Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - CMNS 353 OL01

Topics in Science, Technology and Society (4)

Disruptive Tech. & Culture

Class Number: 4900

Delivery Method: Online

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Online

  • Prerequisites:

    17 CMNS units with a minimum grade of C- or 45 units with a minimum CGPA of 2.00.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examination of the emergence and shaping of information and communication technologies and science in the digital age. Explores new media and social change between everyday life, social institutions, and various enterprises. Emphasis is placed on social context and relations of power. This course can be repeated twice for credit if the topics are different (up to a maximum of three times).

COURSE DETAILS:

Topic for Spring 2026:  Disruptive Technology & Culture

This  course  examines disruptive technologies and the information society to understand social change in culture, organizations, and  everyday  life.  Technologies like blockchain, big data, and social media   can  develop  into  seemingly  contradictory platforms  that  provide  opportunities  for  contestation  and  distraction,  or  political  mobilization  and commercialization.  While  we  chat  with  one  another  online  and  create  our Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok accounts,  companies  are  also  ‘watching’  what  we  post,  how we scroll through our feeds,  and  what we buy in  order  to understand  who  we  are  as  consumers and producers of media and customers.  At  times,  we  go  willingly  into  a surveillance  society  as  we  provide  our  personal  information  in  exchange  for  ‘free’  services.  More  often, however,  we  remain  unaware  of  the  global digital  networks  and  databases  through  which  our  personal  information flows.  There  are  a  myriad  of  expanding  opportunities  and  risks  in  social  media  and  big  data. Newer waves of disruptive innovations like blockchain, Bitcoin, and Ethereum are rapidly impacting money, decentralized finance, gaming, governance, art and music, among many other fields and industries. In  this  course,  we will explore how various stakeholders shape these sociotechnical spaces and how scholars are documenting and making sense of how these disruptive technologies are impacting our culture.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Achieve a command of current research and theory in Communication approaches to technology and society and disruptive technologies.
  • Achieve an understanding and command of blockchain, big data, and social media concepts, technologies, and practices.
  • Constructively engage with controversies related to innovators and critics of the development and adoption of disruptive communication technologies.
  • Articulate differences and similarities between how various Communication scholars approach the study of the information society and digital media cultures.
  • Analyze how power, identity, and politics shape the development of the information society and the role of disruptive technologies and digital culture.

Grading

  • Weekly Participation 30%
  • Final Project – Early Pitch 15%
  • Final Project – Midpoint Presentation 20%
  • Final Project – Full Submission 35%

NOTES:

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relationship to established university-wide practices. In addition, the School will follow Policy S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03 and S10.04 with regard to Student Discipline. For further information visit: www.sfu.ca/policies/Students/index.html.


Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Readings and other course materials will be made available through Canvas.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.