Topics and assignments for each week will be posted here. Readings will be updated and linked at least a week before they are due. Please note that course schedule is subject to change with sufficent notice to students.

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

To access some readings, you must use the CSU Library electronic collections. You can do this from campus automatically through the links provided. To access those articles from home, follow this confusing process. 

Week 15: 12/7 - 12/9

No homework

Readings: Monsters in cyberspace | Awareness of identity theft

Week 14: 11/30 - 12/2 

Homework 12: Response & reflection on film or open source

Readings: Motivations for play | The social life of guilds | Social interaction in the wireless era | Smart phones and interaction

Week 13: 11/16 - 11/18 

Homework 11: Response & reflection on Internet video

Readings: Decay of cinema | Film & the home market | Open source overview | Evolution in open source

Week 11: 11/9 - 11/11 

Homework 10: Response & reflection on either SNS or Internet news

Readings: Watch this long video: An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Week 11: 11/2 - 11/4 

Homework 9: Being social online

Readings: News aggregators | Internet makes us stupid |  Sue the Aggregators | Digg that content | Aggregator activity

Week 10: 10/26 - SNOW

Homework 8: None

Readings: Motives and use of facebook  | Class and SNS | Benefits of FB "Friends | Privacy & FB

Additional reference: Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

Week 9: 10/19 Identity & the self

No readings. Class cancelled Wed., Oct. 21

Week 8: 10/12 - 10/14 - Regulation & review

Homework 7: Response & reflection

Readings: Wu on net neutrality | The FCC'S Heavy Hand | What Network Neutrality Is Really About | Lessig on creativity & copyright

Copymyths | Lessig on intellectual property

And catch up previous readings to prepare for midterm next week

Week 7: 10/5 - 10/7 - Markets, Music grp

Homework 6: Response & reflection

Catch up: Croteau & Hoynes Ch. 1 | Juhasz: Five Lessons of YouTube (2009)

Music readings: Lysonski & Durvasula ethics (fr. CSU library) | Gibson music's saviour | Bit Torrents 

Follow Joel's story: the beginning | the trial | the blog pt 1, pt 2, pt 3 and pt 4

For reference BUT NOT FOR USE: Joel's list of music

Week 6: 9/28-30 - Consolidation & Compu grp

Homework 5: Merger concerns

Browse diagrams from:  Who Owns What CJR | Who Owns the Media? | Rise of the Big Ten (2002)

Read: Croteau & Hoynes Ch. 1 | Juhasz: Five Lessons of YouTube (2009) | Turner's Beef (2004) |

Mergers & Democracy (2003) | Cohen & Hiller (2009)

Graduate and advanced: Gamson, Croteau, Hoynes & Sasson (1992) "Media Images and the Social Construction of Reality"

Week 5: 9/21-23 - Ownership & divides

Homework 4: Divides and policy

Reading:  Nielsen | Wortham | Azam (presentation) | Eggerton

read summaries from Pew reports Internet Ties and Mobile Internet

Graduate and advanced: Selwyn (avaliable from CSU Library)

Week 4: 9/14-9/16 - Devices & diffusion

Homework 3: Diffusion & determinism

Reading: Gourville | Pavlik & McIntosh | Rose | Pavlik, ch 2 | Rogers (chart)

scan Pew reports on diffusion, internet penetration, Web 2.0, and early adopters

Graduate and advanced: Lanham

Week 3: 9/9 Technology & determinism

9/7 Labor day - no class

Homework 2: Media use & technological determinism

Reading: Bolter & Grusin | Jenkins convergence  | Jenkins Intro | Friedman  | Ceruzzi

Graduate and advanced:  Winner 

Week 2: 8/31 New media & perspectives

Homework 1: Perspectives

Reading:  Curtin & Gaither, ch. 3  |  Taylor et al.   |  Fidler  |  Severin & Tankard

Graduate and advanced: Hall

Week 1

Reading for 8/26: Cairncross  | Beniger