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I am looking for course materials. If you've taught a class in CyAn, please send me your syllabus.
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I am always looking for course materials from various courses. If you've taught a class in CyAn, please send me your syllabus.
You can contact me at caseorganic at gmail dot com.
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Please [mailto:case@cyborganthropology.com contact me] if you have a syllabus to contribute.  
  
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===Assorted Colleges and Universities===
 +
*SOAN 390 - [[Cyborg Anthropology: Anthropology of Science and Technology]]
 +
*1A.350 / SP.484J / STS.086 [[The Anthropology of Computing: Digital Cultures Spring 2009 MIT]] | [http://web.mit.edu/wgs/academics/syllabi/SP484.pdf Download PDF]
 +
*21A.850J / STS.484J [[The Anthropology of Cybercultures]]
 +
*LIS 598: [[Infomation and Contemplation: University of Washington Information School]] | [http://www.contemplativemind.org/programs/academic/syllabi/levy.pdf Download PDF]
 +
*ANTH 242 AA: [[The Anthropology of Cyberspace]] | University of Regina Fall 2010
 +
*209 Theory Seminar [[Cities and Cyborgs: Computing and the Metropolis, 1860-2010]] | UC Berkeley 2011
  
== SOAN 390 - CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGY: Anthropology of Science and Technology ==
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{{clear}}
<br />
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===MIT Open Courseware===
 +
[[Image:mit-open-courseware.jpg|right|300px]]
 +
====Science and Technology Studies====
 +
*STS.S28 [[Godzilla and the Bullet Train: Technology and Culture in Modern Japan]] Fall 2005
 +
*STS.484J [[The Anthropology of Cybercultures]] Spring 2009
 +
*STS.464 [[Cultural History of Technology]] Spring 2005
 +
*STS.462 [[Social and Political Implications of Technology]] Spring 2006
 +
*STS.428 [[Technology and Change in Rural America]] Fall 2004
 +
*STS.420J [[The Structure of Engineering Revolutions]] Fall 2001
 +
*STS.415J [[Nature, Environment, and Empire]] Spring 2010
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*STS.086J [[The Anthropology of Computing]] Fall 2004
 +
*STS.085 [[Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier]] Fall 2005
 +
*STS.075J [[Technology and Culture]] Fall 2006
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*STS.069 [[Technology in a Dangerous World]] Fall 2002
  
'''INSTRUCTOR: DEBORAH HEATH'''
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====Business Management====
<br />
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*15.668 [[People and Organizations]] Fall 2005
MW 6:00pm-7:30pm, Howard 203<br />
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*15.665B [[Power and Negotiation]] Fall 2002
Office: Howard 350 - Tel.: x7663, 7616; email: heath@lclark.edu<br />
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*15.316 [[Building and Leading Effective Teams]] Summer 2005
Office hours: M 1:30-2:30, W 1:30-3:30, and by appointment; via email at any time<br />
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*15.020 [[Competition in Telecommunications]] Fall 2003
(Please let me know in advance by email if you need to reschedule an appointment.)<br />
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'''This course will examine recent work in the emerging field of anthropology of science and technology.  We will take as our point of departure two tropes.'''
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====Special Topics on Technology and Humanity====
<br />
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*MAS.962 [[Autism Theory and Technology]] Spring 2006
The first is the image of the cyborg, and other hybrids produced by the merging of organism and machine, or of humans and their toolsThe classic text is Donna Haraway’s 1985 essay “A Cyborg Manifesto.”  This will lead to questions about the prosthetic devices that extend human agency, about the complex networks of association that link human and nonhuman allies, and about who is included or excluded from those networks. 
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<br />
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The second, drawing from later work by Haraway, beginning with her collection Primate Visions, from Bruno Latour’s new book Politics of Nature, is the image of nature/culture, a perspective that sees the natural and cultural dimensions as inextricably linked.  (See also my co-edited volume Genetic NatureCulture, Univ. of California Press, 2004).  This is a vision that leads us towards organismal hybrid relations between humans and other species, or humans and microbial life forms, or humans and their varied environments. 
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<br />
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Both of these trajectories instantiate a fully relational perspective that embraces complexities and resists reductionistic categorizations.  Learning to think in this manner, struggling to see what links phenomena we have learned to see as separate and contradictory, will be the central task that we undertake together in this course.  We will work to see the networks and practices that link Science and Society, Fact and Artifact, Truth and Value, Nature and Culture, (hegemonic) Self and (subaltern) Other, recognizing how binaries are constructed and sustained, and whose interests are served by reproducing those divisions.
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<br />
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We will read a great deal, with “texts” that include science fiction as well as cultural analyses of technoscientific fact, films as well as written works, and time spent with each other and with other worlds on line.
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<br />
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'''EXPECTATIONS'''
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Resources for people beginning in digital anthropology: 
*1. BE HERE.  As a seminar member, your presence is an essential ingredient.  With once-a-week meetings, it's imperative that you aim for a perfect attendance record.  Please notify me before class in the event of medical/personal emergencies.  In addition to your f2f (face-to-face) presence in class, you'll want to make regular virtual appearances on the class listserv. 
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*2. BE PREPARED.  A good seminar experience relies on everyone having carefully read (and re-read) and reflected on the week's readings in advance.  Bring the text(s), and your notes, summaries and questions to each class.  Please prepare a typed paragraph with comments and/or questions in response to the readings for each class. 
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*3. BE ENGAGED.  In person, and in writing, you will want to demonstrate your critical engagement with the readings (and their wider contexts), with each other (productively and respectfully), and with me. (Stay in touch: in class, on line, during office hours).  I am (passionately) interested in evidence of your curiosity, and promise to respond in kind.
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*4. BE ON TIME.  In class and on assignments.  Please spare me the surveillance role; I'd rather devote my energies to you and your ideas.
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'''MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS'''
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The problem with a lot of resources in this area is that they tend to go out of date. I think it is far wiser to invest time in traditional theory and a study of history. This way, one can able to apply insights no matter what kind of sociocultural change is going on. While I'm going to link to a source of living knowledge (this wiki of digital anthropology resources) I'd also like to cite a number of trdtional books that help one step outside the gaze of the everyday experience and into the gaze of understanding systems and strucutres as a whole. 
  
