COM487001::Internet & Society

NCSU Department of Communication

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

Home

Syllabus

Part I: cyberspace and computer interfaces (history)
Week	Day	Topic	Readings due	Classroom activities	Assignments
0 Introduction	Th. 01.10	course overview
1 Cyberspace	Tu. 01.15	Cyberspace vs. Internet: an introduction	Couclelis, H. "Misses, near-misses and surprises in forecasting" (pp. 70-83)	visit from the library	Blog post
1 Cyberspace	Th. 01.17	(The utopia of) cyberspace as an immaterial and libertarian place.	Robins, K., “Cyberspace and the world we live in” (pp. 77-95)	choose working groups	Blog post
2 Computers as space / history	Tu. 01.22	Interfaces -- the computer as space	Murray, J., “From additive to expressive form” (pp. 65-96)	Demos: - Zork - Adventure	Blog post
2 Computers as space / history	Th. 01.24	Early interfaces	Johnson, S. "Bitmapping: an introduction" (pp. 11-41)		Blog post
3 Interfaces / history	Tu. 01.29	The desktop metaphor	Johnson, S. “The Desktop” (42-75)	Video Jeff Hann	Blog post
3 Interfaces / history	Th. 01.31	From calculations to simulations.	Turkle, S. “A tale of two aesthetics” (29-49)		Blog post
4 Internet / history	Tu. 02.05	History of the WWW	Abbatte, J. Popularizing the Internet. (pp. 181-220).		Blog post
4 Internet / history	Th. 02.07	History of the WWW / Early applications	Berners-Lee, et. al. "The World Wide Web" (pp. 791-798)	Presentation 1: Early Internet - Email (Ray Tomlinson) - BBS (Ward Christensen) by Leigha Hancock and Jordan Green	Blog post Give questions Mid-term
Part II: The Internet as a social environment: MUDs, Chats, Blogs, and Social Networking
6 MUDs	Tu. 02.12	The history of MUDs	Watch "The Thirteenth Floor"	Course Evaluation	MidTerm 1 due
6 MUDs	Th. 02.14	MUDs as communities	Taylor, T. L., "Gaming lifeworlds" (pp. 21-66)	Presentation 2: MUDs - MUD (Richard Bartle & Roy Trubshaw) - LambdaMOO - Habitat by Virginia Winstead, Jamie Craig and Chase Stout	Blog post
6 Chats and MMOs	Tu. 02.19	Visualizing communication environments: 2D and 3D Chats / MMOs	Donath, J., & Viegas, F. “The Chat Circles Series ” (pp. 1-10)		Blog post - Bring examples of chat interfaces
6 Chats and MMOs	Th. 02.21	Representing the online body: Avatars	Taylor, T.L., "Intentional bodies" (pp. 25-34)	Presentation 3: Chats - Habbo Hotel - The Palace - Second Life by Kelly Calhoun, Chris Buchanan and Morgan Early	Blog post
7 MUDs and Chats	Tu. 02.26	computer lab class (class meets in Withers 131)	- LambdaMOO - Second Life		Create Second Life Avatar
7 MUDs and Chats	Th. 02.28	Educational MUDs	Barab, S., et. al., “Making learning fun: Quest Atlantis, a game without guns ” (pp. 86-107)	- Quest Atlantis - River City - Savannah - Environmental Detectives - Frequency 1550	Blog post
8 Spring break	Tu. 03.04	no class. Spring break
8 Spring break	Th. 03.06	no class. Spring break
9 Social networking and blogs	Tu. 03.11	Blogs / Wikis (web 2.0)	Gopal, S. "The evolving social geography of blogs" (pp. 275-293)	Google / Wikipedia video	Blog post
9 Social networking and blogs	Th. 03.13	Social Networking	Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe "The benefits of Facebook "friends"	Facebook video	Blog post
Part III: Current Issues on the Internet
10 The mobile Internet	Tu. 03.18	The mobile internet: an introduction	Wilson, J., "3G to Web 2.0?" (pp. 229-242) discuss posters		Blog post
10 The mobile Internet	Th. 03.20	The mobile internet	Frattasi, S., at. al., "Defining 4G technology from the user's perspective" (pp. 35-41)	Presentation 4: Mobile internet - 2G (Blinkenlights) - 3G (I Like Frank) - 4G by Justin Couch, Raegan Herbert and Samantha Warden	Blog post
10 Ubiquitous computers	Tu. 03.25	WiFi	Rheingold, H., "Wireless Quilts" (pp. 133-156)		Blog post
10 Ubiquitous computers	Th. 03.27	WiFi	Schmidt, T., & Townsend, A., "Why wireless networks want to be free" (pp. 47-52).	Presentation 5: Wi-Fi - WiFi Hog (Johan Brucker Cohen) - WiFi Art.Cache (Julian Bleecker) by Levin Neil and Pat Fergusson	Blog post
11 Ubiquitous computers	Tu. 04.01	Ubiquitous Computing	Rheingold, H. "The era of sentient things" (pp. 83-112)		Blog post
11 Ubiquitous computers	Th. 04.03	Ubiquitous Computing	Weiser, M., "The world is not a desktop" AND Weiser, M., & Brown, J. S., "Designing calm technology"	Presentation 6: UbiComp - ParcPad & ParcTab (Mark Weiser) - Frequency and Volume (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer) by Zach Rego and Jessica Schwab	Blog post
12 Wearable computers	Tu. 04.08	Wearable Computers	Mann, S. "Wearable Computing" (pp. 25-32)	Film: Cyberman	Blog post
12 Wearable computers	Th. 04.10	Wearable computers	Rheingold, H. "Always on Panopticon (pp. 183-215) *This text is not on e-reserves. Students need to make a copy of book chapter on reserves at the library.	Video Rheingold Presentation 7: Wearables - WiFi.Bedouin (Julian Bleecker) - Inside/Outside (Katherine Moriwaki) by Mason Nicholson and Sonora Bostian	Blog post
14 LBS	Tu. 04.15	Location-based services	Sui, D. "Paradoxical consequences of location-based services (LBS)" (pp. 255-271)		Blog post
14 LBS	Th. 04.17	Location-based services	de Souza e Silva, A."Conceptualizing locative mobile social networks"	Presentation 8: LBS - Geocaching - Rider Spoke (Blast Theory) - Mogi Mogi (Newt Games) by Ivy Ellis, Ryan Wheeler and Bryan Swinson	Blog post
15 Digital Divide	Tu. 04.22	Digital Divide	Manuel Castells, "The digital divide in a global perspective" (pp. xxx-xxx).	- Nicholas Negroponte (2006) (TED)	Blog post -- give questions final exam.
15 Digital Divide	Th. 04.24	Final class discussion
16 Finals week	Tu. 04.29	Finals week (no class)			-- final exam due (leave exam until noon in my mailbox at Winston 201K)
16 Finals week	Th. 05.01	Finals week (no class)