15% Course participation
[Throughout the course]
25 % Group-led Discussion
[From week 3 to week 12]
10 % Reading Reports
[From week 3 to week 13]
20% Social Media Platform Critical Profile
[Due on week 7 - February 23, 2020 @ 11:59 pm]
30% Final Original Paper
[Due on April 17, 2020 @ 11:59pm] Updated
15%
Participation
Your full participation is essential. It includes the completion of assigned readings, attendance, and contribution to class discussions and activities. You should arrive having read and thought about the assigned readings, bringing at least two questions, examples, or comments to share with the class. We will begin each class with close readings of different passages, both suggested by you and picked by me, and discuss what we find compelling and problematic about these passages. Please note, if you are uncomfortable speaking in front of your peers due to your own personal reasons, please talk with me at the beginning of the term, and we will make alternative arrangements. Your participation marks will also be affected by how supportive you are to fellow classmates: collegiality is very important inside and outside the classroom.
***Attention: The participation mark will be zero if you miss three or more classes without contacting me or having the appropriate reasoning or documentation.
25%
Group-led Discussion
You will be asked to form pairs or groups of three. The groups will sign up for one week to organize a discussion motivated by the course readings of that week in a seminar-style. The intention behind this process is to energize critical thought on the course reading and offer a meaningful approach to a specific social media issue. This activity should be between 30-40 minutes, and the group will present the main topics and concepts discussed in the readings. After that, we will have a tour de table about the outcomes from the activities and a more in-depth dialogue about the issues being discussed. It is suggested that one week prior to the presentation, the group members stay 15 minutes after class to speak to me about what they are planning and to receive preliminary feedback.
10%
x2
Reading Reports
This assignment is designed to be low-stakes (not worth very much individually), but aim to help you gain a deeper understanding of the readings. You are responsible for submitting two reports, each worth 5%. This assignment is very straightforward: your job, in two pages, is to write a short summary of the readings of the week of your choice, including questions the text raises, connections it has to prior readings, class discussions, or contemporary media, or critiques of the readings. You should explain the concepts to the best of your ability, making links where you can to other ideas and theories covered in the course. The goal of this assignment is to help you to develop close reading skills that are essential to both critical reading and thinking skills. Thus, it might be useful to focus on one or two passages, concepts or ideas discussed in the readings.
Reading reports start in the third week, and you should pick at least one week before the reading week.
*** The reading reports must be emailed by 10 am on the day of the class they are assigned.
20%
Social Media Platform Critical Profile
Choose a social media platform to explore, write a profile and reflect using two course readings. You should produce a short summary of a social media platform, which can include some of its history, key people, main goals and objectives, interface affordances, and types of media and interactions it allows and promotes. You should reflect on the presuppositions these platforms built upon, the modes of communication they push forward, the technology involved, and the social, political, and economic implications they have in our society. Some of the questions to consider: What are the ethical complexities of this platform? What kind of interactions and socialization does it encourage? How is it being framed in the digital ecosystem? What is the underlying economic model? How is data managed? What visions of society it put forward?
I will provide a list of options, which excludes the platforms we will directly examine during the course (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.). Students can also suggest other options.
We will build a list of options together in-class (platforms directly examine during the course are blocked from this assignment — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)
Though it is not a requirement, I encourage you to register yourself on the platform to have a more accurate experience of the social media environment.
The reflection must be approximately 4-5 pages long (1200 - 1500 words), in addition to any image you want to add and a bibliography section.
*** The assignment must be emailed by 10 am on the day of the deadline.*** The assignment must be posted on this blog (or submitted by email) by 11:59 pm on the day of the deadline.
30%
Final Original Paper
The final assignment essay is an original paper on the topic of your choice. Consider writing on issues we have covered throughout this curse: virtual communities; gender and racial representation; privacy surveillance; bots and AI; ethics; ideology; political economy; video-games, algorithmic media, fake news, digital methods, etc. In a 10-page paper, you should respond to your selected issues, and use a minimum of 4 course readings to articulate what is at stake. While I encourage the use of non-academic articles to contextualize the topic, please remember the emphasis needs to be on the course reading and in their application on the selected topic.
*** The final paper should be emailed by 11:59 pm on the last day of classes.
*** The final paper should be emailed by 11:59 pm, April 17, 2020.
Specifications for written submission
All written submission should include the following: the title of your text (give your work a meaningful title), the name of the assignment (e.g., Social Media Platform Critical Profile), your name, the course title and number, and the submission date.
Your work should be double-spaced, in 12-point Times font; 1.5-inch margins all around; page numbers on the lower right; and include a separate reference page with full source citations. You can choose the citation style of your preference, but please use it consistently throughout your text.
Send your work by email to me: lucaju@gmail.com
PDF or Word file is preferable.
*** Attention: Written feedback will not be given on late assignments.
Late Assignments
All assignments are due on the date specified and must be submitted by the deadline. There will be no make-up date for Group-led Discussions. Assignment extensions may be granted only in rare and unavoidable circumstances. If you will require an extension, you must bring this to my attention (preferably by email) in advance of the deadline and generally one week or more in advance. If I have not granted an extension, the following late policy will apply: 1 grade increment (+/-) will be deducted from the total assignment grade for every 24 hours that an assignment is late for up to six days (accumulating a maximum 2-point deduction). Assignments more than six days late will receive a zero grade. Late assignments may not receive written comments or feedback.
Questions, emails, and grade reassessment
If you have a question about any aspect of the course, assignments, readings, or concepts, please ask it in class so that others can also benefit from hearing the response. If you do not wish to ask your question during the class, please discuss it with me immediately following the class or during my office hours. I will stay for 5-10 minutes after class or until I have addressed all the questions. Discussing questions in person is the easiest and quickest way to ensure that we are on the same page. If you must send a question by email, you may have to wait up to 24 business hours for a response and you may not receive a response from me outside of business hours. I will not discuss grades over email. If you wish for an assignment to be reassessed, you will need to send me a written explanation for why the piece should be reassessed and then arrange an appointment to discuss the assignment face-to-face during office hours or after class.