L A K E H E A D  U N I V E R S I T Y
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology 2455  FA
Computers and Society
Fall Term 2006
Walid Chahal

Time: Tuesday 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Place: RB 1042
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 p.m., 
UC 0037, or by appointment 
							 
Course Focus:

In this course, we will examine the social construction of computer culture, computer user identity, and consumer demand. We will discuss their links to software production and development, as well as to advertising and marketing strategies. We will also analyze the impact of new computer technologies on employment, education (especially children's early education), class, gender and ethnic relations in the context of the organization of work and the global economy. We will draw on case studies from around the world and use a variety of perspectives.  

Required Reading Materials:	

1) Rose, Ellen. 2003. User Error: Resisting Computer Culture. Toronto: Between the 
    Lines.

2) Scott-Dixon, K. 2004. Doing It: Women Working in Information Technology.      
    Toronto:  Sumach Press.

3) Course Reading Kit: Sociology 2455--Computers and Society.
  
Course Outline:                                            Required Readings

    Introduction                                                           Rose, Introduction

1. The Mythology of Computer Use                         Rose, Chapter 1
     Cyberspace & the New American Dream            Film: ‘Road Stories’                                                       

2. The History of Computing                                    Rose, Chapter 2 	
    The Origin of the User as a Social Concept
     Sociology & Computer Technology                    Pendakur & Harris (P& H--pp: 19-32)          

3. The Culture of Software Production                     Rose, Chapter 3
    The Roots of Digital Culture                                Millar, Chapter 1
    Current Theorizing about Digital Technology
    and Race, Class, & Gender                                   Millar, Chapter 2

4. Computer Consumer & the User                          Rose, Chapter 4
    The Impact of Advertising                                   Film: “The Ad & the Ego”
    Children & Advertising on the Net                      Recommended: Armstrong &      
						          Casement, Chap. 8    

5. Computer Users & Technical Knowledge            Rose, Chapter 5                  
    Scholarly Analyses of Computer Anxiety,
    Technostress, & Computer Phobia                        Rose, Chapter 6 

6. The Youthful User & the Mythology of 
    Computer Use                                                        Rose, Chapter 7
    The Use of Computer Technology in our 
     Children's Early Education & Computer Use      Armstrong & Casement, Chapter 10     
     Learning, the Natural World & Computer Use    Armstrong & Casement, Chapter 11

7.  The Future of Canadian Education	
     & Computer Technology                                     Couture, Jean-Claude. pp: 139-166
     The Future User &                                                    	
     Responsible Action                                              Rose, Conclusion                                                           

8.  Employment & the Development                
     of the New Computer Technology                      Rifkin, Chapter 5
     Visions of Technological Utopian                       Rifkin, Chapter 3     
     Women’s Work in the IT                                    Scott-Dixon, Introduction & Chapter 1                   
     Employment & the Global Economy                  Menzies, Heather. pp: 3-19	  
      		 
9.  Theorizing about Women’s Work Choices
     in IT & Structural Relations of Gender, 
     Class & Race                                                       Scott-Dixon, Chapter 2                   
     Great Promises versus Material Realities            Scott-Dixon, Chapter 3
     New Work versus Same Old & the Inequity 
     of the Labor Market                                             Scott-Dixon, Chapter 4
     Looking Ahead                                                     Scott-Dixon, Chapter 5        
                                                                                                		     
10.  The Dawn of the Post-Market Era
        Globalizing the Social Economy                       Rifkin, Chapter 18

11.  Perspectives on the Information Society
       The Impact of Globalization 
       on Developing Countries                                    P&H -- R. Harindranath. pp: 56-64    

12.  Citizenship & Democracy 
        Networks for Social Change: 
        the Anti-NAFTA Challenge                                P&H—S. Huyer. pp: 300-309
        Resistance to World Trade Talks                        P&H—M. Lemire. pp: 310-321
        Cyber-Activism Across National Borders          P&H—K. O’Neill. pp: 322-336
             
Course Requirements:
There are four (4) requirements for this course.

1.	One assignment. Due November 7th................……………………………..35%

Every student chooses 3 articles on any topic about computers and society from specific social science journals or books, or select internet sites, and sums up and critiques these articles by relying on analyses covered in class and in the reading. You are strongly encouraged to select a topic of specific interest to you.  

The assignment should be no more than 6 typed pages in length and be submitted (along with the articles) no later than November 7th .

         Keep both disk and hard copies of the assignment as a backup.

2.   Mid-term test (multiple-choice & short-answer questions), October 17……..20%

3.  Final exam (TBA)  ……...……………………………………...........................35%
      
    The format of this test consists of both short-answer and short-essay questions and it  
     may include multiple-choice questions.  The tests (both mid-term & final) cover all  
     class work,  lecture and reading material to date. It is not the instructor’s aim to   
     reproduce the same material that is covered in the assigned reading. The lecture 
     material and  discussions will complement, expand, and shed more light on those 
     issues that are  covered in the text and reading kit.

4.  Class participation & critical reflection................……………………………..10%
     
      Class attendance is expected:  In order to do well in this course, you must attend 
      class on a regular basis. There will be substantial in-class discussions and much of the     
      material covered in lectures will not be found in the reading. In order to participate in     
      class discussions, it is important that you do the readings before coming to class. You    
      must come to class ready to contribute to discussion in a thoughtful way, to ask 
      questions, as well as reflect on the assigned readings. Students are expected to arrive 
      before the class starts and are expected to stay in class till the end. Students are 
      strongly encouraged not to engage in private conversations during class lectures.                         
 
Further, the student will be given additional information concerning course topics, course requirements, evaluation procedures and other relevant material on the first day of class.

