ANTH 341: Information Age Cultures
Mondays, Wednesdays, 3:30-4:45 pm
Li-007

Instructor: Samuel Collins
Office: Li-318A
Telephone: x43199
email: scollins@towson.edu
homepage: www.towson.edu/~scollins

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1-3 pm

Fridays, 1-2 pm, or by appointment

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. But all of
these formulations remain "emergent": "information society" has proven notoriously resistant to
empirical description and to argue for a summary break with the past or a selective genealogy is,
in these works, ultimately a metaphysical question. Nevertheless, the tremendous outpouring of
commentary suggests that "information"--whatever is status as a bonafide object of social inquiry-
-is an important site for cultural work. What is at stake here is, I would suggest, nothing less than
the shape of the future: the possibilities engendered in the new and the continuities with what has
gone before. "Information society" is all about what we will or will not be allowed to do or know
and under what circumstances.

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" in a distinctly anthropological way, from the bottom up. By developing a simulated society linking together classes at multiple universities, students will not only have an opportunity to develop their own online community, but will also reflect on the emergent characteristics of a networked, telematic world riven by powerful inequalities but also teaming with possibilities for new forms of community and identity. Fittingly, 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.

Since students are expected not only to critically analyze "information society," but also to act as informants via the cultural simulation (Solsys) this class demands a high degree of engagement in both individual- and group environments.

About Solsys
Solsys is a social and cultural simulation of a future, space-faring society played out in a Multi-User Dungeon (MUD). The simulation was developed by Professor Reed Riner at Northern Arizona University in 1989, and has since been enacted 10 times. In Solsys, students adopt fictional (but plausible) roles and personas and construct the parameters of their assigned colony (L-5). After designating teams, roles and the history of the colony, students then interacts online with each other and with other classes at other universities, each of which has also developed a contemporaneous colony.

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.

Required Readings
The following texts are available in the campus bookstore:
English-Lueck, J.A. 2002. Cultures@Silicon Valley. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Robinson, Kim Stanley. 1993. Red Mars. New York: Bantam.

Recommended readings:
NASA webpage on "Orbital Space Settlements."

Class Assignments:
1). Homework (Extra credit): Includes reports on readings, acting as team leader and extra work during the simulation.
2). Oral Presentation #1: A group presentation involving aspects of L-5 germane to your team’s mission. 50 pts.
3). Oral Presentation #2: An introduction to your persona, including name, physical description and job description. 50 pts.

4). Scenario (February 23, March 1): Through a series of online discussions on our class’s "Blackboard" site, students will develop a plausible scenario leading to the establishment of an L-5 colony. On March 1, team captains will interact with counterparts at other participating universities to negotiate a consensual scenario encompassing all teams. 50 pts.
5). Participation (ongoing) and Journal (May 10): Students will recount efforts in building the simulation and participating in the class in a weekly journal due at the end of class and will additionally be graded according to their participation in discussions both in- and out of class. 50 pts.
6). Analysis Paper (May 10): Students will critically analyze their participation in the L-5 project according to anthropological readings and lectures from class. 50 pts.
7). Final Exam (May 17): A short battery of questions evaluating knowledge of information society. 50 pts.

Class Grading:
270-300 A
240-269 B
210-239 C
180-209 D
<180 F

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.


Class Schedule:
Week 1: Class Introduction: Information Society and Its Simulation
(1/26-1/28)
–Organization of Teams and Assignation of Roles
–Assigned Reading: Robinson, pp. 1-100

Week 2: Anthropological Approaches to Information Society
(2/2-2/4)
–Introduction to L-5
–Introduction to MUD-based simulation
–Theories of Information Society

–Film: "Virtual Friends" (2000)

February 3: Change of Schedule Period Ends
Assigned Reading: English-Lueck, pp. 1-44

Robinson, pp. 101-200

Week 3: Anthropological Approaches to Information Society, Part 2
(2/9-2/11)
–Oral report #1
–Building in a MUD
–Science and Technology Studies

Assigned Reading:
English-Lueck, pp. Pp. 45-102

Week 4: Building the Scenario
(2/16-2/18)
–Oral report #1 (con.)
Assigned Reading:

Robinson, pp. 201-300
Film: TBA

Week 5: Building the Scenario, Part 2
(2/23-2/25)
February 23–Scenario Due
–Oral Report #2
Assigned Reading:
English-Lueck, pp. 105-133

Week 6: Negotiating the Scenario
(3/1-3/3)
–Oral Report #2 (con.)
–Online Interaction–Negotiating the Scenario
Assigned Reading: Robinson,

English-Lueck, pp. 134-166

Week 7: Taking the Scenario Online
(3/8-3/10)
Assigned Reading:
English-Lueck, pp. 167-182

Week 8: Problem Solving with the Scenario(3/15-3/17)
–"Live" interaction begins.

Week 9: SPRING BREAK
(3/22-3/24)

Week 10: Information Society and Social Life
(3/29-3/31)
–Continue live interactions
–Institutions/work

–Organizational change

–Film: TBA
4/2–Last day to withdraw with a "W"

Week 11: Analyzing Information Society: History and Power
(4/5-4/7)
–Continue live interactions

–Globalization and Inequality

Week 12: Analyzing Information Society: Formations of Self and Other
(4/12-4/14)
–Identity

–Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence

Week 13: Analyzing Information Society: Culture
(4/19-4/21)
–Mass Media and Global Culture

Week 14: Information Society and the Future
(4/26-4/28)

–Utopias/Dystopias

–Emergent Orders of Power/Knowledge

Film: TBA

Week 15: Information Society as "Post"
(5/3-5/5)

–Alternative modernities and globalizations

–Alternatives to Postmodern Dystopia

Week 16: Review (5/10) FINAL PAPERS DUE
5/17: FINAL EXAMINATION, 3-5 p.m.

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 youample warning of any syllabus changes.
2. Each student is required familiarize him or herself with 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.
3. Students with learning disabilities should register at the Disability Support Services Office.