Patrick Feng Spring 2005

RCB 6232; 604-291-5695 Burnaby Day

Email: fengp @ sfu.ca (take out the spaces to email)

SOCIAL IMPACTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Prerequisites: CMNS 253; and CMNS 261 or 362.

Overview:

This course will examine the social, political, and cultural dimensions of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a variety of settings. We will investigate what it means to live in “an information society” using a mix of theoretical approaches and concrete case studies. By the end of the course students should:

Be familiar with a number of theories about technology and its place in society;
Be able to think critically about the design, marketing, consumption, and use of ICTs in modern societies;
Have developed the research skills necessary to ask and answer social science questions about ICTs;
Have developed some expertise on how ICTs are being conceptualized, designed, and used in a particular field (e.g., the health care sector).

Topics to be covered include: access to/control of information; ICTs in the workplace; privacy and surveillance; technology, culture, and identity; commodification of information; ICTs in developing countries; and globalization. Students will have the opportunity to work in groups and research a specific ICT application in detail.

Required Texts: TBA

Course Organization:

This course consists of a 2-hour lecture and a 2-hour lab/tutorial, each of which meets once per week.

Assignments and Grading:

Students will be graded based on five components:

Reflection papers 20%
Mid-term exam 10%
Team project 40%
Final paper 20%
Participation 10%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to the established university-wide practices with respect to levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T.10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, general regulations section).