NOTE: THERE WILL BE A PENALTY FOR ASSIGNMENTS HANDED IN LATE.

Reading Kit

Armstrong, Allison & Charles Casement. 1998. (chapters: 10 &11, pp: 167-199). The Child and the Machine:  Why Computers May Put Our Children's Education at Risk.  Toronto:  Key Porter Books. 

Couture, Jean-Claude. 1997 (pp: cover; 139-166). “ Teacher’s Work: Living in the Culture of Insufficiency”.  In Marita Moll ed. Globalization and the future of Canadian Education. Halifax: Fernwood.

Menzies, Heather. 1996 (pp: 3-19). Whose Brave New World?  The Information Highway & the New Economy.  Toronto: Between the Lines.

Millar, Melanie Stewart. 1998 (chapters: 1 & 2, pp: 28- 43; 53-68).  Cracking the Gender Code: Who Rules the Wired World?  Toronto:  Second Story Press.

Pendakur, Manjunath and Roma Harris. 2002 (pp: cover; 19-32; 56-64; 300- 335). Citizenship and Participation in the Information Age. Aurora, Ontario: Garamond Press.

Rifkin, Jeremy. 1995 (chapters: 3, 5, & 18, pp: 42-56; 69-80; 275-293). The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era.  New York: Tarcher & Putnam.

Further Readings:

Armstrong, Allison & Charles Casement. 1998.  The Child and the Machine:  Why Computers May Put Our Children's Education at Risk.  Toronto:  Key Porter Books.

Brown, David. 1997. Cybertrends: Chaos, Power and Accountability in the Information Age. London: Penguin Books Ltd. 

Chodes, Robert Eric Hamovich & Rae Murphy. 1997. Lost in Cyberspace?  Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., Publishers.

Franda, Marcus. 2002 . Launching into the Cyberspace: Internet Development and Politics in Five Regions. Colorado: Lynne Rienner. pp: iii; 1- 43.  

Goyder, John. 1997.  Technology and Society: a Canadian Perspective. Peterborough: Broadview Press.

Jonscher, Charles.  1999.  Wired life: Who Are We in the Digital Age? London: Bantam. 

Kenway, Jane. 1997. “Backlash in Cyberspace: Why Girls Need Modems.” in Leslie G. Roman & Linda Eyre eds. Dangerous Territories: Struggles for Difference and Equality in Education. New York: Routledge. 

Kroker, Arthur & Mari Louise. 1997.   Digital Delirium. Montreal: New World Perspectives.

Menzies, Heather. 1996.  Whose Brave New World?  The Information Highway & the New Economy.  Toronto: Between the Lines.

Millar, Melanie Stewart. 1998.  Cracking the Gender Code: Who Rules the Wired World?  Toronto:  Second Story Press.

Pendakur, Manjunath and Roma Harris. 2002. Citizenship and Participation in the Information Age. Aurora, Ontario: Garamond Press.

Postman, Neil. 1993. “The Ideology of Machines: Computer Technology.” Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.  New York: Vintage.  

Provenzo, Eugene Jr.  1991. Video Kids:  Making Sense of Nintendo.  Cambridge, Mass.:  Harvard University Press.

Resources For Feminist Rsearch (RFR/DRF), Spr/Summer, 1999. Women’s Studies and the Internet. Vol. 27, Nos. 1 & 2.

Rifkin, Jeremy. 1995.  The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era.  New York: Tarcher & Putnam.

Sarder, Ziauddin & Jerome R. Ravetz  (eds.). 1996. Cyberfutures: Culture and Politics on the Information Superhighway. New York: New York UP. pp: 14-38.  

Spender, Dale. 1995.  Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace. Toronto: Garamond Press.

Swift, Jamie, Jacqueline M. Davies, Robert G. Clarke & Michael Czerny. 2003 Getting Started on Social Analysis. 4th edition. Toronto: Between the Lines. Chap. 9, pp: 94-107.

Turkle, Sherry & Seymour Papert. 1990.  “Epistemological Pluralism: Styles & Voices within the Computer Culture.” Signs 19, Autumn. 

---. 1995.  Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster.  

Whitaker, Reg. 1999. The End of Privacy: How Total Surveillance Is Becoming the Reality.  New York: the New Press.

Internet links

CyberSociology Magazine
http://www.socio.demon.co.uk/magazine/magazine.html
	
Cyber space and democracy
What happens to democratic space when it is cyber? 
http://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/online/reid1.htm

Interview with Ellen Rose 
http://www.antigonishreview.com/bi-136/136-interview-ellen-rose.html

The Krokers’website
http://www.ctheory.net/book2.asp?bookid=2

Arthur Kroker-- books & articles
http://www.ctheory.net/book2.asp?bookid=3
http://web.uvic.ca/~akroker/KROKERsite/web-content/publication.html

Interview with Arthur Kroker
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.02/leftists.html

Cyberspace, hyper text and critical theory
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/cpace/theory/theoryov.html

Commentary on Baudrillard
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/cpace/theory/baudrillard/studentov.html

Roland Barthes and the Writerly Text
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/cpace/ht/jhup/writerly.html

Literature, Cyberpunk Sci-Fi, Cyberspace, Critical Theory: An Overview
http://www.cyberartsweb.org/cpace/cpace/misc/litov.html

The Future of Free Speech on the Corporate Internet," Corporate Watch website (include linked article by McChesney)
http://www.corpwatch.org/search.php?q=The+Future+of+Free+Speech+on+the+Corporate+Internet%2C%22+Corporate+Watch+website+%28include+linked+article+by+McChesney%29&Search=

Noam Chomsky on Microsoft and Corporate Control of the Internet CorpWatch
May 6th, 1998: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1408

AFRICA: The Great Internet Robbery
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=2348