*Midterm, Week 8.
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One of the main benefits of the anthropological perspective (and the historical perspective) is the ability not to be surprised. Most things have occurred before. Everything is pretty much the same, it has just manifested differently. 
*Research Paper, due finals week. Approximately 20pp., typed, double-spaced, proofread.
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'''READINGS'''
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The following resources are short, but can be used to learn a bit more. Also see [[Reading List]], [[:Category:Books]]
  
Articles not found in The Cyborg Handbook will be on electronic reserve. In addition we will read the following books:
+
===Books===
 +
*[[The Cyborg Handbook]]
 +
*[[All that is Solid Melts into Air]]
 +
*[[Liquid Modernity]]
 +
*[[Non-Places: An Introduction to a Theory of Supermodernity]]
 +
*[[The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture]]
  
'''Books:'''
+
===Websites===
<br />
+
*[http://ctheory.net/ CTheory] is a really great site for keeping up on cutting edge theory.
*Kristin Adal, Brita Brenna, and Ingunn Moser, Eds.  Technoscience: The Politics of Intervention. Oslo: Unipub, 2007
+
  
*Tom Boellstorf, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008
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===Multimedia===
 +
http://escapepod.org/
  
*Chris Hables Gray, Heidi Figuroa-Sarriera, Steven Mentor, Eds. [[The Cyborg Handbook]]. New York and London: Routledge, 1996.  
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If traditional anthropologists look to the a culture's literature or mythology in order to understand how they function, a cyborg anthropologist must look at a civilization's science fiction in order to understand how they might function. EscapePod is a podcast that breaks some of the best new science fiction stories out there. It's a constant source of inspiration thinking differently and envisioning people in new systems.  
  
*Donna Haraway, Thyrza and Nichols Goodeve, How Like a Leaf: An Interview with Donna Haraway.  New York and London: Routledge, 1999.
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__NOTOC__
 
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*Bruno Latour, Science in Action.  Boston, MA: Harvard, 1987 [Excerpts, on reserve]
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*Marge Piercy, He, She and It.  New York: Fawcett, 1993. 
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*Peter Redfield, Space in the Tropics.  Berkeley: University of California, 2000
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We will also view the following films, for which you’ll take notes, and be prepared to discuss their relevance to the readings and broader topics of discussion in the course:
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'''Films:'''
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<br />
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*Bedtime for Bonzo.  Director: Frederick de Cordova.  1951.  (83 min.)
+
 
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*Bladerunner.  Director: Ridley Scott.  1999 (Original, 1982) (117 min.)
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*Donna Haraway Reads the National Geographics of Primates.  New York, NY: Paper Tiger Television, 1987 (30 min.)
+
 
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*GATTACA.  1997 (101 min.)
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+
'''Articles:'''
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<br />
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*Haraway, Donna. 1985/1991. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” Pp. 149-182 in Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge.
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*Deborah Heath, 1998a  “Bodies, Antibodies and Modest Interventions: Works of Art in the Age of Cyborgian Reproduction.”  In Gary Downey and Joseph Dumit, eds.  Cyborgs and Citadels: Anthropological Interventions in the Borderlands of Technoscience.  Santa Fe NM: School of American Research. 
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'''SCHEDULE'''
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<br />
+
 
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*Week 1  9/3  Introductions
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*Week 2  9/8  Marge Piercy, He, She, and It (Ch. 1-12); Chris Gray, et al., Eds. The Cyborg Handbook, Ch. 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 (Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline, originators of the term “cyborg”).  An overview of the Golem narrative, with additional links: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/golem.html
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9/10 He, She, and It (Ch. 13-25); Chris Gray, ed. The Cyborg Handbook, Forward by Donna Haraway
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*Week 3  9/15  Marge Piercy, He, She, and It (Ch. 26-38); Donna Haraway and T. N. Goodeve How Like a Leaf, Ch. 1-3
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9/17  He, She, and It (Ch. 39-49)
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*Week 4  9/22  Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto;" Chris Gray, ed. The Cyborg Handbook, Ch. 5.1
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9/24  Donna Haraway and T. N. Goodeve How Like a Leaf, Ch. 4-5, Coda; Chris Gray, ed. The Cyborg Handbook, Ch. 5.3, 5.4 (Cyborg Anthropology)
+
 
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*Week 5  9/ 29  Kristin Asdal, et al., Eds., Technoscience: The Politics of Intervention, “The Politics of Intervention: A History of STS”
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10/1  Susan Leigh Star, “Power, Technology, and the Phenomenology of Conventions: On Being Allergic to Onions”, and Donna Haraway, “Situated Knowledges” in Asdal, et al., Eds.
+
 
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*Week 6  10/6  Deborah Heath, “Bodies, Antibodies and Modest Interventions”, in Asdal, et al., Eds., and Michael Flower & Deborah Heath, “Microanatomopolitics” [on reserve]
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10/8  Independent study session
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*Week 7  10/13 Bruno Latour, Science in Action, [Ch. 1-2, Rules of Method, Principles. On reserve]; Bruno Latour, “To Modernize or Ecologize?” and Michel Callon, “Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St. Brieuc Bay,” in Asdal, et al., Eds.
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10/15 De Laet and Mol, “The Zimbabwe Bush Pump,” and Ingunn Moser and John Law, “Good Passages, Bad Passages,” in Asdal, et al., Eds.
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*Week 8  10/20  Midterm presentations
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10/22  Midterm presentations
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*Week 9  10/27 Tom Boellstorf, Coming of Age in Second Life, Ch. 1-3
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10/29  Boellstorf, Ch. 4-6
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*Week 10  11/3  Boellstorf, Ch. 7-9
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11/5  Film: GATTACA
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*Week 11  11/10  Peter Redfield, Space in the Tropics, Ch. 1-3
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11/12  Redfield, Ch. 4-6
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*Week 12  11/17  Redfield, Ch. 7-9
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11/19  Heather Horst, “The blessings and burdens of communication: cell phones in Jamaican transnational social fields,” Global Networks 6(2):143-159 [on reserve]
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*Week 13  11/24  Film: Bedtime for Bonzo.  Donna Haraway, Primate Visions, Ch. 7, “Apes in Eden, Apes in Space” [on reserve] 11/26  Independent study session
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*Week 14  12/1  Film: Donna Haraway Reads the National Geographics of Primates.  Donna Haraway, Primate Visions, Ch. 3, “Teddy Bear Patriarchy”
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12/3  Hugh Gusterson, “Short Circuit: Watching Television with a Nuclear Weapons Scientist,” and Ken Robins and Les Levidow, “Socializing the Cyborg Self” in Chris Gray, et al., Eds. The Cyborg Handbook.
+
 
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*Week 15  12/8 Teaching Evaluations.  Sandy Stone, “Split Subjects, Not Atoms; or, How I Fell in Love With My Prosthesis,” and Chela Sandoval, “New Sciences: Cyborg Feminism and the Methodology of the Oppressed,” in Chris Gray, et al., Eds. The Cyborg Handbook.
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12/10 LAST DAY OF CLASS. Presentations
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*'''Final Exam Period:  Monday, 12/15, 6-9pm  Presentations'''
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<br />
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+
==== Bureaucratic Postscript ====
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<br />
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'''Academic Integrity:'''  I will assume that you have read, understood, and upheld Lewis & Clark’s Academic Integrity Policy (www.lclark.edu/~stlife) in all our work for this course.  Among other things, the policy prohibits all forms of plagiarism and cheating in your coursework.  YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR READING THIS POLICY.  A good source of information about avoiding plagiarism is http://www.lclark.edu/~writing/need%20to%20cite/need_text.htm
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<br /><br />
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'''Anthropology Citation Style:'''  Careful, correct citation practices help boost your immunity to accidental plagiarism.  The key principle is that if someone else is the source or inspiration for what you write, they should receive credit.  Each discipline handles the details of citation differently.  The LC Writing Center website summarizes the standard form used in anthropology: <http://lclark.edu/~writing/citing/cite.htm>.  Click on “Style for Anthropology.”  (For more details, see the website of the American Anthropological Association: http://www.aaanet.org/publications/guidelines.cfm, scrolling down to the heading "Text Citations and References Cited.") 
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<br /><br />
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'''Yes, type it, and PROOFREAD, please!'''  Formal work will be typed with normal margins, double-spaced (no, not 1.5), and PROOFREAD.  Please strive to hand in clean work so that I can focus on your ideas.  Make me happy by avoiding these grammatical faux pas: run-on sentences (NO comma splices!), incorrect use of “it’s”, rampant spelling errors (use spell check or a friendly human editor).
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<br /><br />
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'''Key elements of successful writing:'''  See the LC Writing Center, on-line or on site, for a treasure trove of writing tips.  Let me know what kind of feedback will help you most.  I will look for the following in evaluating formal writing:
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*1. Creativity in selecting a topic or approach
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*2. Anthropological focus, relevance to course material
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*3. Coherence and clarity
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*4. Convincing use of appropriate examples or evidence
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*5. Lively use of language
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*6. Good flow in the progression of ideas
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*7. Editing to eliminate surface errors: grammar, syntax, punctuation
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<br />
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*Accommodating Learning Differences:  I am most willing to learn from you how you learn best, and to help you strategize to do your best work.  If you have a diagnosed learning difference, or wonder whether you might, contact Dale Holloway in Student Support Services, x7175. She will help determine the accommodations you need, and will notify your instructors.
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+
----
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<private>
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+
== Sample Syllabus ==
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Communication 340:  Media Across Cultures.
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Spring, 2008
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Peter Christenson
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Office:  370 Howard
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Hours: 
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Phone: ext. 7614, e-mail peterc
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=== Course Description ===
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<br />
+
This course has three distinct but related concerns:  first, to compare the ways in which various countries and cultures structure and control their mass media; second, to examine the uses of mass media in economic development, particularly in the "Third World"; and third, to examine the patterns and implications of transnational and transcultural media flow.  At all times the course material will be presented and discussed in such a way that it both informs us about other approaches to mass media and forces us to evaluate the ways in which our own culture deals with the problems and opportunities presented by mass communication technology.  As we will see, differences in cultural values, political systems and national resources have produced a wide range of developments in the mass media.  We should not assume that the U.S. system is the only possible structure or the best--even for us.  Finally, we should be aware of  the dominant role the West (especially the United States) has played in global communication, and of the considerable resentment this domination has produced among the media-weak countries and regions of the world.<br />
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This course places a great deal of emphasis on the input and participation of the students.  There will be some lectures, but discussion and criticism are always invited—indeed, such discussion is crucial to the success of the course.  Note that new material not covered in the readings is introduced at times, sometimes in the form of short lectures, but just as often in the form of media materials such as video clips, samples of newspaper output, and popular music.  Regular attendance and participation is highly recommended (and noticed). 
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Readings
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1. Anokwa, Lin & Salwen, International Communication (Thompson-Wadsworth, 2003)
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2. Reserve readings.
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Requirements and grading:
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Paper 15%
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Panel presentation 15%
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2 exams at 25% each 50%
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Unannouced "quiz opportunities"--
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    (6 or more, keep best 5), 1% each   5%
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Interview assignment 10%
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Class participation, informal assignments   5%
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------
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            100%
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�Schedule of Topics and Readings
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+
 
+
Note: "ALS" indicates a reading from the book by Anoka, Lin & Salwen. Others are on electronic reserve, listed by author's last name. To save space, multiple-authored readings are indicated by the first author's name followed by a + sign. The letter H after an entry means I supply it as a handout.
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Date, activity. Reading
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Jan.
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23 Introduction to the course. ---
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---
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28 The global context and a quick history Stevenson 1-23, Palmer 1-21
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31 No class.  FOCUS THE NATION!
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---
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Feb.
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4 Communication between cultures. Stevenson 25-54
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6 English: the global language. Moving Stevenson 81-102, Head 1-7, ALS pp. 1-4
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into media.
+
---
+
 
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11 US/Canadian media. Bird 61-83, National Council 21-35,
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Lucas (H)
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13 US, cont. British media. Mayer 479-95, Wheatcroft+ 7pp.,
+
Evans 99-122, Boyd 83-94
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---
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18 British, European media. Griffin 39-57, Rowland+9-27,
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Hulten 237-48
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20 News in the West. Stevenson 105-112, Hachten 29-40,
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Hoge 48-52
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---
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25 The world in US news. ALS 89-110 & 153-71
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Straubhaar 89-109
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27 "Consuming Hunger." Adams 54-60
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---
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March
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3 Asian news practices. ALS 24-46 & 205-222
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5 Propaganda. ALS 47-87
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---
+
 
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10 EXAM I.
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+
 
+
 
+
 
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12 Media in the developing world. Reeves 1-22 & 185-200,
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Russian media 1. Medetsky 1-5
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---
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17 The media in Russia 2. Lupis 28-39
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+
19 Media in Africa.  Nigeria. Aginam 121-142,
+
Olorunnisola 99-114
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---
+
 
+
SPRING BREAK
+
---
+
 
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31 Media and national development. Stevenson 231-259, ALS 129-152
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+
April
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2 Media and the Arab world. ALS 239-252, Hussein 112-130
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---
+
7 No class--catch up on reading!
+
 
+
9 Media in Asia. India. ALS 205-222, Rao 131-144, Kang+ 293-301
+
 
+
---
+
14 Global issues: film. ALS 175-189
+
 
+
16 Global issues: popular music. Colista+ 181-94, McPhail 106-116
+
 
+
---
+
21 Global issues: advertising. ALS 190-204, Mueller+ 225-244
+
 
+
23 The Big Picture 1. Demers 51-60, ALS 223-238, Pells 1-5
+
 
+
---
+
28 The Big Picture 2. Barber 1-20, Hart+ 250-282
+
+
30 EXAM 2.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
PAPERS ARE DUE SAT. MAY 3 BY NOON.
+
 
+
</private>
+

Latest revision as of 18:21, 16 September 2012

I am always looking for course materials from various courses. If you've taught a class in CyAn, please send me your syllabus. Please contact me if you have a syllabus to contribute.

Assorted Colleges and Universities

MIT Open Courseware

Mit-open-courseware.jpg

Science and Technology Studies

Business Management

Special Topics on Technology and Humanity

Resources for people beginning in digital anthropology: 

The problem with a lot of resources in this area is that they tend to go out of date. I think it is far wiser to invest time in traditional theory and a study of history. This way, one can able to apply insights no matter what kind of sociocultural change is going on. While I'm going to link to a source of living knowledge (this wiki of digital anthropology resources) I'd also like to cite a number of trdtional books that help one step outside the gaze of the everyday experience and into the gaze of understanding systems and strucutres as a whole. 

One of the main benefits of the anthropological perspective (and the historical perspective) is the ability not to be surprised. Most things have occurred before. Everything is pretty much the same, it has just manifested differently. 

The following resources are short, but can be used to learn a bit more. Also see Reading List, Category:Books

Books

Websites

  • CTheory is a really great site for keeping up on cutting edge theory.

Multimedia

http://escapepod.org/

If traditional anthropologists look to the a culture's literature or mythology in order to understand how they function, a cyborg anthropologist must look at a civilization's science fiction in order to understand how they might function. EscapePod is a podcast that breaks some of the best new science fiction stories out there. It's a constant source of inspiration thinking differently and envisioning people in new systems.