Summer 2016 - SA 315 J100
New Information Technology and Society (SA) (4)
Class Number: 2841
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 9 – Aug 8, 2016: Wed, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
Surrey
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Instructor:
Ataman Avdan
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Explores the new social spaces and social practices fostered by new information technology. Special attention will be paid to who is making decisions about what technologies to adopt and how, what social changes are resulting, and who benefits and who loses. A significant portion of activity in this course will involve direct engagement with new information technology.
COURSE DETAILS:
The impact of new information technologies on our lives is never straightforward. New information technologies represent a complex set of practices, norms, and values that reflect and shape our understandings about community, temporality, gender, labour, inequality, personhood, privacy, space, and politics. They present contemporary societies with immense challenges and opportunities; they are changing our perceptions of ourselves, the world around us, the institutions we create, and the social relationships we form. This course introduces students to the roles new information technologies play in society, and it examines the intersections between technological innovations and societal change. We will investigate how new information technologies mediate, alter, or entrench power relations, social hierarchies, and cultural practices. Since new information technologies depend on the broader socio-economic and political contexts, this course puts a strong emphasis on the contextual conditions that shape the relationships between technology, the individual, and society. The course covers topics and themes such as utopian and dystopian views of technology, acceleration, the embeddedness of digital technologies, technological determinism, IT use and skills, technology and the body, the digital divide, technology discourse, virtual communities, call centres, online dating, digital surveillance, social networking sites, e-democracy, and political participation through social media. By the end of this course, students are expected to: 1) be able to identify the main themes of sociology of new information technologies; 2) be able to think critically, analytically, and creatively about technological and sociological problems contemporary societies experience; 3) have a detailed knowledge of a number of case studies.
Grading
- Participation 10%
- Group presentation: 10%
- Four reading notes (300-400 words) 4x2.5= 10%
- Paper proposal (500-700 words + bibliography) 10%
- Final research paper (2500-3000 words) 25%
- Paper presentation 5%
- Test (in-class) 30%
REQUIREMENTS:
Where a final exam is scheduled and you do not write the exam or withdraw from the course before the deadline date, you will be assigned an N grade. Unless otherwise specified on the course outline, all other graded assignments in this course must be completed for a final grade other than N to be assigned.
Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Policy
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology follows SFU policy in relation to grading practices, grade appeals (Policy T 20.01) and academic dishonesty and misconduct procedures (S10.01‐ S10.04). Unless otherwise informed by your instructor in writing, in graded written assignments you must cite the sources you rely on and include a bibliography/list of references, following an instructor-approved citation style. It is the responsibility of students to inform themselves of the content of SFU policies available on the SFU website: http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Anabel Quan-Haase 2016. Technology and Society: Social Networks, Power, and Inequality. Second Edition. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.
Additional required readings are available through Canvas, the SFU Library, or online.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site contains information on what is meant by academic dishonesty and where you can find resources to help with your studies. There is also a section on tutoring.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS