Digital Culture and Communication

Digital
Culture and Communication

COMM 4544/5544
T/TH: 9:30-10:45am (01) ITTC 136
Course website: sites.uni.edu/fabos/dcc/dcc.html

Bettina Fabos, Ph.D
Professor of Visual Communication

Office Hours: MW,
12-2:00, or by appt

342 Lang Hall
273-5972
fabos@uni.edu


1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16

DATE	TOPICS	READINGS, ASSIGNMENTS, DUE DATES
1
Tuesday Jan 14	Introduction to Digital Culture Syllabus, course schedule. Explain Blackboard/Content	Syllabus FORTEPAN Project introduced FINAL PAPER introduced IN CLASS: Introductions and interviews Questions for Bettina
Thursday Jan 16	Health and Tech Digital immigrants vs. digital natives Our relationship with our smartphones	READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Introduction: The case for Boredom Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 1 What We Talk About When We Talk About Boredom DUE: 1/2 page write up 01 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN. Grading guidelines are here. Take notes as you read through the introduction and Chapter 1. Q1. Describe your relationship with your phone. How healthy is it? Q2. Summarize your notes: what stood out for you from Zomorodi’s description of where our phones and tablets are taking us, and how might boredom be a healthy break from digital culture. REMINDER: THIS SHORT PAPER (approximately 2-3 paragraphs--one paragraph per question, single space, times new roman--must be loaded onto Elearning as a digital file--no rtf or wordperfect files please!). If you don't have Word write your piece in Google Docs and then simply save as a Word File. DO NOT SEND ME A LINK TO A GOOGLE DOC. ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 1: pp. 49-53: Download “Moment” App or “BreakFree” App and OBSERVE YOURSELF Friday-Monday, Friday Jan. 17-20.
2
Tuesday, Jan 21	Health and Tech Reorganize the APPS on your phone; reduce notifications How do we read in college Mindfulness Practice/Headspace From One Second to the Next, Herzog A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley: “I am convinced the devil lives in our phones.” The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected: America’s public schools are still promoting devices with screens — even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from class altogether. New York Times, Oct. 26 2018.	DUE: CHALLENGE 1 READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 2, Digital Overload Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 3, Out of Sight DUE: 1/2 page write up 02 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN. Grading Guidelines are here. Q1. First describe your experiences with deep reading, maybe in terms of the kind of assignments you are given in college, and your preferences for reading in print, e-book, online, etc; Then, explain what author Manoush Zomorodi means by biliteracy as an educational goal, and what you think about it? Q2. How are smartphones, according to Zomorodi, like a four-year-old child? To what extent can you relate, and please offer an example? ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 2, pp. 67-72: Keep your devices out of reach while in motion; CHALLENGE UPGRADE: Note 5 things you've never noticed before.
Thursday, Jan 23	Black Mirror: It's All About You	DUE: CHALLENGE 2 READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 4, Making Memories DUE: 1/2 page write up 03 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN) Q1. How does that persistent need to capture the moment change how we actually experience the moment? Q2. What should we expect from our cumulative photos in the future? ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 3, pp. 82-84: for ALL DAY Friday: Photo Free Day. REMINDER: THIS PAPER must be loaded onto Elearning as a digital file. Please no rtf fonts or word perfect...If you don't have word write your piece in Google Docs and then simply save as a Word File.
3
Tuesday, Jan 28	Addiction Tristan Harris presentation to Google: A Call to Minimize Distraction and Respect Users Attention Tristan Harris Ted Talk Growthhackers.com Headspace Inside a Gaming Addiction Rehab Network Effect Can't Put Down that Device? That's by Design Essena O'Neil National Day of Unplugging	DUE: CHALLENGE 3 READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 5, App Addled Bianca Bosker, "The Binge Breaker," The Atlantic, Nov. 2016. [please find AUDIO VERSION of this article HERE] DUE: 1/2 page write up 04 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN) Q1. Do you have an experience with someone who is, or has been, addicted to video or mobile games, which you can relate to the Bored and Briliant Ch. 5? Q2. What kind of tactics, mentioned in the Binge Breaker article and also Bored and Brilliant, are used in the industry to manipulate people to continue using a particular program, software, or app? ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 4 IN CLASS, pp. 107-109: Delete that App ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 5, pp. 127-131: Take a "Phonecation" either on Wednesday Jan. 29, Thursday Jan 30, or Friday Feb. 31. One of these three days.
Thursday, Jan 30	Work When you're a Digital Nomad the World is your Office Gloria Mark: The Cost of Interrupted Work (bad study) Data Crunching is coming to help your boss manage your time-NYTimes - Morning Call "TechLash" hits college campuses (New York Times, 1/11/2020	DUE: CHALLENGE 5 (BEFORE CLASS TIME) READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 6, Doing the Deep Work Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, "Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace," New York Times, Aug. 15 2015.----READ IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH A THROUGH F. Emily Guendelsberger, "I Worked at an Amazon Fulfillment Center," Time, July 18, 2019----READ IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH G THROUGH W. DUE: 1/2 page write up 05 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN Q1. Why is creativity valued so highly in the modern, white collar workplace? Q2. Summarize the conditions of Amazon's workplace as described in the article "Inside Amazon." (ANSWER IF LAST NAME BEGINS WITH A THROUGH F) Q3: Summarize the conditions of Amazon's workplace as described in the article "I Worked at an Amazon Fulfillment Center." (ANSWER IF LAST NAME BEGINS WITH G THROUGH W) ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 6,pp. 144-148 ASSIGN: B&B CHALLENGE 7, pp. 163-165: The Bored and Briliant Challenge: TO BE COMPLETED INDEPENDENTLY DURING CLASS TIME. Get really bored.
4
Tuesday, Feb 4	Reclaiming Wonder and "Wandering Away"	DUE: CHALLENGE 6 (by SUNDAY NIGHT) DUE: CHALLENGE 7 (completed during class) READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 7, Reclaiming Wonder Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 8, Wander Away DIP INTO THIS VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND WHO MARINA ABRAMOVIC IS: "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present Trailer" DIP INTO THIS VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND WHO GLENN GOULD IS: The great Glenn Gould playing a 36-excerpt from Bach's "Goldberg Variations" DUE: 1/2 page write up 06 (written during class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN) Q1 (relating to Challenge 6). Describe your experience hanging out, watching people, etc. for an hour. What went through your head? How was this Experience novel, positive or negative? Q2 (relating to Challenge 7). Similar to the "Observe" challenge, what happened when you allowed yourself to become totally bored? Please incorporate the readings from Bored & Brilliant Chapters 8 and 9 and the two video viewings, which you just need to dip into, not watch completely.
Thursday, Feb 6	Physical Health and Technology 1. Construction Foxconn video, 2:57 Benzene poisoning (9:31) 2.Use Digital Eyestrain 4 min. NTP and Ramazzini study on cellphone use/brain cancer 3. Deconstruction Ewaste (9:53) A Day made of glass (5:32)	READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) Bored and Brilliant: Ch. 9, You Are Brilliant A book chapter or a long article from the New Yorker, Wired the Atlantic, or Harpers that has to do with the following topics: Technology as it has to do with a) Assembly Plant workers in China or India--their health and safety; b) the Physical or Mental health among users (for example, eyesight, brains, etc), or c) Environmental HGealth with the rise of technology being thrown away. YOUR CHOICE. DUE: 1/2 page write up 07 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN) Q1: What are your Key takeaways from Bored and Brilliant?. Q2: What book chapter or magazine article did you read and what did you learn about Health and Technology?
5
Tuesday, Feb 11	If You See Something, Write Something, NY Times, March 28 2018 Creative commons Maya Salam, Most Wikipedia Profiles Are of Men. This Scientist Is Changing That. New York Times, July 2019. Sarah Mervosh, North Face Edited Wikipedia’s Photos. Wikipedia Wasn’t Happy, New York Times, May 30, 2019	LESTENING (due today) Podcast--Wikipedia: Jimmie Wales, from "How I Built This" podcast with Guy Roz., 44 minutes. Familiarize yourself with the Creative Commons website DUE: 1/2 page write up 08 (uploaded to elearning before class) SINGLE SPACE PLEASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN) 1. Type up your NOTES from the interview, rather than answer a particular question (these should be substantial). Bring your notes to class (and hand them in on Blacboard beforehand). Take good notes. 3. In your own words, what did you learn about the CC? HOMEWORK: Please refer to the YELLOW section of the WIKI Assignment. GO TO ROD LIBRARY AND CHECK OUT A NON-FICTION BOOK CONTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT ANYTHING YOU MAY BE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED OR EVEN CASUALLY INTERESTED IN. THIS BOOK WILL PROVIDE CONTENT FOR A WIKIPEDIA ENTRY. YOU MUST BRING THIS TO CLASS ON TUESDAY. WIKIPEDIA ASSIGNMENT INTRODUCED
Thursday, Feb 13	The Creative Commons and Democracy on the Web Creative commons Wikiality/Steven Colbert Turks click away: but Wikipedia is Gone Turkey Purges 4000 more officials and blocks Wikipedia	WORK IN CLASS (WE WILL BEGIN, AND MOSTLY FINISH, IN CLASS) WIKIPEDIA ASSIGNMENT DUE.
6
Tuesday, Feb 18	Copyright, CC and the Public Domain	FORTEPAN PROJECT Part I: Copyright, CC and the Public Domain FORTEPAN PROJECT ASSIGNED
Thursday, Feb 20	Digital images and the public web Getty, Flickr, Creative Commons, LOC, New York Digital Library, UNI/Rod, FORTEPAN Robert Wadlow Getty using Public Domain images and selling them	FORTEPAN PROJECT Part II
7
Tuesday, Feb 25		Studyguide EXAM 1
Thursday, Feb 27		NO CLASS
8
Tuesday, Mar 3	Government Control, Aaron Swartz, and Net Neutrality PART 1 of KILLSWITCH: Directed by Ali Akbarzadeh, written by Christopher Dollar and Ali Akbarzadeh, featuring Peter Ludlow, Tim Wu, Lawrence Lessig. Available on Netflix. Expect some swear words. JOHN OLIVER on the Patriot Act and Section 215	WE WILL VIEW PART I OF "KILLSWITCH" IN CLASS MAKE SURE YOU BEGIN READING 1984 Final Paper assigned
Thursday, Mar 5	The American Surveillance State, Panopticism, & Edward Snowden, PART 2 of KILLSWITCH	READ: Prosecutor is Bully, blog post by Lawrence Lessig *MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING 1984* for next week**
9
Tuesday, Mar 10	John Oliver on Edward Snowden	READINGS/VIEWINGS (due today) 1984, George Orwell Part 1 and 2 DUE:QUIZ
Thursday, Mar 12	1984 Part III GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE PPT Swartz & Snowden Foucault, Panopticon, Fear and power and control North Koreans reaction after Kim jong Il's death	1984, George Orwell Part 3 Panopticon as a mechanism of power (summary) Foucault: Discipline and Punish (summary) Foucault: Discipline and Punish (brief excerpt-peruse to get an idea) China's Surveillance State Should Scare Everyone
SPRING BREAK
11
Tuesday, Mar 24	Facial Recognition and China's Surveillance State	CORONAVIRUS WEEK 1, MARCH 24-26 INSTRUCTIONS
Thursday, Mar 26	Facial Recognition and China's Surveillance State	CORONAVIRUS WEEK 1, MARCH 24-26 FOLLOW UP
11
Tuesday, Mar 31	Privacy and Surveillance	CORONAVIRUS WEEK 2, MARCH 31-APRIL 2 INSTRUCTIONS
Thursday, Apr 2	Privacy and Surveillance ACTIVITY:Digital Security Plan	CORONAVIRUS WEEK 2, MARCH 31-APR 2 FOLLOW UP
12
Tuesday, Apr 7		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 3, APR 7-APR 9 INSTRUCTIONS FOTOMONTAGE CONTEST Assigned
Thursday, Apr 9		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 3, APR 7-APR 9 FOLLOW UP
13
Tuesday, Apr 14		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 4, APR 14-APR 16 INSTRUCTIONS
Thursday, Apr 16		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 4, APR 14-APR 16 FOLLOW UP
15
Tuesday, Apr 21		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 5, APR. 21-23 INSTRUCTIONS
Thursday, Apr 23
16
Tuesday, Apr 28		CORONAVIRUS WEEK 6, April 28-30 INSTRUCTIONS
Thursday, Apr 30
EXAM WEEK
Wednesday, May 6		FINAL PAPER: any time, May 6-May 8. CORONAVIRUS WEEK 7 (LAST WEEK) INSTRUCTIONS

