Dr. Nancy
Baym Dr.
John Monberg
402 Bailey 4-A
Bailey
12:30-1:30 M & F and by appointment Mon and Wed 4:30-5:30
864-9876 864-1082
nbaym@ku.edu jmonberg@ku.edu
Mailboxes: Communication Department Office, 102 Bailey
This course is an overview of the emerging interdisciplinary field of Internet Studies. The readings address conceptual, methodological, interpersonal, and cultural issues. Diverse readings, classroom discussion and course projects and writings are combined to:
¥ Map the broad field of Internet Studies, while allowing students to develop a deep focus on an area of particular interest to them.
¥ Familiarize students with the theories and methods used in studying the internet.
¥ Encourage research leading to conference presentations and publication.
There is a xeroxed reading packet for the course available in the front office (102 Bailey). Several readings are online and can be accessed through the blackboard (courseware.ku.edu) or through the links on the syllabus. There are three required books:
Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Weinberger, D. (2002). Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.
Lessig, L. (2001). The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. New York: Random House.
Before each meeting you should prepare approximately 1 page' of notes relevant to the day's topic. You may bring them to class or post them to the discussion section of the blackboard. Use these notes as a way to pull together your thoughts on the readings -- what you got out of them? what questions did they raise for you? what issues would you like to see the class discuss? The only thing these notes should not do is summarize the readings. Each student should write 7 of these (meaning you can skip a week here and there).
Twice during the semester, each student should come to class prepared to present an example of a phenomenon about which we have read. Preparation entails observation of online activity. For example, if we are reading about how anonymity might cause people to do things they would not otherwise do, you might bring in an instance of such a behavior. Think of this as a mini-paper in which you discuss the theoretical issues and apply them to the particular instance you have noted. We will sign up for these in advance. You donÕt need to write this up.
One goal of this class is to map the field of Internet Studies in terms of its major concepts and the theoretical and methodological approaches, consensus, and divisions within each concept. Students will work in pairs to develop analyses of the major conceptual areas of the field by studying conference programs from NCA, ICA, AoIR, and other associations as appropriate. Approximately half way through the semester, students will present their conceptual maps to the class, enabling us to develop a collaborative macro-map. As we go through the assigned readings and class discussions, this goal of building a conceptual map with both breadth and depth should guide the ways you read the readings and the ways in which we discuss them.
Once the class has developed an initial conceptual map, students should select a conceptual area that is particularly interesting to them in order to examine it more deeply. The final research paper should include a relatively comprehensive literature review on the topic laying out the key areas of research, theory, and methodological approaches that characterize work in that area. It should also include a realistic research proposal in that area which could be pursued for a thesis, conference presentation, or publication.
Danet, B. (2002). Introduction. In Cyberplay: Communicating Online. Oxford: Berg.
Danet, B. (2002). ÒWelcome to Our Beautiful World of Colors!Ó Art and Communication on Internet Relay Chat. In Cyberplay: Communicating Online. Oxford: Berg.
Lessig, L. (1999). Cyberspaces. In Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace. (pp. 63-84). NewYork: Basic Books.
Herring, S. (2001). Computer-Mediated Discourse. In Tannen, D., Schiffrin, D., & Hamilton, H. (Eds.) Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell. PDF file available online at: http://www.let.rug.nl/~redeker/herring.pdf
Cubitt , S. (2000). Multimedia. In T. Swiss, Ed. Unspun. Key concepts for understanding the World Wide Web. New York: New York University.
Jones, S. J. (1999). Studying the net: Intricacies and issues. In S.G. Jones (Ed.), Doing Internet research: Critical issues and methods for examining the net, (pp. 1-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Neustadtl, Robinson, Kestnbaum (2002). Doing Social Science Research Online. Ch 6 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Mitra, A., & Cohen, A. (1999). Analyzing the Web: Directions and challenges. In S.G. Jones (Ed.), Doing Internet research: Critical issues and methods for examining the net, (pp. 179-202). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mann, C. & Stewart, F. (2000). Introducing Online Methods (pp 65-98) and Virtuality and Data (pp. 195-215). Internet communication and qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Walther, J. B. (2002). Research ethics in Internet-enabled research: Human subjects issues and methodological myopia. Ethics and Information Technology, 4, 205-216. Available online: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/ethics_wal_full.html
Association of Internet ResearchersÕ Working Group on Research Ethics (2002) Ethical Decision Making and Internet Research. Available online: http://aoir.org (click on Òethics recommendationsÓ)
Turkle, S. (1997). Constructions and reconstructions of self in virtual reality: Playing in the MUDs. In S. Kiesler (Ed), Culture of the internet, (pp. 143-155). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Donath, J. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In M. Smith, & P. Kollock (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace, (pp. 29-59). New York: Routledge. Also available online: http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html
Miller, D. & Slater, D. (2000). Being Trini and Representing Trinidad. In The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford: Berg.
Doering, N. (2002). Personal home pages on the Web: A review of research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication [On-line], 7(3). Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol7/issue3/doering.html
Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2003). Dicing with deception: People with disabilities' strategies for managing safety and identity online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication [On-line], 8 (2) . Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol8/issue2/bowker.html
Mon. September 29: Gender and Race Online
Fuchs, C. (2000). Gender. In T. Swiss, Ed. Unspun. Key concepts for understanding the World Wide Web. New York: New York University.
