The Information Society

HUM/COMM 630

Fall, 2006

 

 

Professor:  Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones          

Office:  Hughes Hall 2124

Office Phone:  683-6267

Cell Phone: 748-7872           

E-mail:  jpjones@odu.edu

Office Hours: TTH 9:30-12:00, and by appointment

Class: W, 7:10-9:50 p.m., Constant Hall 1052

 

Course Description:

The Information Society, the Computer Age, the Electronic Revolution, Cybersociety, and the Information Age are all labels currently used to describe the world we live in—a world that has undergone profound changes in what it means to work, play, exist, and relate in the last three to four decades.  Information—in particular, electronically derived digital information—and new communication technologies are at the center of important societal transformations that continue to redefine the “reality” of our day-to-day existence.  This course will offer students the opportunity to critically study, evaluate, question, and challenge many of the claims, myths, and assumptions that accompany those changes. 

 

We begin by analyzing some of the many definitions and theories of an “Information Society,” examining the thinking of important social theorists such as Marx, Weber, Bell, Habermas, Giddens, Schiller, Baudrillard, Castells, and Ellul.  We pay particular attention to how well these theories account for changes in the economy and workplace, government, communities, and between individuals.  Questions raised in this process include:  how does the advent of new communication technologies affect our understanding of who and what we are as humans, as well as our understanding of the world around us?  Are we brought closer together through the networked life, or have we lost something fundamentally human in the process of constant, yet virtual connection?  Can the conception of “community” even exist in such dispersed settings?  What are the moral and ethical issues that accompany our ability to alter fundamental human information systems (e.g. DNA)?  If mass culture is largely controlled by international conglomerates (and the laws which support that control), then what becomes of the autonomy of creative expression and production?  Similarly, if electoral contests are increasingly dominated by the intricate processes of data manipulation (database management, control, sorting, targeting, etc.), then what are the potential threats to democracy in such a system (if any)?

 

Finally, we also consider how these changing social conditions have been conceptualized and portrayed through fictional narratives within popular culture (literature and film).  In what ways do popular narratives articulate visions of the world dominated by information management, and how might that shape societal hopes and fears of this information society?

 

 

Activities and Evaluation

1. Critical Reflections on Weekly Readings.  Each week, write a one-page, single-spaced critical reflection on the arguments encountered in that week’s readings (please don’t exceed one page).  Your response should focus on some aspect of the argument—weaknesses, points missing, ways of strengthening it, current social-political-economic examples that might affect the argument, appropriateness for explaining the phenomena its seeks to explain (its validity), or other areas of analysis.  Do not simply summarize what you have read (or spend most of your time doing so).  Please post your critical reflection in the Discussion Board section of Blackboard prior to coming to class (for other students to read and respond to).  Worth 30%.

 

2. Critical Analysis of Dystopian Films:   Write an 8-10 page critical analysis of the films assigned for this day (Nov. 8).  No outside research is necessary.  Rather, this is a critical reading of the themes (or aspects thereof) developed in the films’ narratives.  Please look across the films for common themes, and as I ask on page one, in what ways do these popular narratives articulate visions a world dominated by information management, and how might that shape societal hopes and fears of this information society?  Worth 15%.

 

3.  Original Research Paper:  This is a typical graduate level research paper based on your own original research (20-22 pages).  It should be more than a literature review of existing knowledge on the subject (though that should certainly be included as well), and should contain a sufficient amount of scholarly citations to demonstrate that you are in conversation with other thinkers in the field.  Like a journal article, you should seek to advance your own argument on a subject of your choosing.  Worth 45%. The following dates apply.  A failure to submit individual components will affect the final grade:

 

Sept. 27:  Topic approval

Oct. 11: Research question and methodology

Oct. 25: Bibliography

Nov. 15: Outline

Dec. 6: Presentation

Dec. 13: Final Paper Due

 

4.  Class Participation:  As a graduate student, it is expected that you will come to class having read the material and prepared to discuss it.  As a once-a-week class, absences should be kept to a minimum (which will affect this grade).  Responding to your fellow students’ critical reflection papers in the Discussion Board is also a great way to improve this grade.  Worth 10%.