ABOUT

Digital Culture and Communication (COMM 4544/5544) gets you to begin thinking seriously about how the Web connects us and what kinds of digital innovations are shaping our future. You will learn about the Internet as a positive, social networked sphere with a thriving creative commons, but you will also begin to see the dark side of our hyper-connected world: a digital culture plagued with questions about technology addiction, copyright, government and corporate controls, and issues about privacy and unethical digital citizenship. You will also begin to consider how being increasingly connected to digital tools is affecting our daily lives. Finally, you will participate in a publicly-minded digital culture project by scanning images for the creative commons, participating in the vast Wikipedia community, and analyzing your relationship with technology.

Objectives:

Demonstrate an understanding of digital culture and the critical debates that define our digital age.
Demonstrate an understanding of digital citizenship (e.g., image licesnsing & the creative commons/public domain); social media ethics.
Demonstrate an understanding of future digital trends.
Apply theory to practice by participating in digital culture.
Develop well-researched, well-rehearsed, and visually-powerful critical arguments.
Be an effective collaborator and self-learner.
Develop the ability to explain a complex set of ideas through public speaking , writing and, topic lists.

Readings

Bored and Brilliant, by Manoush Zomorodi, St. Martin's Press, ISBN-10: 1250124956

1984, by George Orwell, Berkley Press (or earlier editions).
The Circle, by Dave Eggers, Vintage Books 2014, ISBN-10 0385351399.
Other readings/video viewings, and podcasts are also required for almost every class period (either linked off of the syllabus or in the Blackboard/Content folder), and are due on the day the readings are listed.

Materials

You will need the following for this class:

A notebook: there is a requirement in this class to take notes.

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING

A. EIGHT 1/2-3/4 PAGE RESPONSES (1st half of the semester). Approximately one paragraph per question, single space, times new roman--must be loaded onto eLearning as a digital file--no rtf or wordperfect files or Google links please! These are graded. Grading guidelines are here.	15 % (weeks 1-8)
B. WIKIPEDIA CONTRIBUTION	5 %
C. FORTEPAN PROJECT (FOTOMONTAGE CONTEST)	10%
D. MIDTERM. Based on the core concepts of the first 8 weeks of class. The exam is essay-based.	15 %
E. 1984 QUIZ Based on the reading	5%
E. CIRCLE QUIZ Based on the reading	5%
F. SHARED DISCUSSION (Slack)	10%
G. FINAL PAPER Based on the core concepts of the second 8 weeks of class.	30 %
H. PARTICIPATION AND COMMITMENT	5 %
TOTAL POINTS	100 %
AMOUNT OF WORK EXPECTED: The College guideline is that one semester hour of credit is the equivalent of approximately three hours of work (class time + out-of-class preparation) each week over the course of a whole semester. In a typical lecture/discussion course, each hour of class normally entails at least two hours of outside preparation for the average student. You should plan set aside 6 hours/week outside of class to work on classwork if you want to succeed in this class. This standard is the basis on which the Registrar's Office assigns hours of University credit for courses. GRADUATE STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
Note taking: I expect you to take notes during class discussions, and use the notes to doodle and think creatively. Notetaking is proven to promote learning. We have laptops in the classroom, and sometimes we will use them. But not often--they can be a huge distraction. This study illustrates why even the smartest students are academically derailed by laptops.

