FACULTY OF CREATIVE AND CRITICAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF CRITICAL STUDIES
2011 – 12 Winter Term 1
Special Topics in Creative and Critical Studies: Critical Internet Studies(3 Credits)
IGS 530-D 001
Last updated on August 29, 2011
Instructor: Dr. Kyong Yoon (/ Art Bd. 165)
Office Hours: Mon 14:00 ~ 15:30 / Wed 12:00 ~ 14:00 or by appointment
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes:
This course aims to offer students theoretical frameworks for a critical understanding of Internet culture. Drawing upon a range of theoretical and empirical resources on Internet culture, the course explores how and why the Internet has been incorporated into, or changed by our everyday lives and social structures. The course’s critical view will encourage students to understand the Internet in social, cultural, and historical contexts, and through the lens of cultural and media studies. By the end of the course, students will develop a framework for exploring and understanding the foundations of Internet culture.
Course Format: Lecture + Discussion (3 Hours per week)
Course Requirements:
A basic level understanding of key theories and concepts in Social Sciences and Humanities may be an asset but not required.
Evaluation Criteria and Grading
No. / Item / Detail / Deadline *1 / Assignment #1 (10%) / A 20 MIN oral presentation
on a weekly topic (Between Unit 1 and 8) / Week of your choice
(depending on your topic)
2 / Assignment #2 (20%) / A reflection paper on your presentation topic or another weekly topic (1000 words) / Second Friday after your presentation (11 PM)
3 / Assignment #3 (20%) / A book review of one (or two) of the recommended text (1000 words) / Nov 18 (Friday) 11 PM
4 / Assignment #4 (35%) / A research paper (2500 words) / Dec 2 (Friday) 11 PM
5 / Participation (15%) / Web postings (Minimum 4 postings): 10%
In class discussions : 5% / Sept 26 to Dec 2
*NOTE: The suggested length (before bibliography) is suggestion only. Longer or shorter papers are accepted without penalty.
*NOTE: All deadlines are firm. Please note that the assignment due dates are FIRM.
Late assignments will be accepted with 10% penalty of the total weight of the assignment, until 5 days late (i.e. Until Nov 22 for Assignment #3).Assignments submitted after the deadline will not be marked. In the case of unforeseen matters, please contact the instructor within 5 days after the matter. Early submission is highly encouraged.
ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES
ASSIGNMENT #1 Presentation
- Make a 20 MIN oral presentation on a weekly topic of your choice (between Unit 3 and 8)
- The format of presentation is relatively free, as long as it include a short summary of a weekly topic (and the required materials) and your critique of the materials.
ASSIGNMENT#2 Reflection paper (1000 words):
- Choose one weekly topic and critique the required readings of the week (preferably the topic you choose for your oral presentation); supplementary readings are optional.
- It is encouraged to articulate the topic of your oral presentation.
ASSIGNMENT#3 Book Review: Choose one (or two, if you like) of the recommended books (i.e. Gershon,2010; Pariser, 2011; Turkle, 2011;Vaidhyanathan, 2011) and write one critical review.
- You may use some of the required reading materials in order to strengthen your critique.
- PLEASE Refer to the following guidelines.
(1)
(2)
ASSIGNMENT#4 Research paper
- Topic: You are free to chooseany topic, as long as it covers an issue/issues discussed in the course.
- You are encouraged to articulateyour idea(s)throughout Assignment #1,#2,#3,and #4.That is, you can elaborate your Assignment #1 (and #2) further in your Assignment #3 and/or Assignment #4; however, your Assignments should NOT be identical with each other.
- PLEASE Refer to the following guidelines.
(1)
(2)
PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES
- Participation will be evaluated by the scholarly quality of web postings (10 points) and in class discussions (5 points).
- Web-posting requirement: You are encouraged to post your critique/reflection on weekly readings, prior to the concerned lecture. You may also respond to your peers’ postings.
Minimum 4 web postingsthroughout the course (250-400 words per posting) are required. As long as you make 4 postings or more, your postings will be evaluated only by the quality (of top 4 postings), but not by the quantity. You can also response to others’ postings. Responses will be considered as part of regular postings).
PLEASE post your comment in time (by Saturday 11 PM, prior to the concerned lecture).
- Class discussions will be evaluated by the depth and frequency of your comments and interaction with others. Most students would be marked between 3 and 5 (out of 5).
- Participation is interdependent with preparation of each unit that involves reading and reflecting.
Required and Recommended Readings
∙ Textbook
- Lister, M. et al. (2009).(2nd edition). New Media: A Critical Introduction, New York and London: Routledge.
∙ Recommended Texts:Books for Assignment #3
(NOTE: Choose ONE or TWO only; available at Library Course Reserves for 1 Day Loan)
- Gershon, I (2010). The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media, Cornell University Press.
