Homework must be submitted in class on Mondays, hard copy, or in the professor's mailbox by 4:00 p.m. It should be 300 to 400 words, in single-spaced, 12 point font. Please do not write over-long submissions; focus and clarity are part of your grade.

The additional homework readings here are required. They are designed to extend your grasp of important concepts and facilitate class discussion on these topics. You must cite relevant readings for full credit.

Remember, these are not summaries, but rather opportunities to make a specific argument of your own that draws on the readings as evidence, examples, clear ideas, theories, etc.

Some of the readings are in .pdf format. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat reader, get one for free.

Late homework will not be evaluated.

No homework for 12/7 

Homework 12: Due 11/30

Think about the presentation and discussion in class on Monday, November 16 on film or on Wednesday, November 18th on open source software. Without providing a summary, discuss what you feel are some of the key issues and ideas that are important around the issues raised. Your discussion should be your thoughtful response to the presentation and discussion, and should include specific examples, cite assigned readings.

Be sure this is an engagement with the content provided, not a discussion of presentation style. 

 Homework 11: Due 11/16

Think about the presentation and discussion in class on Wednesday, November 11th, on Internet video. Without providing a summary, discuss what you feel are some of the key issues and ideas that are important around the issues raised. Your discussion should be your thoughtful response to the presentation and discussion, and should include specific examples, cite assigned readings.

Be sure this is an engagement with the content provided, not a discussion of presentation style. 

Homework 10: Due 11/9

You may choose whether to address the presentation on Internet social networking (given Monday) OR on Internet news (given Wednesday). Without providing a summary, discuss what you feel are some of the key issues and ideas that are important around the issues raised. Your discussion should be your thoughtful response to the presentation and discussion, and should include specific examples, cite assigned readings.

Be sure this is an engagement with the content provided, not a discussion of presentation style.

Homework 9: Due 11/2

Scholars such as Nie and Hillygus (2002) claim that the internet is, in general, reducing our "sociability" because we replace social interaction with time spent in front of the screen. Others such as Donnelly (2006) point out that the evidence is unclear, and online communication often supplements offline social interaction. Discuss your views on this debate, paying attention to the underlying assumptions about both "being social" and the internet itself.

(ps read the linked articles for this homework)

Homework 8: No homework. Catch up with readings instead. 

Homework 7: Due 10/12

Think about the presentation and discussion in class on Wednesday, October 7th, on music. Without providing a summary, discuss what you feel are some of the key issues and ideas that are important around the issues raised. Your discussion should be your thoughtful response to the presentation and discussion, and should include specific examples, cite assigned readings on music and downloading where relevant.

Be sure this is an engagement with the content provided, not a discussion of presentation style.

Homework 6: Due 10/5

Think about the presentation and discussion in class on Wednesday, September 30th, on computers. Without providing a summary, discuss what you feel are some of the key issues and ideas that are important around the issues raised. Your discussion should be your thoughtful response to the presentation and discussion, and should include specific examples, cite assigned readings where relevant.

Be sure this is an engagement with the content provided, not a discussion of presentation style.

Homework 5: Due 9/28

Pick two weekdays and keep track of your media use as you did for Homework 2 using the use chart. Now, examine all your non-personal media use (i.e., no phone, text, iPod - skip bottom set) logs for the 6 days total. Identify who owns each network, mainstream website, radio station, movie production company, etc., that you used/saw/heard. Then, total up the hours of media you consumed by major corporation (not NBC, but their owner). Include only websites that are associated with traditional media or are very large (e.g., CNN.com, nytimes.com, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, but not textsfromlastnight.com).

For example, if you saw a two hour movie by Paramount Pictures, look online, in the readings, or in other resources, and discover that Paramount is owned by Viacom. Count two hours for Viacom. If you watched an hour of MTV, add another hour to the Viacom column, as MTV is owned by them, too.

**Note the year of publication for the below readings/sources. Ownership changes FAST, so some readings are for context and reference, and do not reflect the current state of things. Who Owns What is current.

Finally, write a brief (200 - 300 words) analysis of the implications of your media use. Are you getting most of your content from a small number of major corporations? Do you have widely divergent media sources? Why should you care? Why might some people be concerned about the mergers that have been taking place in the media in recent years?

Homework 4: Due 9/21

What are the underlying assumptions about technology and about society that drive the notion of the “digital divide”?  Discuss ways that the definition of the digital divide can influence policy toward and incentives for solutions to this “problem”.

Homework 3: Due 9/14

Many of those who discuss convergence focus on the technologies themselves - how devices are changing and what things can do. Such approaches are often considered to be a form of "technological determinism." Building on ideas from Roger's Diffusion of Innovations theory, discuss how the "Black Box Fallacy" Jenkins discusses emerges when we operate under technologically deterministic assumptions. Identify specific drivers of diffusion and technological change in general that help us understand why the "Black Box" has yet to be truly realized.

Homework 2: Due 9/9 (Wed.) 

For 4 consecutive days, keep a log of all the major mass media you use  (TV, newspaper, internet, magazines, radio, etc.), and the personal communication technologies you use. For each mass medium, enter the type of device or platform you used to read/watch/listen, and enter total hours or minutes or minutes of use for each type.

Create a total for each type of media (each row) and each type of device (each column). Then, write a very brief (about 100 words) summary of your media use. Identify any patterns in your use over the four days. Address how your media use does (or does not) affect your day to day life. (Be sure to cite the readings).

A few conventions to help make these data consistent:

• Do not include music you own (e.g., iPod)
• Do include streaming music such as online radio
• Include comphrensive SNS sites such as Facebook (LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.) under Personal Communication, Text
• Include Twitter under Mass Media, Other*
• Most websites should be entered under Mass Media, Other, such as Digg or blogs, EXCEPT newspaper, magazine, radio, video, or television sites (e.g., NYTimes.com, CNN.com, Wired.com)
• If you wish, you may also make a separate list to detail what generally makes up that “Other” category for you (e.g., boingboing, slashdot, perezhilton.com, twitter…)

*This distinction bewteen personal and mass is rather arbitrary, but consistency across the class is the most important thing.

Use this chart to track your use (MS Word file - right-click to save).

For example, if you watched a television program on NBC on your regular TV and two programs online using Hulu, you would enter “Hulu” under computer, and “NBC” under Traditional. Write in the time for each (1 hour and 2 hours). Similarly, if you looked at Wired online for 20 minutes and read a paper copy of Real Simple in a doctor’s waiting room for 45 minutes, you would write “Wired” under Computer and “Real Simple” under Traditional, noting the time: 20 min and 45 min.

Homework 1: Due 8/31

Many who examine technologies do so from a specific, single perspective, such as analyzing the impact of violent television content on children's behavior. Thinking about both the Taylor et al. and the Curtin & Gaither articles, what do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of using Hall's "circuit of culture" to analyze a technology?