Calendar Fall 2012


 

 Links to Units of Study in Calendar :  eWaste / KONY2012 /  Chinese Grassroots activism / Wikileaks / Digital Divide / Swarms

 

skooten fruity

 

 

Week 1

8/27 Initial Class – Introductions / Omelas / Considering Social Justice? / Twitter/ Blogging

 

8/29 CSSA Orientation (OC211 and then the Jardine Room)

 

8/31 CSSA Service Fair  (Dolan Atrium)

Assignment Due:   BlogPost1 Introductions

 

Week 2

No class 9/3  (No Classes, Labor Day).

 

9/5

Discussions:

 

Assignment Due:   BlogPost2 Considering Social Justice?

 

Resources: Ursala Le Guin / Omelas simple search critique

 

9/7    Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

Lecture:  The Question of Social Justice (Dr. Peden)

 

Readings:

 

Week 3  

 

Target Text

9/10   eWaste   Please Note the venue change:  Class meets in the LSC Auditorium (above the cafeteria in the recplex)

  

Lecture:  E-waste (Dr. Shutkin)

eWaste, or the Mysterious Relationship of Humanity to Garbage

 

Resources: eWaste 

 

Reading:

Grossman, E. (2006) High Tech Trash: Digial Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health. Chapter One: The Underside of High Tech. Washington : Island Press.

 

Viewing:  Futurama: e-Waste Delivery
Fry, Leela and Bender find pollution and child labor when they visit the Third World of the Antares System to deliver e-waste.

 

 

9/12 eWaste (2)

 

Announcement: For today and Friday we have guest students in our class from Dr. Palmer's section.  And, what goes around, comes around. Next Monday, I will not be here because of Rosh Hashanah.  Therefore, I have divided the class into four (4) groups and you will be required to prepare for and attend the section indicated on our blog page.  Each column is assigned to a different professor.  Next to each professor's name is the location of her or his classroom.  I will send a list of names and email addresses to each of the professors as well. Have fun and we'll debrief about the experiences in a comparative way next Wednesday. For now, I wish each of you a sweet and healthy new year, 5773.

 

Reading(s): 

  1. Puckett, J. (2006)  "High-Tech's Dirty Little Secret: The Economics and Ethics of the Electronic waste Trade. 
  2.  Byster, L. and Smith, T. (2006)  "From Grassroots to Global: The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition's Milestones in Building a Movement for Corporate Accountability and Sustainability in the High-tech Industry."  

 

Viewing:  

 

Assignment Due:  BlogPost3 

 

AudioFile (Name that tune):  A song for our class

 

9/14 E-waste (3)

E-waste 3

 

Announcements:

1. eWaste Debate

2. grades

 

Reading:  Mooallem, J. (2008, January 13) "The Afterlife of Cellphones." The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

 

Viewing:  Greenpeace Spoof Apple Advertisement

 

Assignment Due: In class BlogPost What's in your computer?   

Working in a group (3-4 persons), research one of the seven common compounds or elements (will be assigned in class) mentioned in the Greenpeace spoof ad and answer these several questions:

1. Where and how is it mined?

2. What is the environmental impact of the mining? Is it regulated?  If so, by whom?

3. What are the human health concerns when used to manufacture consumer electronics?

4. What documented health impacts are associated with its demanufacturing?

5. Extra question:  What purpose does this compound serve in digital electronics?

 

Resource: Basel Action Network

 

Week 4

9/17 E-waste (4)  (Rosh Hashana 5773)

Reading: Jackson, T. (2009) Prosperity without growth : economics for a finite planet.   London ; Sterling, VA : Earthscan.  Chapter Six:  Confronting Structure. pp. 59-66.

Discussion:  Footprint Calculator

How much land area does it take to support your lifestyle? Take this quiz to find out your Ecological Footprint, discover your biggest areas of resource consumption, and learn what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth.

 

9/19 E-waste (5)

Reading: Strasser, S. (1999) "Toward a History of Trashmaking." In: Waste and want : a social history of trash. New York : Metropolitan Books.

 

Announcements: grade book procedures and access codes:  (This is a sample access code: dshutkin-B00424351-1994.  Ask Dr. Shutkin for your access code).

 

Assignment Due: In class eWaste Action BlogPost

After viewing The Story of Electronics, choose one of the following three options:

1. Tell electronics companies to “MAKE ‘EM SAFE, MAKE ‘EM LAST, TAKE ‘EM BACK“.

2. Tell Congress to support HR 6252 and make it illegal to send toxic e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries.

3. Write a 250 word position on why you choose not to take action.

 

Discussion:  

  1. eWaste Action BlogPost
  2. eWaste Debate Preparation:  it is all about the evidence with references and hard data (numbers and facts). 

 

eWaste Debate Resources:

9/21 An Introduction to Digital Storytelling (Dr. Shutkin)  Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

 

Viewing:  It's a Crisis of Presence....No Really 

Reading:  Multimedia Storytelling : The Transition to Multimedia Storytelling

By Paul Grabowicz   This web page, from the University of California, Berkeley Knight School of Journalism, offers a concise introduction to the emergence and significance of digital storytelling.

Week 5

9/24 Invited speaker, Joe Treaster  Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

 

Read about Dr. Treaster here

 

9/26 E-waste Interclass Debate  (Yom Kippur).

 

For the debate, please report to the large classroom above the Dolan Auditorium.  The room is Atrium 202-203 on the second floor above the Dolan Atrium.

 

9/28 Invited Speaker - Social Media, Twitter and Non-Profits. Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

  

Week 6 

 

Target Text

  

10/1  KONY 2012  Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

 

Reading:  "Not a click away: joseph kony in the real world" by Dinaw Mengestu  

 

Viewing prior to class:  The danger of a single story:  TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie

 

10/3 KONY 2012  Discussion

 

Noteworthy:

 

Readings:  

  1. A Letter From Uganda on #Kony2012  Posted on Mar 14, 2012 By Sara Weschler
  2. [Data Viz] KONY2012: See How Invisible Networks Helped a Campaign Capture the World’s Attention by Gilad Lotan. Posted on March 14, 2012. 

 

Resources: 

React and Respond: The Phenomenon of Kony 2012.  Written on behalf of the Outreach Council of the  African Studies Association

by Barbara B. Brown, Ph.D. (bbbrown@bu.edu), John Metzler, Ph.D. (metzler@msu.edu), Christine Root, Patrick Vinck, Ph.D.

 

Assignment Due:  BlogPost KONY2012

10/5 Serive Learning  Location: The Marinello Theater (above the bookstore in the Student Center)

 

Week 7 

 

Target Text

  

10/8   Chinese Grassroots activism   Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

  

Reading: Yang, Guobin (2009) The power of the Internet in China : citizen activism online. Introduction. pp 1-23.

 

Lecture: Dr. Tian.

Kaleidoscopic view of China and its online activism. General introduction of China; issues with environment, corruption, legal system. This sets the stage for small class discussion on why online activism in China?

 

10/10 Chinese Act. (2)  What do Chinese use social media for? Examine from various aspects:

 

"... to reveal the democratic aspirations of the common people in the ways

in which they produce, receive, and respond to critical, contentious

discourses on the Internet" -- Guobin Yang 

 

"...as state power attempts to control the Internet, the Internet users and

activists respond creatively to state control.  People are not "captive

audiences" but rather "skilled actors" in China's complex media

environment."  --  Guobin Yang

 

Noteworthy:

 

Videos : 

  1. Tank Man  1989 Tiananmen Square

 

 

2. Tiananmen Square Massacre. The 1989 Student Democracy Movement, Beijing China 

 

Discussion:  Collaborative multimedia blog

 

Readings:

    1. Link World tv  Anger Rising over Wenzhou Train Crash  

    2. Wines and LaFraniere, “In baring facts of train crash, blogs erode China censorship”  
    3. China Digital Times, “After Deadly Train Crash in China, Critics Claim State Cover-Up (Updated)” 
    4. Images from the Wenzhou train crash  

10/12  (No classes.  Fall break).

 

 

Week 8  

10/15   Chinese Act. (3) What else do Chinese use social media for?

 

Assignments Due:   Collaborative multimedia blog

 

Noteworthy:     

You can use the JCU Assignment Calendar Calculator to improve your research paper skills. Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center has teamed up with The JCU Writing Center and launched this online tool. You can select a subject area and due date and the tool will calculate a timeline for the research paper including selecting and focusing a project, creating a research strategy, finding and reviewing information sources and writing drafts and the final paper.   It's even great for researching a digital story.

 

What else do Chinese use social media for?

 

Photo Essay NYTimes: 9 October 2012: 

Lens: Looking Into the Eyes of ‘Made in China’

 

10/17 Chinese Act. 4  Why do Chinese use social media to achieve justice (what happens to the legal system and traditional media)?

 

Discussion:

Readings: 

1. Donald Clarke, “The Chinese Legal System”.

2. Minxin Pei, “Corruption Threatens China’s Future”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Policy Brief 55, 2007.

3. China Digital Times, “After Deadly Train Crash in China, Critics Claim State Cover-Up (Updated)"

4. Boss Rail : The disaster that exposed the underside of the boom.

by Evan Osnos October 22, 2012

 

What else do Chinese use social media for?  (Read Weibo, make an account, follow some folks, use the translator from Chinese...)

 

10/19  Service Learning Project Proposals and Meeting with Community Partners

 

Assignment Due: Service Learning Group Proposals

 

Noteworthy: 

Please go to your Serive Learning professor's classroom:  

Dr. Palmer / Dolan E120 Dr. Peden / AD25 Dr. Seiter / Dolan E346 Dr. Tian / Dolan E227

 

Find your service learning professor here 

 

Week 9

 

10/22  Chinese Activism 5:  Hide and Seek between government (censorship) and social media users (resistance)

 

Assignment Due:   DigitalStory Proposals 

 

Discussion:

"What Congress is looking for is real spine and willingness to stand up to the outrageous

demands of a totalitarian regime, Chinese dissidents are in the Chinese gulag because

Yahoo chose to reveal their identities to the Chinese government." 

-- Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat

 

 

 

Readings:

1. Wikipedia, “Great firewall of China”

2. China Readies New Microblogging Measures
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/10/china-readies-new-microblogging-measures/

3.Politicians lash out at tech firms over China. By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache

http://news.cnet.com/Politicians-lash-out-at-tech-firms-over-China/2100-1028_3-6039834.html?tag=mncol;txt

 

10/24        Digital Media and Storytelling

 

Noteworthy:

 

Reading:  

  1. Multimedia Storytelling : The Transition to Multimedia Storytelling By Paul Grabowicz
  2. Multimedia Storytelling By Jane Stevens

 

Video:

 

Discussion:

 

Workshop:    

Let's roll up our sleaves and get technical... After reading/discussing about digital storytelling from the perspective of the University of California Department of Journalism, perhaps you are considering making a website for your digital story?  Give WIX or Weebly an hour of your time, see what you have always already been able to do! You could even try PBworks! (That's what I used to make this site, not too flashy but really functional).   Be sure to find the level of support that you need from video tutorials to online support chats.          

10/26 Joyce Murton (Inited guest)  Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

 

Week 10

10/29 Wikileaks: Hacktivism, Censorship and the Internet 1

Target Text

 

Noteworthy:

 

Discussion:

 

Readings:

Kushner, D. (2012). MACHINE POLITICS. New Yorker, 88(12), 24-30.

The article discusses hacker George Hotz's impact on the technology industry. Hotz was the first person to hack into the iPhone smartphone from Apple, the PlayStation 3 gaming console by Sony, and inadvertently started the online "hacker wars" over ideology concerning the rights of companies versus online free speech. Hotz's achievements have lead companies to enter into a dialogue with hackers with the hopes of improving their security features and protecting them against future cyber-attacks.

 

Resources:

WikiLeaks

 

Viewings:

Hacking and Jailbreaking with George Hotz

 

 

This TED video describes the expanding struggle for freedom and control in cyberspace, and asks: How do we design the next phase of the Internet with accountability and freedom at its core, rather than control?

 

10/31   Wikileaks: Hacktivism, Censorship and the Internet 2

 

Noteworthy:

Al Weiwei: Never Story:  United States | 2012 | Alison Klaymant

Friday at the Cleveland Cinematheque. Contact Dr. Palmer if interested: dpalmer@jcu.edu

 

Reading:

Murphy, S. (2011). Agents provocateurs.New Scientist, 211(2829), 46-49.

The article discusses hacktivists, computer hackers who carry out cyberattacks as a form of political protest. Hacker collective groups such as Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT), the Anonymous collective, and Lulz Security (LulzSec) are examined. The role of hacktivism in the development of better cybersecurity, the creation of new technology, and government control of the internet is discussed and cybercrime laws in the U.S. are examined.

 

 

11/2  Service Learning, Digital Media and Social Justice Class meets in the main Dolan Auditorium

 

JCU seniors with service learning experience share their views and perspectives

 

Assignment Due:  BlogPost: Hacktivism, Censorship and the Internet

 

Week 11

11/5 Service Learning, Digital Media and Social Justice

 

Assignment Due:  DigitalStory Annotated Bibliography

 

11/7  Service Learning, Digital Media and Social Justice

 

Noteworthy: 

 

Please go to your Serive Learning professor's classroom:  

Dr. Palmer / Dolan E120 Dr. Peden / AD25 Dr. Seiter / Dolan E346 Dr. Tian / Dolan E227

 

Find your service learning professor here 

 

11/9  Digital Divide Framework (Dr. Seiter) Class meets in the Jardine Room

Target Text

 

Week 12

 

11/12  Producing a storyboard for your digital story 

 

Discussions:

 

Reading:

The Multimedia Storyboard  By Jane Stevens

 

Workshop time

 

 

11/14  Service Project Updates  Meet with Service Learning groups in liaison classroom

 

Nonprofits and Social Media

 

Readings

http://mashable.com/2011/10/14/how-non-profits-use-social-media/

http://www.slideshare.net/chadnorman/50-social-media-tactics-to-help-nonprofits-meet-their-mission

 

Blog:

Visit some of the nonprofit twitter accounts and facebook websites described in the second reading.   Compare their content.  Which are better organized in terms of providing information that may lead to better recruitment of volunteers, funding, etc?

 

11/16  Digital Divide (2)  You and ICT Literacy 

 

Reading:

Mark Warschauer, “Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide” First Monday, Volume 7, Number 7 - 1 July 2002 

Viewing: 

"Think about it...." Using Digital Technology to tackle Social Exclusion

 

Discussion: 

Effective Use of ICT's

 

What are your ICT literacy skills? How have your ICT literacy skills evolved over your lifetime with respect to Warschauer’s model (as depicted in Figure 1), the notions of literacy and ICT access (depicted in Table 1), and Warshauer’s discussion of the six principles of literacy and the related six principles of ITC access.  How have the physical, digital, human and social resources of your life allowed you to effectively make use of existing information on the internet as well as contribute new content?  

 

Consider the people you interact with in your weekly service.  What physical, digital, human and social resources do they have available with respect to Warschauer’s model?

 

ICT Resources

  1. Physical resources encompass access to computers and telecommunication connections.

  2. Digital resources refer to digital material that is made available online.

  3. Human resources revolve around issues such as literacy and education (including the particular types of literacy practices that are required for computer use and online communication).

  4. Social resources refer to the community, institutional, and societal structures that support access to ICT.

 

Six principal conclusions about literacy:

  1. There is not just one, but many types of literacy;

  2. The meaning and value of literacy varies in particular social contexts;

  3. Literacy capabilities exists in gradations, rather than in a bipolar opposition of literate versus illiterate;

  4. Literacy alone brings no automatic benefit outside of its particular functions;

  5. Literacy is a social practice, involving access to physical artifacts, content, skills, and social support; and,

  6. Acquisition of literacy is a matter not only of education, but also of power.

 

Week 13

11/19  Digital Divide (3)  Universal Broadband and Mobile Access 

 

Reading:

Universal Broadband Adoption, How to get there and why America needs it. Report by Minority Media and Telecom Council (MMTC).  

 

Read based on last name:

Ch3 Economic Growth (A-K),

Ch4 Education (M),

Ch5 Civic Engagement, Ch6 HealthCare, Ch7 Energy (N-P),

Ch8 Media, Ch10 Role of Nonprofits (R-T).

 

Discussion: 

 Is broadband the top civil rights issue of the 21st century?  Is mobile technology the fix?

 

Viewing:  Announcing the National Broadband Plan

 

Resources

 

 

11/20 Digital Divide (4)  Net Neutrality

 

Assignment Due:  DigitalStory StoryBoards

 

Readings:

  1. Keeping the Internet Neutral, Eduardo Porter, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/business/economy/net-neutrality-and-economic-equality-are-intertwined.html?_r=0
  2. Why net neutrality is incompatible with internet freedom. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57504598-93/why-net-neutrality-is-incompatible-with-internet-freedom/
  3. How Big Telecom Used Smartphones to Create a New Digital Divide http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/12/the_new_digital_divide_two_separate_but_unequal_internets.html
  4. GOP Platform Calls For 'Internet Freedom,' Opposes Net Neutrality  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/gop-platform-internet_n_1841228.html

 

Class Discussion:

Al Franken – Net Neutrality “Biggest Issue Since Freedom of Religion”

John Stewart On Net Neutrality

 

Resources:

http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_Reforming/#Item5

http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/blog/david-honig-fccs-focus-net-neutrality-will-increase-digital-divide

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/gop-platform-internet_n_1841228.html

http://broadbandandsocialjustice.org/2011/07/how-your-internet-bill-helps-netflix-%E2%80%94-and-hurts-the-poor/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57496785-38/verizon-renews-criticism-of-net-neutrality-regulations/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57498172-94/at-t-defends-facetime-restrictions-amid-sharp-criticism/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20085054-38/is-net-neutrality-blocking-fcc-spectrum-auctions/?tag=mncol;mlt_related

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20083882-266/why-spectrum-debate-is-tied-to-debt-ceiling-plan/?tag=mncol;mlt_related

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10019517-94.html

http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/blog/online-supporter-week-why-internet-reclassification-bad-america

 

 

Week 14

 

Target Text

 

11/26 Swarm kickoff (Dr. Palmer)  Class meets in the main Dolan Atrium

 

Assignment Due: BlogPost Internet Freedom Vs. Net Neutrality

 

11/28 (2) Swarm event All students meet/congregate in Jardine room 

 

 

11/30 Digital Story Work and Consultation

 

This is time to share your digital story still in progress with others in class.  

It is a time to solve technical, conceptual and design issues and a time to consult with Dr. Shutkin.

Week 15

12/3  Digital Story Gallery Day

Assignment Due:  Digital Story 

12/5  Swarm 

 

Viewing and Discussion

Video by the  director of the Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT  on using social media to develop greater intelligences than individuals possess  (30 Minutes).

 

"As all the people and computers on our planet get more and more closely connected, it's becoming increasingly useful to think of all the people and computers on the planet as a kind of global brain."

THOMAS W. MALONE, Professor of Management at the MIT and founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence.

12/7  Digital Media and Service Learning Discussions

 

Prepare to share a brief overview of the presentation you'll make during your final.

 

Final 12/10 1pm  Project Presentations