Digital Culture and Politics

MDST 3002

Examines issues at the intersection of digital media, culture and politics, such as regulation and network architecture, piracy and hacking, and grassroots activism. Engage with a range of theories about cultural politics, democracy, liberalism and neo-liberalism in relation to digital information and communication technologies.

In this section, we will consider the current state of democracy in digital life at local, national, and global levels. Students will conduct original research and present their findings at the end of the semester.

Nathan Schneider (“Nathan” or “Professor Schneider”, he/him)
nathan.schneider@colorado.edu
Armory Building, 1B24
Office hours: Wednesday at 3-5 p.m., or by appointment (via email)
Website: nathanschneider.info

• Think critically about the intersection of democracy and digital life
• Develop and explore an original research question on digital cultures
• Practice the process of academic research, writing, reviewing, and publishing

This course seeks to cultivate a scholarly community around a set of shared questions. The course consists of three concurrent processes: our meetings, your notebooks, and a conference on our collective research.

The basis of our academic community is our time together twice each week. Participation is essential to cultivating a successful community, and participation is not compatible with absence. One or two absences over the course of the semester are acceptable, but please discuss with the instructor if any more are necessary.

20 points

Active participation. Engage in thoughtful participation in class through:

• Constructive, critical, and original contributions to the discussion (10 points)
• Respectful listening to other members of the class and feedback on fellow students' ideas (10 points)

Participation will be evaluated twice—once at the midterm, and once at the end of the semester.

Research flourishes through cultivating habits. Each week, students will produce a weekly notebook entry on the readings and their progress with their own research projects. The notebook might consist of a prose reflection, bullet points, annotated pictures, network charts, or whatever else best suits your ways of thinking.

Notebooks may be in any persistent medium, so you can refer back to them for years to come. Here are some suggestions:

• Paper notebook
• A folder of word-processor documents or simple plain-text files (e.g., .md, .txt)
• Citation managers, such as Mendeley, Zotero
• Git repositories, such as Gitea, GitHub, GitLab, Gogs
• Mind-mappers, such as Diagrams.net, Miro, Mural
• Note-taking tools, such as Evernote, Hypothesis, Joplin, Simplenote
• Wiki platforms, such as BookStack, DokuWiki, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Zim

Tools that use open-source software and/or open formats are recommended to ensure the persistence and durability of your notebooks.

Turn in a digital representation of your notebook entries on Canvas, at the end of each of the course's units. Entries should be completed before class on Thursday each week.

30 points

Weekly notebook entries. Demonstrate engagement with assigned sources, including the following:

• Summarize major ideas, particularly those of special interest to you (10 points)
• Observe shortcomings or potential critiques (10 points)
• Raise questions for future research that could build on the readings (10 points)

Notebook entries will be evaluated at the end of each of the sections of the course.

The shared goal we work toward is to produce a conference and publication collecting our class's research on the state of democracy in digital life. Reaching this goal will take us through the full research cycle for producing an original contribution to our shared discourse. In this way, in addition to our explorations of the topics at hand, we will be reflecting on the media of scholarly communication.

You may work individually or in pairs. Pairs will be expected to produce somewhat longer articles. Individuals' articles should be 2,000-2,500 words, not including references, charts, or data. Pairs' articles should be 3,000-3,500. Articles should follow APA style. They should include some approximation of the these sections (which can be adjusted with different names or purposes depending on the context):

• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusion

The paper should also be prefaced with a brief abstract of up to 150 words, not included in the main word count.

Each paper should employ a qualitative research method (or methods) to answer a clearly stated research question. Papers should demonstrate a solid grasp of the existing literature around the topic. The number of references will vary based on the type of paper (a conceptual paper may have more than an empirical one), but meaningfully engaging with fewer than 5 scholarly sources (not including primary and journalistic sources) is likely inadequate. Aim for at least 15 references in all.

