SOC 585R: Sociologies of Cyberspace
Exercises & Assignments
%Grade
Asgnd
Due
Item
Participation
5%
9/2
ongoing In Class :
--.
5%
9/2
ongoing
Online:
-- (see Online Exercises, below).
Presentations
5%
each
9/2
??/x2
Required Readings:
--.
5%
each
9/2
??/x2
Outside Readings:
--.
Papers
10%
each
9/2
??/x2
Outside Readings:
These are due the week after you present the reading, both so that you can focus on the presentation first and so that your paper can account for any feedback from class discussion which you deem relevant or insightful - or worthy of attention, even if by critique.
10%
9/9
10/21
Movie Review:
Select one of the options listed in the provided movie list. which dramatizes, satirizes, or envisions something about cyberspace, in whatever sense (virtual reality, the Internet, or simply computerization - and perhaps robotics or technology general, as long as it relates to something from the course.
Submit a paper of between three and ten pages (typed, double-spaced) by October 21st in which you summarize, describe, explain, critique, market, or otherwise address the movie (whether its content, presentation, style, production, marketing, or whatever) in some sociological manner (whether drawing directly from the readings in the class, or by using sociological work you've explored in previous courses.)
40%
9/2
??
Final Paper (if you so choose)...
9/2
??
Final Exam (if you so choose)...
Online Exercises
5%
9/2
9/8
Contacting a Group: Post to a mailing list ("listserv")
Send (at least) one mesage to the mailing list for graduate students in the department. The message may not mention that this is an assignment, for this class, requested by a faculty member, etc. But it may ask or say anything - perhaps about a reading in another class, about other students' experiences on comprehensive exams, about a reading or piece of literature that you would like to suggest to other students, about a data question that someone else might be able to help you, an internship, job, or grant opportunity, or suggested social event for graduate students in the department.
9/9
9/15
Interacting Online: Take a stand, and respond to someone else's, in a group setting
Post a second message to the socgrads-g mailing list, taking a position on any issue. Then (probably hours or days later) post a third message responding to someone else, disagreeing with a position they've taken. The point is not to create a flamewar (and you should specifically not - at least for this assignment - be rude, profane, or insulting), but to experiene interaction online in a group setting, and observe any reactions from others in the setting (including variations in those reactions). Think carefully and critically about anything that transpires, including social characteristics of those involved.
9/30
10/6
Identity and Synchronicity: Explore IRC through an alternate identity (gender or otherwise)
Go to dal.net, enter a guestname under "Chat Now!" and click "Go"; or install software on your own PC, such as MIRC or one of these. Use this brief command guide or the native help screens, and take part in a channel for a half hour or so. Being strategic about your choice of alias, about the things you say and do, and about the pace and structure of your conversation, play with your identity, observe reactioins, and try to ascertain (without directly asking, of course) whether your miscues are working - that is, do others seem to treat you as the identity you're trying to portrary (another gender, another age, another nationality, or something else).
10/7
10/20
"Community" Tools: Neighborhood Networks
Establish an online community for your neighborhood (defined however you like) using i-neighbors.com. Please see this PDF file with screenshots for complete instructions and directions.
Here are the ones that I know about: Ellis - Eileen - Michelle - Jesse - Tyler - Ella - Aneta - Venessa - Rosilyn
11/17
12/7
The Future: Blogs
Start a blog through any of the free online services (for example, try blogger.com), post at least two messages, and link to a blog of someone else in the class in at least one of those posts. It's quick, free, and arguably fun. (In retrospect, this assignment should have come at the start of the term so that you could discuss your other online encounters in your blog. At this juncture, you might post about readings, about the class, or about anything else that interests you.) Think about your project as a contribution to the Living Web.
Once yours is up and running, send me a link so that I can add it to this list: Ellis - Vanessa - Jesse - Aneta - Tyler -
Eileen - Ella - Rosilynn - Michelle