Connected Media Practices

MDST 5001

What are the economies that underlie our connections? This course will undertake a journey into the practice and theory of media entrepreneurship, introducing the dominant norms of entrepreneurial cultures, together with avenues for critique and transformation. By turning a critical eye to the networks around us today, we will learn to design tools and economies for networks to come.

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

• Gain fluency in the idioms of dominant entrepreneurial cultures
• Develop a repertoire for strategic engagement with digital infrastructure
• Practice social entrepreneurship and teamwork

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 sketch, in text or images, of an entrepreneurial idea related to the week's topic, including a problem, an opportunity, and a value proposition
  • a explanatory reflection on how the sketch connects 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 assigned sources, 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.

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 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 one or two specific, plausible strategies, weighing their costs and benefits
• Engage with at least two 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, including visuals such as sketches or charts (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.

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.

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 student privacy, 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 necessities 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.

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

• Research plan: 10/14
• Whitepaper draft: 11/22
• Complete whitepaper peer reviews: 11/25
• Whitepaper final: 12/9

The core text for this course is an open-access textbook: Michelle Ferrier and Elizabeth Mays (eds.), Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Rebus Community, 2018). It is a practical introduction to media entrepreneurship, with a focus on journalism. Alongside it, we will explore critical and theoretical texts on related topics.

• Ferrier and Mays: “Developing the Entrepreneurial Mindset”
• Joseph A. Schumpeter, “The Creative Response in Economic History,” Journal of Economic History 7, no. 2 (November 1947)
• Campbell Jones and André Spicer, “The Sublime Object of Entrepreneurship, Organization 12, no. 2 (2005)
• Lilly Irani, ”Hackathons and the Making of Entrepreneurial Citizenship,“ Science, Technology & Human Values 40, no. 5 (2015)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Ideation“
• Fred Turner, ”Where the Counterculture Met the New Economy: The WELL and the Origins of Virtual Community,“ Technology and Culture 46, no. 3 (July 2005)
• Jay Kirby and Lori Emerson, ”As If, or, Using Media Archaeology to Reimagine Past, Present, and Future (HTML),“ International Journal of Communication 10 (2016)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Customer Discovery“
• Shoshana Zuboff, ”Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization,“ Journal of Information Technology 30, no. 1 (March 2015)
• Jennifer Brandel, Mara Zepeda, Astrid Scholz, and Aniyia Williams, ”Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break“ (March 8, 2017)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Business Models for Content & Technology Ventures“
• Juliet B. Schor and William Attwood‐Charles, ”The 'Sharing' Economy: Labor, Inequality, and Social Connection on For‐Profit Platforms,“ Sociology Compass 11 (2017)
• Yochai Benkler, ”Peer Producton, the Commons, and the Future of the Firm,“ Strategic Organization 15, no. 2 (2017)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Nonprofit Model Development“
• Andrea Smith, ”Introduction: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded,“ in INCITE! Women of Color against Violence (ed.), The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (Duke University Press, 2017)
• Nathan Schneider, ”An Internet of Ownership: Democratic Design for the Online Economy,“ Sociological Review 66, no. 2 (2018)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Freelancing as Entrepreneurship and Consulting as Business Models“
• Miriam Cherry, ”Beyond Misclassification: The Digital Transformation of Work,“ Comparative Labor, Law, and Policy Journal 37 (2015-2016)
• Guy Standing, ”The Precariat,“ Contexts 13, no. 4 (2014)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Startup Funding“
• Kim-Mai Cutler, ”The Unicorn Hunters,“ Logic no. 4 (2018)
• Pierre Bourdieu, ”The Forms of Capital,“ in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, ed. J. Richardson (New York, Greenwood)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Pitching Ideas“
• Kira Hall, ”Performativity,“ Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 9, no. 1/2 (1999)
• Judith Butler, ”Performative Agency,“ Journal of Cultural Economy 3, no. 2 (2010)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Marketing Your Venture to Audiences“
• Jodi Dean, ”Communicative Capitalism: Circulation and the Foreclosure of Politics,“ Cultural Politics 1, no. 1 (2005)
• World Wide Web Consortium, ”Accessibility Principles“ and ”Stories of Web Users“

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Product Management“
• Gina Neff and David Stark, ”Permanently Beta: Responsive Organization in the Internet Era,“ in Philip E.N. Howard and Steve Jones, eds., Society Online: The Internet in Context (Sage, 2003)
• Jo Freeman, ”The Tyranny of Structurelessness,“ Berkeley Journal of Sociology 17 (1972)

• Ferrier and Mays: ”Entrepreneurship Abroad: Cultural and International Perspectives and Challenges“
• Mirca Madianou, ”Technocolonialism: Digital Innovation and Data Practices in the Humanitarian Response to Refugee Crises,“ Social Media and Society 5, no. 3 (2019)
• Alan Mills, Nanjira Sambuli, Joana Varon, and Renata Avila, ”Digital Colonialism: A Global Overview,“ re:publica, Berlin (May 2, 2015)

Whitepaper presentation and discussion

• Ethical OS
• Platform Design Toolkit

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 ]