- Pariser, E. (2011). The Filter Bubble, Penguin Press.
- Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Basic Books.
- Vaidhyanathan, S. (2011). The Googlization of Everything, University of California Press.
∙ Journals (all available via UBC Library Portal)
- New Media & Society
- Information, Communication, and Society
- Journal of Computer Mediated Communication
- Journals: Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
- CTheory
- First Monday
- M/C: Media & Culture
Course Schedule
* No Class on Oct 10: Thanksgiving Day / First Day of Lecture: Sept 12 / Last Day of Lecture: Nov28.
* Supplementary materials are recommended, while lectures will be based upon “Required Reading” materials. Additional materials may be added to “Required Reading” in due course.
(Recommendation only)
1 / Sep 12 / HistoryMyth / ∙ Lister (2009) Ch 1 (pp.1-65)
∙ Barlow (1996) / ∙ Mosco (2009)
∙ Goldberg (2010)
∙ Sardar (1995)
2 / Sep 19 / Theoretical Foundations / ∙ Lister (2009) Ch 1 (pp.66-104)
∙ Lister (2009) Ch 5 (pp.319-343)
∙ Bowers (2000) / ∙ Williams (1974/2003)
∙ Turkle (2004)/(2006)
∙ Freedman (2002)
3 / Sep 26 / Commodification / ∙ Lister (2009) Ch 3 (pp.163-201)
∙ Vaidhyanathan (2011)
∙ Scholz (2008)
∙ Lee (2011) / ∙ Pariser (2011)
∙ Dahlberg (2004)
∙ Philip (2005)
4 / Oct 3 / Participatory Culture / ∙ Lister (2009) Ch3 (pp.202-236)
∙ Dijck (2009)
∙ Jenkins (2001) / ∙ Denison (2010)
∙ Deuze (2007)
5 / Oct 17 / Virtual Community / ∙ Rheingold (2000) Ch 5 and 6
∙ Marwick and boyd (2011)
∙ Parker and Song (2006) / ∙ Baym (2007)
∙ boyd (2006)
∙ Kendall (2007)
∙ Hercheui (2011)
6 / Oct 24 / Intimacy & Embodiment / ∙ Lister (2009) Ch3 (pp. 266-307)
∙ Lister (2009) Ch3 (pp. 396-412)
∙ Hardey (2008)
∙ Lawson & Leck (2006) / ∙ Boler (2007)
∙ Gershon (2010)
∙ Zhao (2005)
7 / Oct 31 / Gender & Race / ∙ Kendall (1998)
∙ Nakamura (1995)/(2008)
∙ Grasmuck (2009) / ∙ Altman & Gajjala (2006)
∙ Chow-White (2006)
∙ Magnet (2007)
8 / Nov 7 / Public Sphere / ∙ Kahn & Kellner (2004)
∙ Bakardjieva (2009)
∙ Dahlberg (2007) / ∙ Langlois (2009)
∙ Iosifidis (2011)
∙ Moe (2008)
9 / Nov 14 / Control & Surveillance / ∙ Fuchs (2011)
∙ Stadler (2002)
∙ Albrechtslund (2008) / ∙ Winokur (2003)
∙Walby, K. (2006).
∙ Lyon (2007)
10 / Nov 21 / Research Methods / ∙ Murthy (2008)
∙ Hine (2005a)
∙ AOIR (2002) / ∙ Markham(2011)
∙ Markham & Baym (2009)
∙ Hine (2005b)
11 / Nov 28 / Research Methods
& Research agenda / ∙ Bell (2009)
∙ Silver (2004)
∙ Mansell (2004) / ∙ Vaidhyanathan (2006)
∙ Fuchs (2009)
∙ Berry (2004)
Academic Integrity
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred to the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to monitor and prevent recurrences. A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the University’s policies and procedures, may be found in the Academic Calendar at
Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
Students with a disability who wish to have an academic accommodation should contact the Disability Resource Centre without delay.
See
See UBC Policy 73: Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities (
Policies and Regulations
∙ For all Policies and Regulations, go to
-> Policies and Regulations Section
∙ Grading:
∙ Attendance:
Equity, Human Rights, Discrimination and Harassment
UBC Okanagan is a place where every student, staff and faculty member should be able to study and work in an environment that isfree from human rights based discrimination and harassment.If you require assistance related to an issue of equity, discrimination or harassment, please contact the Equity Office, your administrative head of unit, and/or your unit’s equity representative.
UBC Okanagan Equity Advisor: ph. 250-807-9291; email
Web:
Unit Equity Representatives:
Dr. David Jefferess is the Equity contact for Critical Studies
Safewalk
Don't want to walk alone at night? Not too sure how to get somewhere on campus? Call Safewalk at 250-807-8076. For more information, see:
APPENDIX: BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albrechtslund, A. (2008).Online social networking as participatory surveillance, First Monday, 13(3).
