SOCIOLOGY 285K/197H

Spring 1993

Instructor: Peter Kollock
TA: Marc Smith

READINGS: There are two required books that have been ordered for this course: _Cyberspace: First Steps_ edited by Michael Benedickt and, _The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog_ by Ed Krol. In addition, a set of readings has been put together and can be purchased at the Westwood Copy Center (which is located at 1001 Gayley, Suite 104, 208-3233). Readings are to be done prior to the week in which they are discussed.

 Schedule of Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments

Week 1 - A Sampler of Cyberspace & Driver's Guide

Benedikt, Michael. 1991. _Cyberspace: First Steps_, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Introduction, pp. 1-26

Krol, Ed. 1992. _The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog_. Sepastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates. Various.

Karraker, Rodger, "Highways of the Mind", _Whole Earth Review_, Number 70. Pages 4-11

Wooley, Benjamin, 1992. "Virtuality", and "Cyberspace". _Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality_. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. Pages. 57-72 and 121-136.

Week 2 - Who speaks to Whom, and How?

Goffman, Erving. 1959. _Presentation of Self in Everyday Life_, New York: Anchor. Pages 1-16.

Reid, Elizabeth. 1991. "Electropolis: Communication and Community on Internet Relay Chat". Electronic manuscript. (FTP: ftp.eff.org) Pages 1-33.

Sproull, Lee and Sara Keisler, 1992. _Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization_. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pages 37-78

Week 3 - Frames of Interaction

Serpentelli, Jill, 1992. "Conversational Structure and Personality Correlates of Electronic Communication". Electronic manuscript. (FTP: parcftp.xerox.com) Pages 1-end.

Curtis, Pavel. 1991. "Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality", Electronic manuscript. (FTP: parcftp.xerox.com) Pages 1-21.

Rheingold, Howard. 1992. "A Slice of Life in My Virtual Community". Electronic manuscript. (FTP: ftp.eff.org) Pages 1-14.

Technical and Social Notes on the Use of Usenet:

A_Primer_on_How_to_Work_With_the_Usenet_Community
Answers_to_Frequently_Asked_Questions_about_Usenet
Emily_Postnews_Answers_Your_Questions_on_Netiquette
Rules_for_posting_to_Usenet
USENET_Software:_History_and_Sources
What_is_Usenet?
     (To be found in your class account)

MUD Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) File
     (To be found in your class account)

Week 4 - Order and Deviance

Orbell, John, and Robyn Dawes. 1981. "Social Dilemmas." in _Progress in Applied Social Psychology (Vol.1)_, edited by G.M. Stephenson and J.M. Davis. New York: Wiley and Sons. Pages 37-65.

Smith, Marc. 1992. "Voices from the Well: The Logic of the Virtual Commons". Electronic manuscript. (FTP: nicco.sscnet.ucla.edu) Pages 1-58.

Morningstar, Chip, and F. Randall Farmer. 1991."The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat", in _Cyberspace: First Steps_, edited by Michael Benedikt, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pages 273-302.

Deviance and Sanctions in Virtual Spaces
     (To be found in your class directory.)

Week 5 - Identity and Anonymity: A Case Study

Debate and Discussion on Anonymity and Accountability

anon.penet.fi.goes.down!
anon.rebutal
anonymity.eff
anonymous.posting
news.admin.policy
A_Cypherpunk's_Manifesto
From_Crossbows_to_Cryptography
The_Crypto_Anarchist_Manifesto
     (To be found in your class directory)

Week 6 - Electronic Community, Democracy, and Collective Action

Rheingold, Howard, et al. 1991. "Electronic Democracy", _Whole Earth Review, No. 71. Pages 4-42.

McCullough, Michael F. 1991."Democratic Questions for the Computer Age", in _Computers in Human Services_, Vol. 8. Pages 9-18.

Varley, Pamela. 1991 "Electronic Democracy". _Technology Review_, November/December 1991. Pages 43-51.

Week 7 - Representations of Self: Gender; Class; Race

Van Gelder, Lindsy, 1991. "The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover". _In Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts  and Social Choices_, edited by Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling. Pages 364-375.

Stone, Allucquere Rosanne, 1991. "Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?: Boundary Stories about Virtual Cultures". In _Cyberspace: First Steps_, edited by Michael Benedikt, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pages 81-118.

Haraway, Donna, 1991. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century". In _Simians, Cyborgs, and Women_, New York: Routledge. Pages 149-182.

Darnovsky, Marcy, 1992. "Overhauling the Meaning Machines: An Interview with Donna Haraway", Socialist Review. Pages 65-84.

Week 8 - Representations of Space and Meaning

Reveaux, Tony. 1993. "Virtual Reality Gets Real". _NewMedia_, Vol. 3. Pages 32-41.

Robins, Kevin, 1992. "The Virtual Unconscious in Post-Photography", in _Science as Culture_. Pages 99-115.

Poster, Mark. 1990. "Derrida and Electronic Writing: The Subject of the Computer". _In The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pages 99-128.

Harvey, David, 1989. "The Experience of Space and Time: Introduction", "Individual Spaces and Times in Social Life", "Time and Space as Sources of Social Power". In _The Condition of Postmodernity_, Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. Pages 201-239.

Week 9 - Power, Privacy, and Policy

Robins, Kevin and Frank Webster. 1990. "Athens without Slaves... Or Slaves without Athens?: The Neurosis of Technology". _Science as Culture_. Pages 7-53.

Barlow, John Perry, 1990. "Crime and Puzzlement", Electronic manuscript. (FTP: ftp.eff.org) Pages 1-24.

Barlow, John Perry, 1990. "Electronic Frontier Foundation", Electronic manuscript. (FTP: ftp.eff.org) Pages 1-4.

Ross, Andrew. 1991. "Hacking Away at the Counterculture". In _Strange Weather: Culture, Science and Technology in the Age of Limits_. New York: Verso. Pages 75-100.

Poster, Mark. 1990. "Foucault and Databases: Participatory Surveillance". _In The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context_. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pages 69-98.

Clinton, Bill. 1993. "Address to the Employees of Silicon Graphics, Inc." Electronic manuscript. (Available from Clinton-news-Distribution@MIT.EDU) Pages 1-10.

Week 10 - Flaming about the Future

Gibson, William. 1984. Neuromancer. New York: Ace. All.

(Other readings to be decided.)