| Dr. Ellen Balka | Spring 1997 |
| cc6144 Tel. 291-3764 | (after Jan.2/97) |
| email: ebalka@sfu.ca |
Overview:
This course will focus on how we think about communication and
information technologies, and how our views of technology in turn
influence our understanding of social issues related to technological
change, and the formulation of policy options designed to address
social issues.
At the beginning of the semester, students will be asked to select
a technology which they will focus on throughout the semester.
A number of different perspectives on communication technology
will be presented and discussed in class. Students will be asked
to explore the strengths and limitations of each theoretical perspective
discussed in class, in relation to the technology they have chosen.
In addition, students will be asked to consider the relationship
between our theoretical understandings of technology and the policies
we develop to govern technologies.
Required texts:
Coyne, L. (1995). Designing information technology in the postmodern
age: From method to metaphor. MIT Press: Cambridge. (See if
a paperback edition exists).
Mantovani, G. (1996). New communication environments: From everyday
to virtual. Taylor and Francis: Bristol, PA. (ISBN 0-7484-0396-5)
Mosco, V. (1996). The political economy of communication: Rethinking
and renewal. Sage: Newbury Park. (ISBN 0-8039-8561-4)
Stone, A.R. (1995). The war of desire and technology at the close
of the mechanical age. MIT Press: Cambridge MA. (ISBN 0-262-691-892).
Webster, K. (1995). Theories of the information society. Routledge:
New York. (ISBN 0-415-10574-9)
Assignments:
| Area paper (in-depth analysis of one of the perspectives introduced in class) | 25% |
| Seminar presentation and accompanying written work | 20% |
| Final paper | 40% |
| Class participation: | 15% |
Area paper:
Area papers will explore a theoretical perspective presented in
class in depth. Students will select a theoretical approach to
technology addressed in class, and investigate it in greater depth.
Papers should include an overview of the theoretical perspective,
a summary of variations of thought within that theoretical perspective,
and a discussion of the strengths and limitations of that theoretical
perspective in relation to the technology or technological problem
the student is focusing on throughout the semester.
Seminar presentation and accompanying written work:
Each student will be required to present assigned readings to
the class, and submit a short written critique of the assigned
readings. The written critique will consist of:
In addition, written material accompanying a seminar presentation
should address how the theoretical perspective is relevant to
the student's area of interest, as well as the implications for
policy or technology practice. Seminar presentations will be scheduled
at the beginning of the semester, and accompanying work is due
the day a student presents his or her material in class.
Final paper:
In the final paper, students will be required to address the material
presented in class in relation to the technology they have focused
on throughout the semester. The final paper should begin with
an introduction that includes a synopsis of the technology or
technological problem of interest to the student. The paper should
include a discussion of the perspectives discussed in class, and
how they are relevant or not relevant to the student's area of
interest. This section should include a discussion of how our
understanding of technology varies with the theoretical approaches
we adapt in thinking about technology (e.g., what problems are
made central by each approach? What issues are relegated to the
realm of marginal concerns for each approach?). Each paper should
also include a discussion of policy and practice issues related
to a variety of theoretical perspectives.
Class Participation:
Students will be expected to come to class prepared to discuss
the readings in relation to their area of interest. In addition,
students will be asked from time to time to comment on the relevance
of various perspectives to their classmates' areas of interest.
Week 1: Overview of the course
Overview of technology as a social and political phenomenon
Chapters 1 - 3 of Webster
Introduction to Coyne
Week 2: Theories of the information society,
Part 1 Chapters 4 - 6 of Webster (Giddens, Schiller and Habermas)
Week 3: Theories of the information society, part 2
Chapters 7-10 of Webster (Beyond Fordism, Postmodernism, Spatial
perspectives)
Week 4: Situated Action and Shared Meaning Parts 1 and
2 of Mantovani
Week 5: Computer mediated communication and computer supported
cooperative work
Part 3 of Mantovani
Week 6: Negotiating gender and sex in relation to new technology
First half of Stone
Week 7: Gender and technology part 2
2nd half of Stone
Week 8: Post modern approaches to information technology,
part 1
Chapters 1-3 of Coyne
Week 9: Postmodern approaches to information technology,
part 2
Chapters 4 - 6 of Coyne
Week 10: End of Postmodern approaches, beginning of political
economy
Chapters 7-8 of Coyne
Introduction and chapter 1 of Mosco
Week 11: Political economy of information technology
Chapters 2-3 of Mosco
Week 12: Political economy of information technology, part
2
Chapter 4-6 of Mosco
Week 13: Wrap-up