NCSU Department of Communication

COM487-002::Internet & Society
Instructor: Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva

 

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Part I: cyberspace and computer interfaces
(history)

 

Week Day Topic Readings due Presentations Assignments

0
Introduction

Th. 01.11

 

course overview      
1
Cyberspace
Tu. 01.16

 

Cyberspace vs. Internet: an introduction Briggs, A., & Burke, P., "Conclusion: Into Cyberspace?" (pp. 320-332)   Blog post
Th. 01.18 (The utopia of) cyberspace as an immaterial and libertarian place.

Robins, K., “Cyberspace and the world we live in” (pp. 77-95)

visit from the library Blog post
2
Computers as space / history
Tu. 01.23

Computers as (narrative) spaces. What's an interface?

Murray, J., “From additive to expressive form” (pp. 65-96)

  Blog post
Th. 01.25 Early interfaces

Johnson, S. "Bitmapping: an introduction" (pp. 11-41)

Presentation 01: Interfaces.
Memex (Vannevar Bush), Mouse and Windows (Douglas Engelbart), and Sketchpad (Ivan Sutherland), by Jason Broadway, Odell Bizzell, and Miranda Ervin
Blog post
3
Interfaces / history
Tu. 01.30

The Macintosh and the desktop metaphor: First signs of immersion in the “computer for the rest of us.

 

Johnson, S. “The Desktop” (42-75)


Blog post
Th. 02.01

From calculations to simulations. Computers as simulation machines.

 

Turkle, S. “A tale of two aesthetics” (29-49)

 

 

 

Blog post

-- mid-term 1 announcement

4
Internet / history
Tu. 02.06

The Internet and WWW. Historical facts.

Abbatte, J. Popularizing the Internet. (pp. 181-220).

 

 

Blog post

 

Th. 02.08 Early Internet

 

Watch movie: The Thirteenth Floor Presentation 02: Early Internet.
Email (Ray Tomlinson), and Usenet (Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis), by Lauren Barry, and James Childs

-- mid-term 1 questions

 



Part II: The Internet as a social environment: space, body, identity
5
MUDs (community)
Tu. 02.13 The history of MUDs


 

Dibbell, J. “The scarlet balloon (or tinygeography, a long view and an overview)” (pp. 39-69)

 

Blog post

mid-term 1 due

 

Th. 02.15 MUDs as communities

Morningstar, C., & Farmer, R., "The lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat" (pp. 728-753).

Presentation 03: MUDs.
MUD (Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw), LambdaMOO, and Habitat (LucasFilm), by Mike O'Rourke, Lindsay Hertzog, and David Speidel

 

Blog post

6
Chats (space)
Tu. 02.20 Visualizing communication environments: 2D and 3D Chats.

Donath, J.; Karahalios, K., & Viegas, F. “Visualizing Conversations” (pp. 2023-2032)

 

Blog post

 

Th. 02.22 Chats

Donath, J. “Part I: the virtual society” (pp. 15-42)

Presentation 04: Chats. Habbo Hotel, The Palace, and Second Life, by Ryan Bisesi, Jeff Curry, and Emily Blemker Blog post

 

 

7
Educational MUDs
Tu. 02.27

computer lab class (Whiters Hall 131)


 

 

 

Th. 03.01 Educational MUDs

Barab, S., et. al., “Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns ” (pp. 86-107)

 

Presentation 05: Educational MUDs. Quest Atlantis (Sasha Barab), Environmental Detectives (Kurt Squire), Frequency 1550 (Waag Society), by Jennifer Kepley, Lindsey Shields, and Stephanie Claxton

Blog post
8
Spring break
Tu. 03.06

no class. Spring break

 

 

 

 

Th. 03.08 no class. Spring break

 

 

 
9
Virtual Bodies
(Identity)
Tu. 03.13 The construction of the online body: Avatars Thomas, A., “Digital literacies of the cybergirl” (pp. 358-382)   Blog post

 

 

Th. 03.15

Online bodies

Taylor, T.L., "Intentional bodies" (pp. 25-34)

Presentation 06: Avatars. Bodies Inc., n0time (Victoria Vesna), and Placeholder (Brenda Laurel), by Sara Robertson, Kyle Zaepfel, and Lyndey Smith

 

Blog post

 



Part III: Current Issues on the Internet
10
The mobile Internet

 

Tu. 03.20

The mobile internet: an introduction

 

Frattasi, S., at. al., "Defining 4G technology from the user's perspective" (pp. 35-41)

discuss posters

 

Blog post

Th. 03.22 The mobile internet: an introduction

Miyata, K.,et. al., "The mobile-izing Japanese" (pp. 143-164)

 

 

 

Blog post

11
Wireless
Tu. 03.27 Wi-Fi

 

Rheingold, H.,
"Wireless Quilts" (pp. 133-156).

 

 

Blog post

Th. 03.29

Wi-Fi

 

Schmidt, T., & Townsend, A., "Why wireless networks want to be free" (pp. 47-52).

 

Presentation 07: Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi Hog (Jonah Brucker-Cohen); Umbrella.net (Katherine Moriwaki), and WiFi Art.Cache (Julian Bleecker), by Willa Nipper, Dan Strobel, and Ginny Terrell

 

Blog post
12
Ubiquitous computing
Tu. 04.03 Ubiquitous computing

Weiser, M., "The world is not a desktop" AND

Weiser, M., & Brown, J. S., "Designing calm technology"

 

  Blog post
Th. 04.05 Ubiquitous computing Rheingold, H. "The era of sentient things" (pp. 83-112). Presentation 08: Ubiquitous computing. ParcPAD and ParcTab (Mark Weiser); CoolTown (HP pervasive computing lab), and ClearBoard (Iroshii Ishii), by Katie Archer, Brittany Caldwell, and Katie Sparrow

 

Blog post

 

13
Wearable computing
Tu. 04.10 Wearable computing

Film: Cyberman

de Souza e Silva, "Interfaces of hybrid spaces" (pp. 19-44)

 

 

Blog post

 

Th. 04.12 Wearable computing Rheingold, H. "Always on Panopticon" (pp.183-215)

Presentation 09: Wearable computers. WorldBoard (Jim Spohrer), Wristomo & FingerWhisper (NTT DoCoMo), and Sousveillance Grid (Andrew Collins), by Jordan Elliker, Brandy Blackmon, and Angela Goymerac

 

Blog post

 

14
LBS
Tu. 04.17 Defining location-based services Townsend, A. "Digitally mediated urban space" (pp. 100-105).

 

 

Blog post

Th. 04.19

Location-based services

 

Presentation 10: Location-based services. Geocaching, The interpretive engine for vaior places on Earth (34North 118West), and Mogi Mogi (Newt Games), by Lillie Robertson, Dawn Gregory, and Ryan Fedell

 

-give questions for final exam

 

15
Digital Divide
Tu. 04.24 Digital Divide

Manuel Castells, "The digital divide in a global perspective " (pp. 247-274).

 

 

Blog post

 

Th. 04.26 final presentations

 

 

-- final exam due

16
Finals week
Tu. 05.01 Finals week (no class)      
Th. 05.03 Finals week (no class)