Altman, M. and Gajjala, R. (2006). Exploring the production of race through virtual learning environments, J. Weiss et al. (Eds.). The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (pp.1089-1105). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. (Available via UBC VPN)
AOIR (2002). Internet Research Ethics Guide.
Bakardjieva, M. (2009). Subactivism: lifeworld and politics in the age of the Internet, The Information Society: An International Journal, 25(2): 91-104.
Bakardjieva, M. (2010). The Internet in everyday life: exploring the tenets and contributions of diverse approaches, In Consalvo, M. and Ess, C. (eds.). The Handbook of Internet Studies, Wiley Blackwell. pp. 59-82.
Barlow, J. P. (1996). A declaration of the independence of cyberspace." February 9, 1996.
Barlow, J. P. (2006). Lecture at EGS on "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace." (1hr 15 m)
Bassett, C. (2007). Cultural studies and new media, Hall, G. and Birchall, C. (ed.). New Cultural Studies, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.
Baym, N. K. (2007) The new shape of online community: The example of Swedish independent music fandom, First Monday, 12(8)
Baym, N. (2010). Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Cambridge: Polity.
Bell, D. (2009). Learning from Second Life, British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), 515-525.
Berry, D. M. (2004). Internet research: privacy, ethics and alienation: an open source approach, Internet Research, 14(4), 323-332.
Boler, M. (2007). Hypes, hopes and actualities: new digital Cartesianism and bodies in cyberspace. New Media & Society, 9, 139–168.
Bolter, D. and Grusin, R. (1999). Remediation: Understanding New Media, Cambridge: MIT Press (excerpt).
Bowers, C.A. et al. (2000). Native people and the challenge of computers: Reservation schools, individualism, and consumerism, American Indian, 24(2), 182-199.
boyd, d. (2006). Friends, Friendsters, and Fop 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday, 11(12).
Chan, A. H-N. (2008). ‘Life in Happy Land’: using virtual space and doing motherhood in Hong Kong Gender, Place & Culture, 15(2), 169-188.
Chow-White, P.A. (2006). Race, gender and sex on the net: semantic networks of selling and storytelling sex tourism, Media Culture Society, 28(6): 883-905.
Denison, R. (2011). Anime fandom and the liminal spaces between fan creativity and piracy, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 11(4).
Deuze, M. (2007). Convergence culture in the creative industries, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(2): 243-263.
Dahlberg, L. (2001a). The Habermasian public sphere encounters cyber-reality, Javnost—The Public 8(3), 83-96.
Dahlberg, L. (2001b). The Internet and democratic discourse: exploring the prospects of online deliberative forums extending the public sphere, Information, Communication & Society, 4(4), 615-633.
Dahlberg, L. (2004). The corporate colonization of online attention and the marginalization of critical communication? Journal of Communication Inquiry, 29(2): 160-180.
Dahlberg, L. (2007). Rethinking the fragmentation of the cyberpublic, New Media & Society, 9(5): 827-847.
Dijck. J. van (2009). Users like you? Theorizing agency in user-generated content, Media, Culture & Society, 31: 41-58.
Ess, C. (2007). Internet research ethics, In A. Joinson et al. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Freedman, D. (20020. A ‘technological idiot’? Raymond Williams and communication technology, Information, Communication and Society, 5(3): 425-442.
Fuchs, C. (2009). Information and communication technologies and society: A Contribution to the Critique of the Political Economy of the Internet, European Journal of Communication,24(1), 69-87.
Fuchs, C. (2011). New media, Web 2.0 and surveillance, Sociology Compass, 5(2): 134–147.
Gershon, I (2010). The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Goldberg, G. (2010). Rethinking the public/virtual sphere: the problem with participation, New Media & Society, Published online before print December 6, 2010 (doi: 10.1177/1461444810379862).
Grasmuck, S. et al. (2009). Ethno-racial identity displays on Facebook, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15: 158-188.
Hardey, M. (2008). The formation of social rules for digital interactions, Information,Communication & Society, 11(8): 1111 – 1131.
Hercheui, M. D. (2011): A literature review of virtual communities, Information, Communication & Society, 14(1), 1-23.
Hine, C. (2005a). Internet research and the sociology of cyber-social-scientific knowledge, The Information Society, 21(4), 239-248.
Hine, C. (ed) (2005b). Virtual Methods: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg.
Jenkins, H. (2001). Interactive audiences?: the 'collective intelligence' of media fans, In D. Harries (ed.), The New Media Book, London: British Film Institute.
Jones , P. (1998). The technology is not the cultural form?: Raymond Williams's sociological critique of Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Journal of Communication, 23(4).
Kahn, R. and Kellner, D. (2004). New media and internet activism: from the 'Battle of Seattle' to blogging, New Media & Society, 6(1): 87–95.