Herring, S. (2001) Gender and power in online communication. CSI Working Paper No. WP-01-05 Available online: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/WP/WP01-05B.html
Poster, J. N. (2002). Trouble, pleasure, and tactics. In Consalvo, M. & Paasonen, S. (Eds.) Women and everyday uses of the Internet, pp. 255-274. NY: Peter Lang.
Lisa Nakamura "Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet" Available online: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/mposter/syllabi/readings/nakamura.html
Tal, K. & and Lyman, G. (2000). Room Full of Mirrors:Virtual Tourism and First World Technogaze. Artbyte. Available online: http://www.freshmonsters.com/kalital/Text/Articles/artbyte.html
Mon. October 6: Online Relationships
Lea, M. & Spears, R. (1995). Love at first byte? In J. Wood & S. Duck (Eds.) Understudied relationships: Off the beaten track. (pp. 197-240). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Walther, J. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(1), 3-43.
Parks, M. R., & Roberts, L. D. (1998). 'Making MOOsic': The development of personal relationships on line and a comparison to their offline counterparts. Journal of social and personal relationships, 15(4), 517-537.
Jacobson, D. (1999). Impression formation in cyberspace: Online expectations and offline experiences in text-based virtual communities. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication [On-line], 5 (1) . Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol5/issue1/jacobson.html
Miller , D. & Slater, D. (2000). Relationships. In The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford: Berg
Boneva & Kraut (2002). Email, Gender, and Personal Relationships. Ch 13 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Weise, E. R. (1996). A thousand aunts with modems. In L. Cherny, & E. R. Weise, Wired Women, (pp. vii-xv). Seattle: Seal.
Baym, N. (1998). The emergence of on-line community. In S. Jones (Ed.), Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting computer-mediated communication and community, (pp. 35-68). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Preece, J. and Diane Maloney-Krichmar (2003) Online Communities . In J. Jacko and A. Sears, A. (Eds.) Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Publishers. Mahwah: NJ. 596-620. Available online through Jenny PreeceÕs website: http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/~preece/ (look for it in her list of publications).
Dean , J.(2000). Community. In T. Swiss, Ed. Unspun. Key concepts for understanding the World Wide Web. New York: New York University.
Miyata, K..(2002). Social support for Japanese mothers online and offline. Ch 18 in Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Wheeler, D. L. (2003). The Internet and youth subculture in Kuwait. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication [On-line], 8 (2) . Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol8/issue2/wheeler.html
Haythornthwaite, C. & Wellman, B. (2002). The internet in everyday life: An introduction. In Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Nie, Hillygus, & Erbring (2002). Internet use, interpersonal relations, and sociability: A time diary study. Ch 7 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Robinson, J. P., Kestnbaum, M., Neustadtl, A. & Alvarez, A. S. (2002). The internet and other uses of time. Ch 8 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Copher, J. I., Kanfer, A. G., & Walker, M. B. (2002). Everyday communication patterns of heavy and light email users. Ch 9 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Quan-Haase, A., Wellman, B., Witte, J. C., & Hampton,. K. N. (2002). Capitalizing on the net: Social contact, civic engagement, and sense of community. Ch 10 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Kavanaugh, A. & Patterson, S. J. (2002). The impact of community computer networks on social capital and community involvement in Blacksburg. Ch 11 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Hampton, K. N.. & Wellman, B. (2002). The not so global village of Netville. Ch 12 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Matei, S. & Ball-Rokeach, S. (2002). Belonging in geographic, ethnic, and internet spaces. Ch 14 of Wellman, B. & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.) (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing
Weinberger Small Pieces Loosely Joined pp. 1-94
Bauman, Z. (1998). ÒSpace Wars: A Career Report,Ó pp. 27-54, Globalization: the Human Consequences, New York: Columbia University Press.
Weinberger, pp. 95-conclusion
Sunstein, C. (2001). ÒCitizens,Ó Republic.Com, pp. 105-125 Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Collins, R. (1988). ÒNetwork Theories,Ó pp. 412-448, Theoretical Sociology, New York Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich
Lessig, L. (2001). The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, pp. 1-142. New York: Random House.
Beck, U. (2002). ÒZombie Categories: an Interview with Ulrich Beck,Ó pp. 202-213 Individualization, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Agre, P. (2003). ÒGrowing a Democratic Culture John Commons on the Wiring of Civil SocietyÓ pp. 61-68 Democracy and New Media, Cambridge: MIT Press
Lessig, L. (2001). The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, pp. 143-. New York: Random House.
Phillips, D. & Curry, M. (2003). ÒGeodemographics and the Changing Spatiality of Local Practice,Ó pp. 139-152, Surveillance as Social Sorting: Privacy, Risk and Digital Discrimination, ed. Lyon, D. London: Routledge.
Carey, J. (1988). ÒA History of the Future,Ó pp. 173-200, Communication as Culture, New York: Routledge.
Webster, F. ( 2002). ÒInformation Management and Manipulation: Jurgen Habermas and the Concept of the Public Sphere,Ó pp. 161-200, The Theories of the Information Society, second edition, New York: Routledge.
Poster, M. (1996). ÒCyberdemocracy: Internet and the public SphereÓ pp. 201-218, Internet Culture ed. David Porter, New York: Routledge
Robbins, B. (1993). ÒThe Public as Phantom,Ó vii-xxvi, Phantom
Public Sphere, Minneapolis: university of
Minnesota Press.