While ambition is a wonderful thing, keep in mind that these articles are short, and your top priority should be clarity and precision. A small contribution to existing knowledge may be more successful than a sweeping thesis, which is more likely to contain oversights or excessive generalization.

We will proceed through the process together, sharing early suppositions for feedback and conducting a formal peer review. Our class's conference proceedings will be published for private circulation.

50 points

Present research questions (5 points) In one minute, and with one slide, share the questions you plan to investigate and your planned methods.

Extended abstract (5 points) In under 300 words, summarize your research, including the questions, methods, findings, and contribution to the relevant literature, including references (not included in the word count).

Complete draft (5 points) Submit a complete, anonymized draft for peer review, with the required word length, style, and references.

Peer review participation (5 points) Provide detailed reviews of two fellow students' drafts, 400-600 words each. Restate the findings, identify strengths and weaknesses, and suggest directions for improvement. Determine whether there is need for “minor revisions” or “major revisions” before publication.

Conference (5 points) In the final week, participate in a class conference, sharing insights from the research and writing process with one informative slide.

Formatted revision (25 points) Submit a revised final draft using our shared formatting template; in a brief note of 300-500 words, summarize the revisions in light of peer review in a cover letter.

• Cover letter (5 points)
• Sophisticated engagement with relevant scholarly literature (5 points)
• Design and execution of original research (5 points)
• Clearly explained contribution to knowledge (5 points)
• Completeness, word count, and stylistic correctness (5 points)

Based on the stated percentage 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 mutual learning, diverse perspectives, and accommodation
• Adhere to all university policies regarding academic integrity, accessibility, behavior, discrimination, misconduct, inclusivity, 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
• Be present in our interactions together, refraining from the use of screen devices unless for collective work or accessibility, upon agreement with the instructor

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.

The course proceeds through several major units, each designed to help inform the development of your research toward our class conference.

To help us develop our research questions, we will read together a short book by a prominent media scholar, available through the campus library:

• Zizi Papacharissi, After Democracy: Imagining Our Political Future (Yale University Press, 2021)

Week 1: Preface-ch. 3

Week 2: Chs. 4-5

By the end of the unit, in notebooks, formulate 3-5 potential research questions you might like to explore.

To deepen our thinking about our research questions, we will explore what the existing literature does and doesn't already say about our interests.

Week 3: Identify a reading list of 5 scholarly articles and 5 primary sources relevant to your preliminary research questions

Week 4: Produce an annotated bibliography, summarizing each source along with its relevance and potential usefulness to your research

Week 5: Add 5 more sources (including both scholarly and primary) to your bibliography that fill in gaps you have identified in your preliminary reading list

By the end of this unit, produce a well-honed research question based on gaps you observe in the existing literature. You will present your research question in class.

Now, we turn to the methods we will use to investigate our research questions.

• Bonnie S. Brennen, Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies (Routledge, 2021)

Week 6: Chs. 1-2

Week 7: Choose two chapters to read on your own and outline a basic research plan

Week 8: Begin employing your research method to answer your research question

Week 9: Review initial results and continue research

At the end of this unit, turn in your extended abstract based on your preliminary research.

Just when you thought you knew what you were doing, we will consider a collection of theoretical perspectives from outside the Global North. Do these invite us to rethink our framing and findings?

• Dilip M. Menon (ed.), Changing Theory: Concepts from the Global South (Routledge India, 2022)

Week 10: Ch. 1

Week 11: Read two chapters from the book on your own and reflect on your theory and methodology

During this unit, focus on drafting your conference paper.

Finally, as we revise and reflect on the politics of the season, we will read something together, to be determined based on our shared discussions and how the political season proceeds.

Week 12: Paper drafting

Distribute the complete, anonymized draft of your paper.

Week 13: Anne Norton, Wild Democracy: Anarchy, Courage, and Ruling the Law (Oxford University Press, 2023) [read 5-6 chapters whose titles interest you]

Week 14: Conference

At the start of the final week, turn in your revised, properly formatted paper and be prepared to present at our conference.

[ Notes ]