GRADING POLICY

GRADING SCALE
97-100% = A+ 93-96% = A 90-92% = A-87-89% = B+ 83-86% = B 80-82% = B-77-79% = C+ 73-76% = C 70-72% = C-67-69% = D+ 63-66% = D 60-62% = D-Below 60% = F

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
Please save work and be responsible for all saved work. Assignments handed in past the due date will have 1/2 grade deductions for every day late.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

As noted in the UNI Catalog, “Students are expected to attend class, and the responsibility for attending class rests with the student. Students are expected to learn and observe the attendance rules established by each instructor for each course. Instructors will help students to make up work whenever the student has to be absent for good cause; this matter lies between the instructor and student. Whenever possible, a student should notify the instructor in advance of circumstances which prevent class attendance.” This idea is neither novel nor unreasonable. Students should realize that an hour missed cannot be relived, that work can seldom be made up 100%, and that made-up work seldom equals the original experience in class.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

Plagiarism, cheating, improperly sourced work, and other academic misconduct will not be tolerated. The UNI Catalog is clear on this: “Students at the University of Northern Iowa are required to observe the commonly-accepted standards of academic honesty and integrity. Except in those instances in which group work is specifically authorized by the instructor of the class, no work which is not solely the student's is to be submitted to a professor in the form of an examination paper, a term paper, class project, research project, or thesis project. Cheating of any kind on examinations and/or plagiarism of papers or projects is strictly prohibited. Also unacceptable are the purchase of papers from commercial sources, using a single paper to meet the requirement of more than one class (except in instances authorized and considered appropriate by the professors of the two classes), and submission of a term paper or project completed by any individual other than the student submitting the work. Students are cautioned that plagiarism is defined as the process of stealing or passing off as one's own the ideas or words of another, or presenting as one's own an idea or product which is derived from an existing source.” See the UNI Catalog for full details.

OTHER HELPFUL INFO

Office of Compliance and Equity Management“: The University of Northern Iowa does not discriminate in employment or education. Visit 13.03Equal Opportunity & Non-Discrimination Statement (https://policies.uni.edu/1303) for additionalinformation.”

Student Accessibility ServicesNon-Discrimination Based on Disabilities“: The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) complies with the Americans with Disabilities ActAmendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the FairHousing Act, and other applicable federal and state laws and regulations that prohibitdiscrimination on the basis of disability. To request accommodations please contact StudentAccessibility Services (SAS), located at ITTC 007, for more information either at (319) 273-2677 or Email accessibilityservices@uni.edu. Visit Student Accessibility Services(https://sas.uni.edu/) for additional information.”

Disability Services
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) provides protection from illegal discrimination for qualified individuals with disabilities. Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such accommodation through the Office of Disability Services. The ODS is located at 103 Student Health Center, phone number: 273-2676.

Academic Learning Center's Free Assistance with Writing, Math, Reading and Learning Strategies

Students are encouraged to use The Learning Center @ Rod Library (formerly The Academic Learning Center) for assistance with writing, math, science, reading and learning strategies. Meet with trained and certified tutors during walk-in hours or by appointment. For more information, visit us in person on the main floor of Rod Library, on the web at tlc.uni.edu or by calling 319-273-6023.