 

Class Policies:
Attendance:

As a graduate class that meets weekly, it is expected that absences will be kept to a minimum.  Please do not exceed two absences for either sickness or other personal matters.

E-mail account activation

As a participant in this class, you are required to have an active ODU e-mail account.  This is important for class communication, as well as required for you to access Blackboard and to fill out the teaching evaluations at the end of the semester.

 

Student Evaluations of Teaching

As a participant in this class, you are required to fill out a student evaluation of teaching performance on-line at the end of the semester.

 

Paper Submission and Late Papers:

Papers will be deducted one letter grade per calendar day. Papers over 5 calendar days late will not be accepted under any circumstances.  I do not accept papers via E-mail.   

 

Blackboard Readings

Some of the readings are posted in .pdf files (readable with Adobe Acrobat) in Blackboard (http://www.clt.odu.edu/bb/index.php?src=sh_index).  If your computer does not have Adobe (most do), it can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com.

 

Students with Disabilities

Reasonable accommodations are provided for students with disabilities.  Students should present me with the appropriate documentation from the Office of Disability Services and contact me as soon as possible to discuss the appropriate accommodations.

 

Grades:

The graduate grading scale will be used: student earn either an A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, or F.  There is no D grade given at the graduate level. 

 

Required Texts:  The books are available in the ODU bookstore.  The films (DVDs) are available on reserve at the library, but must be watched on the library’s DVD player.  The films are so available at the Naro and some Blockbuster Video stores.

 

Ellul, Jacques.  1967. The Technological Society. New York: Vintage.

 

Howard, Philip.  2006.  New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Lessig, Lawrence.  2004.  Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity.  New York: The Penguin Press.

 

Lyon, David.  2001.  Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life.  London: Open University Press.

 

Mcgee, Glenn.  2003.  Beyond Genetics: Putting the Power of DNA to Work in Your Life.  New York: William Morrow.

 

Webster, Frank.  2002.  Theories of the Information Society, 2nd ed.  London: Routledge.

 

Readings on Blackboard.

 

 

READING/TOPIC SCHEDULE (subject to change)

Aug. 30:  Class Introduction: Defining “The Information Society”

 

Sept. 6: The Economy I: Transformations

Webster: Theories of the Information Society, Chapters 2-6

 

Sept. 13: The Economy II: The Modern Workplace

Blackboard:  Readings from John Hartley’s Creative Industries and Shoshana Zuboff’s In the Age of the Smart Machine.

 

Sept. 20: Culture I: Ownership

Lessig: Free Culture

 

Sept. 27: Epistemology

Ellul: The Technological Society , pp.3-147

 

Oct. 4: Information Management, Simulation, and Postmodern Realities

Webster:  Theories of the Information Society, Chapters 7-10

 

Oct. 11: Politics I—Propaganda

Ellul: The Technological Society, pp. 363-375; More Ellul (from Propaganda, pp. TBA)

Blackboard: Robins and Webster, “Propaganda: The Hidden Face of Information”

 

Oct. 18: Politics II—Electoral Politics

Howard: New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen

 

Oct. 25: Surveillance

Lyon:  Surveillance Society

 

Nov. 1: The Body

McGee: Beyond Genetics

 

Nov. 8: Culture II—Dystopian Narratives in Popular Culture

Watch:  Brazil (Terry Gilliam’s version—not Hollywood’s; see v.1 of this film in the Criterion Collection); Gattaca; The Matrix.

 

Nov. 15: Education

Blackboard: Robins and Webster: “Education as Knowledge and Discipline;” “Deconstructing the Academy”; Other readings TBA

 

Nov. 22: No Class: Thanksgiving Holidays

 

Nov. 29: Community

Blackboard:  Readings on Social Networking (Facebook, Meetup.com, Gaming, etc.).  Readings TBA.

 

Dec. 6: Report on Research Findings from Student Papers

 

Dec. 13: Final Papers Due by 12:00 noon