Politics and Digital Technology

Course Number: 84-368

Can a meme change the world? Is social media good or bad for society? How much personal information should be online? Whom is the internet for? What's the role of emerging technologies in international conflict? These and more are the political questions that we'll be working through together in this course. We'll explore the rights of online communities, drone warfare, trolling, connective action, algorithmic justice, and online privacy. We'll explore the intersection and implication of politics, democratic political thought, and digital spaces and online platforms. We'll be exploring thematic readings, both empirical and theoretical, and using them to interpret the phenomena we see online. New technologies are new and that means we're in a wonderful time where a lot of the knowledge we use to think about the implications of new technologies is experiential. This means we'll be using a lot of our own experiences and reflections to inform the course. The course will rely on group discussion informed by reading and interacting with the "texts," both paper and pixelated. I encourage critique, comparisons, and any wayward thoughts, but especially questions.

Academic Year: 2022-2023
Semester(s): Fall
Required/Elective: Elective
Units: 9
Location(s): Pittsburgh