Kendall, L. (1998). Meaning and identity in “cyberspace”: The performance of gender, class, and race online, Symbolic Interaction, 21(2), 129-153.
Kendall, L. (2007). ‘Shout into the wind, and it shouts back’: Identity and interactional tensions on Livejournal, First Monday, 9(3).
Kolko, B. et al. (2001). Race in Cyberspace, New York: Routledge.
Iosifidis, P. (2011). The public sphere, social network and public service media, Information, Communication & Society, 14(5), 619-637.
Langlois, G. et al. (2009). Networked publics: the double articulation of code and politics on Facebook, Canadian Journal of Communication, 34: 415-434.
Lawson, H. M. and Leck, K. (2006). Dynamics of internet dating, Social Science ComputerReview, 24(2): 189-208.
Lee, M. (2010).Revisiting the “Google in China” question from a political economic perspective.China Media Research, 6(2), 15-24.
Lee, M. (2011).Google ads and the blindspot debate, Media, Culture & Society,33(3),433-447.
Lessig. L. (2005). Free Culture:The Nature of Future of Creativity, New York: Penguin
Lin, D. C. (2006). Sissies online: Taiwaneses male queers performing sissinesses in cyberspaces, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 7(2), 270-288.
Lister, M. et al. (2009).(2nd edition). New Media: A Critical Introduction, New York and London: Routledge.
Lum, C. M. K. (ed.)(2006). Perspectives on Culture, Technology and Communication, Creskill, NJ Hampton Press.
Lyon, D. (2007). Surveillance Studies: An Overview, Oxford: Polity.
Madge, C. and O’Connor, H. (2006). Parenting gone wired: empowerment of new mothers on the internet? Social & Cultural Geography, 7(2): 199-220.
Magnet, S. (2007). Feminist sexualities, race and the Internet: an investigation of suicidegirls.com, New Media & Society, 9(4), 577-602.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New MediaSociety, 6 (1). pp. 74-83.
Markham, A. and Baym, N. (2009). Internet Inquiry: Conversations about Methods, London: Sage.
Markham, A. (2011). Internet research, in Silverman, D. (ed.). Qualitative Research, Sage
Markham, A. Social media, methods, and ethics (Blog):
Marx (1973). The labor process and alienation in machinery and science (excerpt from Grundrisse). Reprinted in Giddings, S. and Lister, M. (2011). The Media and Technocultures Reader, London: Routledge.
Marwick, A. E. and body, d. (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience, New Media & Society, 13(1): 114-133.
Meyrowitz, J. (1993). Medium theory, in D. Crowley and D. Mitchell (eds.). Communication Theory Today, Cambridge: Polity. (Reprinted in McQuail, D.(ed)(2006). Mass Communication, Vol 1., London: Sage).
Moe, H. (2008). Dissemination and dialogue in the public sphere: a case for public service media online, Media, Culture & Society, 30(3), 319-336.
Morrison, A. H. (2009). An impossible future: John Perry Barlow's 'Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace', New Media & Society, 11(1): 2 53-71.
Mosco, V. (2009). The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace, The MIT Press.
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Nakamura, L. (1995). Race in/for cyberspace: identity tourism and racial passing on the Internet
Nakamura, L. (2008). Cyberrace, PMLA, 123(5), 1673-1682.
Nicolai, T. et al. (2009). The self-Googling phenomenon: Investigating the performance of personalized information resources, First Monday, 14(2).
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Parker, D. and Song, M. (2006). New ethnicities online: reflexive racialisation and the Internet.Sociological Review, 54(3), 575-594.
Parker, D. and Song, M (2009). New ethnicities and the Internet: Belonging and the negotiation of difference in multicultural Britain, Cultural Studies, 23(4): 583-604.
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Rheingold, H. (2000). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. London: MIT Press Co The full text available at
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Scholz, T. (2008). Market ideology and the myths of Web 2.0, First Monday, 13(3).
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Stadler, T. (2002). Privacy is not the antidote to surveillance, Surveillance & Society, 1(1): 120-124.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together, New York: Basic Books.
Turkle, S. (2004). Whither psychoanalysis in computer culture. Psychoanalytic Psychology,21(1), 16-30.
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Vaidhyanathan, S. (2011). The Googlization of Everything, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.(Introduction chapter downloadable at
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Zhao, S. (2005). The digital self: through the looking glass of telecopresent others, Symbolic Interaction, 28(3), 387-405.
Zimmerman, L. J. et al. (2000). Cyberspace smoke signals: new technologies and native American ethnicity, In C. Smith and G. Ward (eds.) Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World. Vancouver: UBC Press.
APPENDIX: ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES
∙ Citation style: APA or MLA
(1)
(2)
∙ How to write a book/article review
(1)
(2)
∙ How to write a research paper
(1)
(2)
• Research paper checklist: