ANTH 341.001 Information Age Cultures: Living in the Information City
Samuel G. Collins
scollins@towson.edu
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1-3 pm
Fridays, 1-2 pm
Class Description
The twenty-first century finds a surfeit of narratives chronicling the emergence of "information society." Some of these posit a decisive break with the past, an "information society" so different than preceding "Fordist" or "Gutenberg" eras as to engender entirely new modes of being. Other works locate information society at the apex (or aporia) of developments in culture, politics or library science. In these, information society is only explicable in light of earlier "epochs"--a "Gutenberg Galaxy" giving way to more "cool" mediums, the vertical organization of Fordism giving way to post-Fordist, flexible networks.
Against that, we will examine information society as part of continuing process
of rapid modernization that began (in some formulations) at the end of the
Renaissance involving
rationalization, commodification, alienation/anomie as well as shifts in
production and the politics of space.
Grasping the immensity of this "information society" means moving outside of the
confines of any one institution or discourse--beyond "information society" as
the sum of
technological advancements, as organizational shifts, as legal frameworks of
intellectual property
and surveillance, as "mediated" modes of being. This is where anthropology comes
in. An
anthropological understanding is predicated on making meaningful connections
between
apparently singular, local instances of social and cultural life without
causally privileging any one
of them.
In the course of this class, students will examine "information society" from
their perspectives of urban dwellers, as denizens of Baltimore. We begin by
examining our AIT-augmented selves as we traverse the hypertrophied spaces of
the city, analyzing information society as habitus and bodily hexis through
applications of distributed cognition, multiagent systems and actor-network
theory. From there, we move to a consideration of information society as a
constitutive element in the formation of what Vivian Sobchak calls “a hypnogogic
site where the anxieties, desires, and fetishes of a culture’s waking world and
dream world converge and are resolved into a substantial and symbolic
architecture.” By looking at work and social life both as they exist and as we
might like them to exist, in social relations, work and organization. Finally,
we consider information society as transformative of larger forces of political
economy, and of our relationship to the city, the nation-state and the world.
Following a survey of contemporary theories of network society, students will examine aspects of the information age pertaining to their own lives in Baltimore in a series of assignments tracing successively wider contexts. Finally, The end of the class will explore future dimensions of information and will seek to plot a middle-ground between uncritical, utopian evocations of a technocratic world and dystopian prognostications.
Learning Goals:
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Understand and explain diverse theories of "information society":
technological, economic,
political, social and cultural.2. Understand, debate and assess the concept of
"information society" from an anthropological perspective.
3. Utilize anthropological method and theory to analyze "information society" in
social and
cultural contexts.
4. Critically reflect on the effects of "information society" changes on the
lives of the student
herself and the people around her.
5. Communicate anthropological critiques of "information society" to educated
groups of non-
anthropologists.
Class Readings
Lally, Elaine (2002). At Home With Computers. New York: Berg.
LiPuma, Edward and Benjamin Lee (2004). Financial Derivatives and the Globalization of Risk. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Papadimitriou, Christos H. (2003). Turing. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Ross, Andrew (2003). No-Collar: the Humane Workplace and Its Hidden Costs. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Class Assignments:
1). Assignment #1 (2-3 pages, September 28). Write a short paper reflecting on the place of IT (e.g., cell phones, PDAs) in your own life. In particular, consider the ways in which IT mediates your life in the city. How do these manage/structure/determine the way you live? 50 pts.
2). Assignment #2 (2-3 pages, November 9). Consider the an aspect of information society impacting your work place or affecting your work career choices/opportunities. 50 pts.
3). Assignment #3 (2-3 page paper, December 7; 6 online postings, due every week from October 10 to November 16). Contrast Baltimore as a physical “place” to virtual representations of the city, including blogs and games like “Suffering: the Ties That Bind” (http://www.sufferingtiesthatbind.com/main.php). Post the results of ongoing investigations on the class wiki. Analyze the representations of Baltimore in light of class lectures and readings on information, power and political economy. 75 pts.
4). Final examination (December 12): A combination of true-false, multiple choice and short answer questions covering lectures, readings and major themes explored during the semester. 25 pts.
class grading
Your final grade will be computed by adding together the following point values for graded assignments and examinations:
A 186+
A- 180-185
B+ 174-179
B 166-173
B- 160-165
C+ 154-159
C 146-153
C- 140-145
D+ 134-139
D 120-133
F <120
Class Schedule:
Week 1 (8/29-8/31): Class Introduction: Information Society
Assigned reading: Turing, pp. 1-52.
Week 2 (9/7): Anthropological Approaches to Information Society
–Theories of Information Society
Assigned reading: Turing, pp. 53-90
Lally, pp. 1-46
–Film: "Virtual Friends" (2000)
September 5–LABOR DAY
September 7–Change of schedule period ends.
Week 3 (9/12-9/14): Anthropology and the Informational City
–Actor-network theory and the practice of AIT.
Assigned reading: Turing, pp. 91-138
Lally, pp. 47-98
Week 4 (9/19-9/21): Information and the Mysteries of Baltimore
–Multiagent systems.
--Cyborg anthropology.
Assigned Reading: Turing, pp. 139-188
Lally, pp. 99-134
Week 5 (9/26-9/28): Sites of information society: Postmodernism and
Identity
Assigned Reading: Turing, pp. 189-220
Lally, pp. 135-190
September 28: FIRST ASSIGNMENT DUE
Film: TBA
Week 6 (10/3-10/5): Sites of information society: Institutions and work
Assigned Reading: Turing, pp. 221-282
Lally, pp. 191-222
Week 7 (10/10-10/12): Sites of information society: Power and inequality
Assigned Reading: Ross, Chapters 1-2
October 10: FIRST ONLINE POSTING DUE
Week 8 (10/17-10/19): Post-Fordism and Flexible Labor
Assigned Reading: Ross, Chapters 3-4
Film: Secrets of Silicon Valley
Week 9 (10/24-10/26) Information society and culture
Assigned Reading: Ross, Chapters 5-6
Week 10 (10/31-11/2): Mass media and global culture
Assigned Reading: Ross, Chapters 7-8
–Film: Manufacturing Consent
Week 11 (11/7-11/9): Advanced capitalism and the world system
November 9: Last day to withdraw with a ‘W’.
–Globalization and Inequality
Assigned readings: LiPuma and Lee, pp. 1-66
November 9: SECOND ASSIGNMENT DUE
Week 12 (11/14-11/16): Imaginaries and the nation-state
Assigned Readings: LiPuma and Lee, pp. 67-106
Week 13 (11/21):
November 23-26: Thanksgiving Break
Film: Life and debt
Week 14 (11/28-11/30): Information Society and the Future
–Utopias/Dystopias
–Emergent Orders of Power/Knowledge
Assigned Reading: LiPuma and Lee, pp. 107-189
Film: TBA
Week 15 (12/5-12/7): Alternatives to Postmodern Dystopia
December 7: THIRD ASSIGNMENT DUE
December 9: Last day of classes.
Final Examination: Monday, December 12, 10:15 am-12:15 pm.
notes 1. Although exams and graded work will remain as stated above, I may have to change different readings or films on the syllabus throughout the semester. I will, in any case, try to give you ample warning of any syllabus changes. 2. Each student is required to review and understand the University's rules regarding cheating and plagiarism (Towson University Undergraduate Catalog, Appendix F). Neither will be tolerated in my class and will result in a flunking grade.
Department Statement on Academic Dishonesty
The faculty of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice take a strong stand against Academic Dishonesty of all forms. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any class. It includes, but is not limited to, any form of cheating or unapproved help on an exam or academic exercise, copying someone else’s written work without citation, presenting fabricated information as legitimate, any unauthorized collaboration among students, or assisting someone to cheat in any way. All students have the ethical responsibility for doing their own work. A student who is uncertain about whether or not something constitutes academic dishonesty in a particular class has the obligation to see their instructor for clarification. Consistent with university policy, the minimum penalty for academic dishonesty in any form is determined by the individual faculty member in each class, and may consist of ““a reduced grade (including ““F”” or zero) for the assignment; a reduced grade (including ““F””) for the entire course,”” or other options as stipulated in Appendix F of the Undergraduate Catalog. Students who are charged with academic dishonesty must remain enrolled in the course and cannot withdraw. Instructors who make the determination that academic dishonesty has occurred will notify the student in writing of the finding, the penalty, and the process for appeal. The same written notice will be forwarded
3. Students with learning disabilities should register at the Disability Support Services Office.
explanation of grading
explanation of grading
Consistent with University policy, the following grades will be assigned according to the designated criteria:
A: A superior performance surpassing assigned work in unique and novel ways and
integrating diverse ideas from a wide range of sources in addition to those discussed in class.
A-
B+
B: Excellent work surpassing the expectations of the assignment and demonstrating initiative
and a willingness to move beyond the basic requirements of the assigned work.
B-
C+
C: Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.
C-
D+
D: Work in some way less than satisfactory. Although conforming to basic requirements in
some way, the completed work is nevertheless not a coherent response to the
assignment.
F: A profoundly unsatisfactory performance which doesn't meet
the intent of the assignment at any level.