WEEK 6: IDENTITY IN A NETWORED SOCIETY 9/18: Tech & Society Essay Due 9/30: “Chapter 1: Identity” – boyd (IC) 9/25: In-class Debate 10/2: “Chapter 6: Inequality” – boyd (IC) 10/9: Identity Project Due 10/16: In-class Debate WEEK 7: SOCIAL & INFORMATIONAL PRIVACY 10/23: Privacy Essay Due (no class) 10/7: “Chapter 2: Privacy” – boyd (IC) 10/30: Paper/Project Proposal Due *10/9: “Privacy in the Age of Big Data” – Tene & Polonetsky 11/6: In-Class Debate 11/13: Media Industry Essay Due WEEK 8: GOVERNMENTAL PRIVACY 12/2: In-class Presentations 10/14:”Cost of NSA surveillance” – Zetter; “How NSA Spying Works” - EFF 12/4: In-class Presentations 10/16: In-Class Debate 12/5: Final Paper OR Project Due 12/11: Final Exam WEEK 9: MEDIA INDUSTRIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE PART 1 10/21: “The Long Tail” – Anderson (SMR) WEEK 1: TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY *Watch episode of Flipping the Block 8/26: No reading *10/23: No class, Dr. Vickery in South Korea for a conference 8/28: “Making New Media Make Sense” – Baym WEEK 10: CHANGING MEDIA INDUSTRIES PART 2: FILM & TV 10/28: “Immersive TV” – Strover & Moner WEEK 2: WHAT IS NEW MEDIA? *10/30: “Business as Unusual” – Perren 9/2: “Introduction” - boyd (IC) 9/4: “Quentin Tarentino’s Star Wars” – WEEK 11: CHANGING MEDIA INDUSTRIES PART 3: MUSIC Jenkins (SMR); “The People Formerly 11/4: “A Creative Industry in Transition” - Hracs Known as the Audience” – Rosen (SMR) 11/6: In-Class Debate
WEEK 3: PARTICIPATORY CULTURE WEEK 12: CHANGIN INDUSTRIES PART 4: JOURNALSIM & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT 9/9: “YouTube as Participatory Culture” 11/11: From IndyMedia to Demand Media – Anderson (SMR) – Cha; “Language of Internet Memes” – *11/13: Unethical Journalism in Ferguson – Harris; Will the Revolution be Davison (SMR) Tweeted or Facebooked? – Harlow & Guo 9/11: “Doctor Who Fans” Booth & Kelly WEEK 13: SOCIAL MEDIA INDUSTRIES & ECONOMICS WEEK 4: REMIX CULTURE 11/18: “Corrupt Personalization” - Sandvig 9/16: “REMIX”– Lessig (SMR) Rip! 11/20: “Business Models of Popular SNS” – Cha *9/18: “Grey Tuesday” – Howard-Spink *Watch: Terms & Conditions May Apply
WEEK 5: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WEEK 14: SOCIAL MEDIA BEYOND AMERICA 9/23: “Fix Copyright” Glaser/ 11/25: “Role of New Media for Democratization in Arab World” – Sabadello McSherry; “Phone Unlocking” - Higgins 11/27: Happy Thanksgiving! 9/25: In-Class Debate
WEEK 15: IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS WEEK 16: FINALS WEEK *12/2 & 12/4: PRESENTATIONS *12/11: FINAL EXAM @ 1:30 PM *12/5: FINAL PAPER OR PROJECT DUE BY 5PM
Reading Abbreviations SMR = Social Media Reader (Mandiberg) IC = It’s Complicated (boyd) All other readings on Blackboard
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REQUIRED READING
Baym, N. (2010). Personal Connection in the Digital Age. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press. Booth, P. & Kelly, P. (2013). The Changing Faces of Doctor Who Fandom: New fans, new technologies, old practices? Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies 10(1), pp. 56-72. boyd, d. (2014). It’s Complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. E-book: http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf. Cha, J. (2013). Business Models of Most-Visited U.S. Social Networking Sites. In Albarran, A. (Ed.). The Social Media Industries. New York, NY: Routledge. Glaser, A. & McSherry, C. (2014). International Day Against DRM: It’s time to fix U.S. copyright law. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Available: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/understanding-digital-rights-management- international-day-against-drm. Harlow S. & Guo, L. (2014). Will the Revolution be Facebooked or Tweeted?: Using digital communication tools in immigrant activism. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 19(3), pp. 463-478. Harris, M. (2014). Unethical Journalism Can Make Ferguson More Dangerous. Aljazeera America. Available: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/unethical- journalismcanmakefergusonmoredangerous.html. Higgins, P. (2014). The Phone Unlocking Victory Should be the First Step Towards Real Copyright Reform. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Available: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/07/phone-unlocking-victory-should-be-first-step- towards-real-copyright-reform. How the NSA’s Domestic Spying Program Works. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Available: https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/how-it-works. Howard-Spink, S. (2005). Grey Tuesday, Online Cultural Activism and the Mash-up of Music and Politics. First Monday, available: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1460/1375. Hracs, B.J. (2012). A Creative Industry in Transition: The rise of digitally driven independent music in production. Growth and Change 43(3), pp. 442-461. Mandiberg M. (Ed.) (2012). The Social Media Reader. New York, NY: New York University Press. Perren, A. (2010). Business as Unusual: Conglomerate-sized challenges for film and television in the digital arena. Journal of Popular film and Television. Sabadello, M. (2012).The Role of New Media for Democratization Process in Arab World. Safran, 9, pp. 11-19. Sandvig, C. (2014). Corrupt Personalization. Social Media Collective. Available: http://socialmediacollective.org/2014/06/26/corrupt-personalization/. Strover, S. & Moner, W. (2012). The Immersive TV Project: Connected Viewing among College Students in the U.S. and Portugal. Connected Viewing initiative Final Report. Available: http://www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/sites/www.carseywolf.ucsb.edu/files/CVIDossier_Offic ial_UseThis_9-5-12.pdf. Tene, O. & Polonetsky, J. (2012). Privacy in the Age of Big Data: A time for big decisions. Stanford Law Review 64(63). Available: http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/privacy- paradox/big-data. Zetter, K. (2014). Personal Privacy Is Only One Cost of NSA Surveillance. Wired. Available: http://www.wired.com/2014/07/the-big-costs-of-nsa-surveillance-that-no-ones-talking- about/.