Dr. Philip N. Howard, University of Washington, New Media and Community

New Media and Community

Special Topics, COM597

Spring 2004

Time: MW 1:30-3:20

Enrollment: 20 Maximum

Room: CMU 321

Dr. Philip N. Howard

Department of Communication

University of Washington

Room 227, Communications Building

Telephone: (206) 221-6532, E-mail: pnhoward@u.washington.edu

Office Hours Mondays and Wednesdays 11:30-12:30 or by appointment

COURSE CONTENT

This course will begin with an introduction to theories about community and communication. Although the early studies of computer-mediated communication (CMC) heavily emphasized ‘social affordances’ and usability, this class will treat the interesting questions of CMC as investigations into technology and culture, and we will be using the term CMC to refer to a broad range of new media technologies. In other words, we will look for the role of CMC technologies in the formation of community identities and the organization of community structures.

Our discussions will begin with ideas from four key texts that should inform a discussion about new media and community: the meaning of modern community established by a foundational text of political economy; the definition of self and community enunciated by a foundational text of sociology; the process of competition between community identities from a foundational text in cultural studies; the role of contemporary networked technologies in mediating community relationships from a foundational text in new media studies. In part, these texts are foundational because they not only present theory, but also method. Marx gives us the theories and tools for reading historical materialism in the capitalist society, Goffman gives us the theories and tools for frame analysis, Said gives us the theories and tools for reading the cultural imperialism of western society, and Castells gives us the theories and tools for understanding the networked society. However, we cannot treat these theories, methods, and metaphors uncritically. We will devote a class to debating how best to design a study of the role of technology in culture, assessing the assumptions of both positivist social science and critical cultural studies.

Subsequently, we will explore how new media technologies mediate many different kinds of community: class consciousness & class as community, race as community and gender as community. We will quickly move to discuss more concrete examples of community identities and social structures in which CMC now plays different roles: corporate, workplace and scientific communities; tribal, immigrant and diaspora communities; ethnic enclaves and ghettos; religions, nationalism and nation-states as communities; schools, neighborhoods and city communities; protest communities and the global community.

Student interests will help determine which of these kinds of communities we investigate with depth. The instructor will lead discussion during the first half of the course and the reading load will be relatively heavy; students will lead discussion during the second half of the course, and the reading load will be relatively light so that students can develop and present their papers. A significant portion of the students’ grade will come from their study of the role of CMC in a community of their choice.

· to explore different cases of community organization and the communication infrastructures they use;

· to understand the different theoretical perspectives on technology and community from different disciplines;

· to critically assess these theories, applying them in a personal research project into a case of computer-mediated community communication, selected by the student.

Although this course has no formal prerequisites, students with at least one other substantive graduate course and one graduate research methods class in the social sciences will be best prepared for the pace and expectations of this course.

TEACHING METHOD

This class will be a workshop in which the instructor, students, and guest lecturers can present ideas about the role of new media technologies in presenting the self and organizing the community. Students will be responsible for leading discussion during the second meeting each week, and will finish the course with a good reference packet of notes, reviews, and other handouts. E-mail will be used to conduct class business and carry on debates outside of class time. Since irregular attendance will disrupt our learning community, unexplained absences will affect your grade.

METHODS OF EVALUATION

Students will be evaluated by their degree of participation in class discussions (10%), short position papers on the readings and a community member interview assignment (30%), and a personal research project to be negotiated with each student (60%). Each student should do two position papers during the class, and they should come to me electronically the night before our meeting so that I can photocopy the paper for the other members of our group. Here is an example of what such position papers might look like.

I will not mark for grammar but if it impedes my ability to understand your arguments your grade will suffer, so it is a good idea to have at least one other person proofread your writing. Use William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (New York: Macmillan, 1979) for writing style questions. The University of Washington has a number of resources to help with writing style, and they are described online at http://depts.washington.edu/uwrite/. Howard Becker’s Writing for Social Scientists also has advice on developing good writing habits. Citations should be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Please refer to the University of Washington’s “Principles Regarding Academic Integrity” for the definitions and consequences of plagiarism. I will lead the discussion in the first half of each meeting, and students will be responsible for leading discussion during the second half of each meeting. Students will finish the course with a good reference packet of notes, reviews, and other handouts. E-mail will be used to conduct class business and carry on debates outside of class time. Since irregular attendance will disrupt our learning community, unexplained absences will affect your grade.

REQUIRED READING

The following texts are required for the course, a book a week for the first four weeks of class. Additional readings will be assigned for particular classes, and these additional readings will be made available online.

Castells, Manuel. The Rise of the Network Society. New York: Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 0631221409, $28.

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor, 1959. ISBN 0385094027, $10.

Marx, Karl. Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy. New York: Penguin, 1993. ISBN 0140445757, $14.

Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979. ISBN 039474067X, $15.

MEETING PLAN

CORE READING

In the first five weeks, we will read foundational texts in the study of community, communication and culture. Contemporary CMC literature does not always refer back to these texts, but they are the sources of many of our underlying assumptions about community consciousness, they way we present ourselves to our community, the way communities relate to one another, and the contemporary structure of community. For your reference the full list of options is still online here:

http://faculty.washington.edu/pnhoward/teaching/cmc/cmcfull.html

Week 1: Community Consciousness

Dates: March 29^th and 31^st

Marx, Karl. Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy. New York: Penguin, 1993. Read the Forward by Nicolaus (pp. 7-63), the Chapter On Money (pp. 116-238) and the section on community (pp. 472-501).

Week 2: Community and Self

Dates: April 5^th and 7^th

Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor, 1959.

Week 3: Community and Other

Dates: April 12^th and 15^th

Documentary: Edward Said on Orientalism.

Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1979.

Week 4: What does it mean to study culture critically?

Dates: April 19^th and 21^st

Guests: Schudson on the 21^st.

Haraway, Donna. "Teddy Bear Patriarchy: Taxidermy in the Garden of Eden, New York City, 1908-36." In Primate Visions : Gender, Race and Nature in the World of Modern Science. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Parks, M.R. "Where Does Scholarship Begin?" American Journal of Communication 1, no. 2 (1998).