digital diversity
engl/amst 475
spring 2005
instructor: dr. patricia freitag ericsson
ericsson@wsu.edu
spring 2004
phone: 335-4820
office: avery 223
office hours: 1:15-2:00 tth and by appointment
Quick link to course schedule
catalog description
Cultural impact of electronic media, especially the World-Wide Web; issues of race, class, gender, sexuality online.
Prereq: junior standing; completion of one Tier I and three Tier II courses.detailed description
This course is an introduction to issues in the study of cyberculture. We will consider the ways the WWW and other elements of cyberculture reflect and reify the socially constructed concepts of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, and social class. The goals of this course include
1. encouraging consideration of the social construction of cultural difference in new media, cyberspace, and cyberculture;
2. building a critical approach to cyberculture as more than bits, bytes, chips, wires, and programs;
3. promoting an analytical consideration of the cultures, economies, and discourses that are integral components of the social networks that constitute cyberculture.required Texts
Web.Studies ed. David Gauntlett and Ross Horsley
Race in Cyberspace ed. Beth Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert Rodman
attendance and assignments
To successfully complete this class, you must faithfully attend class and faithfully complete all assignments. Because we will be working collaboratively on many assignments, your regular attendance is vital. Specifically this translates to the following
>more than three absences will seriously jeopardize your grade;
> extensive tardiness will be considered in assessing absences;
> planned absences must be discussed and OK’d by the teacher prior to the absence;
> acceptance of late work is unusual and must be discussed in conference with the teacher. Late work unaccompanied by a sufficient excuse (and conference) will receive a lowered grade if turned in within one week of the original due date. Work turned in later than one week past the original due date will be give an automatic grade of F.schedule
So that the course remains flexible to better meet student needs, the schedule found online is for the first few weeks of the course. There will be weekly additions and corrections to the schedule.wsu accommodation policy
Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Administration Annex 206, 335-1566.academic honesty
All students are expected to act in accordance with the WSU policies on Academic Honesty found in the Student Handbook. These policies include falsification of information, fabrication of information, plagiarism, multiple submission, and various others. Information about these policies can be found in the Handbook. These policies will be discussed in class and students will be asked to acknowledge that discussion and a basic understanding of the polcies. For additional information on the plagiarism, WSU has a great new site. See the class academic honest form by clicking here. Please print, read, sign, and bring this form to class.projects and evaluation:
Class Participation 15% Includes participation in discussions based on reading of assignments and cooperative collaboration during in-class projects Double-entry journal 15% For details on how to keep a double-entry journal see the explanation at http://vccslitonline.vccs.edu/DoubleEntryJournal.html This journal may be kept in a format that is convient for you--online as a web-based text, as a blog, as a wordprocessed file, or hand-written in a notebook. It will be collected and graded at mid-term and at the end of the course. Quizzes and gists 10% Quizzes will be given randomly during the semester. Gists will be written and collected randomly during the semester as well. Gists are brief in-class summaries of the important content of a reading or a class discussion. Brief Writing Assignments 20% Short, reseach-based writing assignment will be given throughout the semester. Details on each of these will accompany their assignment. Final Project Proposal 5% See details below. Final Project 30% Assignment Oral Presentation 5% More details on this part of the project will be provided as indicated above. Note Bene: All assignment must be completed to pass this course.