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Connected Media Practices

MDST 5001

What happens when we stop taking the existing technologies that connect us for granted? This course is an invitation to envision creative, transformative infrastructure for social change. By recovering forgotten histories of early digital networks, and turning a critical eye to the networks around us today, we will design tools and economies for community-based networks to come.

Instructor

Nathan Schneider
nathan.schneider@colorado.edu
Armory 1B24, meetings by appointment via email
Website: nathanschneider.info

Objectives

  • Think critically and historically about networked society and economies
  • Develop a repertoire for strategic engagement with digital infrastructure
  • Practice social entrepreneurship and teamwork

Expectations

Coursework

Throughout the semester, each student will (as a percentage of the total course grade):

  • Each week, turn in on Canvas before class time and be prepared to share in class a Connection (25%), which includes:
    • a pitch for an entrepreneurial idea related to the week's topic, including a problem, an opportunity, and a value proposition
    • a explanatory, critical reaction to the assigned materials, in several paragraphs with evidence of close examination
  • Be an active participant in every class discussion and demonstrate thoughtful engagement with the course materials, augmenting them with relevant sources (20%)
  • At one class meeting during the semester, develop an imaginative way to lead the discussion of the week's assigned materials (10%)
  • Hold at least one in-person meeting with instructor during the course, by appointment (5%)

If you cannot attend a class meeting on a given week, please discuss the reason ahead of time with the instructor. Otherwise it will affect the participation grade.

Whitepaper project

The core of this course is a group-based project to propose, in detail, a networked enterprise for social impact. This may involve the development of a concept for a new network or a recommendation for dramatically improving an existing one. The whole class may work on a single project together, or students may work in groups of at least two. Plan for considerable collaboration time outside of class. Groups of students will each produce a whitepaper outlining the structure, function, and economy of their proposed enterprise. (40%)

Each student will:

  • Take responsibility for one section of their group's whitepaper, between 1,800 and 2,000 words, including relevant visual aids, following appropriate citation standards
  • Articulate a challenge or problem and present background research on how other enterprises have addressed similar challenges and what options could be explored
  • Present 1-2 specific, plausible strategies, weighing their costs and benefits
  • Engage with at least 2 assigned materials from the course in a sophisticated fashion

The whitepaper project is a process, not just a result, including (with grades as a percentage of the project total):

  • Research plan of 500–700 words, along with 3 Platform Design Toolkit worksheets (15%)
  • Complete draft in time for peer review (15%)
  • Participation in peer review of two fellow students' sections (10%)
  • Final draft, due on the last day of class (50%)
  • Group participation, based on anonymous feedback from collaborators (10%)

Sections will be evaluated individually. But to reflect our accountability to one another, all students are expected to help in evaluating one another's contributions to the whitepaper project. Feedback is anonymous to fellow students. Reflect on peers' projects based on the criteria in the Expectations section of this syllabus, as well as based on the student's contributions to the collegiality of the team effort. The final determination of this last grade will be made by the instructor, informed by peer feedback.

Grading

Based on the stated point structure, grades will be awarded as follows: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59). The minimum passing grade is 60 for undergraduates and 70 for graduate students.

Terms and conditions

Together, we agree to:

  • Work together to foster a respectful, mature, convivial community based on discussion, accommodation, and attention
  • Adhere to all university policies regarding academic integrity, accessibility, behavior, discrimination, misconduct, and religious observances; we take responsibility for understanding them and the relevant procedures
  • Respect the privacy of one another, keeping any materials or statements shared in class confidential unless permission is granted to do otherwise
  • Refrain from the use of screen devices during class, except upon agreement with the instructor or for reasons of accessibility

If you find yourself in a position where lack of access to food, housing, health care, or other basic needs interferes with your studies, consider seeking support from the Dean of Students and, if you feel comfortable doing so, your instructor. We will work to assist you however we can.

Calendar

All due dates are at 9 a.m. in the appropriate Canvas assignment:

  • Research plan: October 8
  • Whitepaper draft: November 26
  • Complete whitepaper peer reviews: November 30
  • Whitepaper final: December 10

Units

The units of the course probe strategies for community-based connectedness. For historical perspective, throughout we will be reading from:

  • July Malloy (ed.), Social Media Archeology and Poetics (MIT Press, 2016)

As we develop our whitepaper projects, we will also make use of:

Other assigned materials are organized on a weekly basis as follows.

Social: Building community

Producers: Means of production

Enterprise: Choosing economies

  • In Social Media Archeology, chapter 3: Howard Rheingold, “Daily Life in Cyberspace: How the Computerized Counterculture Built a New Kind of Place”
  • Pierre Bourdieu, “The Forms of Capital,” in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, ed. J. Richardson (New York, Greenwood)
  • Jennifer Brandel, Mara Zepeda, Astrid Scholz, and Aniyia Williams, “Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break” (March 8, 2017)

Protocols: Rules for freedom and constraint

Platforms: Points of connection, points of failure

Governments and governance: Or, governmentality

Access: Haves and have nots

Attention: Who watches the watchers?

Money: You are being bought

Education: You are being taught

Play: As opposed to what isn't

Memory: Selection and intention


This syllabus is a living document. Any part of it may be brought up for discussion and modified by a consensus of those present during any official class period.

[ Notes ]