Schedule for CS 6470: Design of Online Communities, Spring 2005

Week Date Topic Readings & Online Sites
1 1/11 Introduction  
  1/13 Community: Face to Face and Online

Reading:

  • "Virtual Communites are Communites: Web Surfers Don't Ride Alone" by Barry Wellman and Milena Gulia (in Smith & Kollock)
  • "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital" by Robert Putnam (electronic reserve)

Online Site:

 

2 1/18 Third Places

Reading:

Online Site:

  1/20 Research Methods

Reading:

  • Interviewing as Qualitative Research, by IE Seidman.

Online Site:

Due:

 

3 1/25 Research Ethics

Reading:

Recommended:

Online Site:

Due:

  • Obtain ethics certification via the online course, if you do not already have certification.

Please do not miss this class. If you do miss this lecture, you must meet with the instructor.

  1/27  

Finish discussion of ethics, best/worst experience papers, and midterm project ideas

Due:

4 2/1 Design Factors

Reading:

Online Site:

 

  2/3 Theory of Identity

Reading:

  • The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, by Erving Goffman. Pages 1-58, intro & most of chapter 1.

Online Site:

Due:

  • Find an interesting blog, and post a link to the coweb.
5 2/8 Identity Online

Reading:

Online Site:

  2/10 Gender Online

Reading:

  • "The Strange Case of the Lectronic Lover," by Lindsey Van Gelder (electronic reserve)
  • "Boyz and Gurlz" in Cyberville by Stacy Horn
  • "TinySex and Gender Trouble", in Life on the Screen by Sherry Turkle (chapter 8)
  • Gender Swapping on the Internet by Amy Bruckman

Online Site:

  • The Turing Game
    Suggested times to log on:
    Monday, 2/7 at 8 pm,
    or organize other times on the coweb
6 2/15 Constructionism

Reading:

Optional Online Site:

Participating in MOOSE Crossing requires consenting to be part of an experimental study. I'll show the site in class. Trying it out on your own is optional.

  2/17 Virtual Architecture

Reading:

  • "Cybrids" by Peter Anders (In Convergence 4:1, Spring 1998. Handout.)
  • Marcos Novak's Website (skim)
    • Read essay Novak's essay "Digital/Real," on his website

Recommended:

  • "How did My Garden Grow" (Chapter 5) in "My Tiny Life" by Julian Dibbell

Online Site:

7 2/22 The Social, the Technical, the Political

Reading:

  • "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" by Langdon Winner. (in The Whale and The Reactor - handout)
    (electronic reserve)
  • Code by Lawrence Lessig. Parts one and two, pages 3-108.

Online Site:

  2/24 Deviant Behavior

Reading:

Recommended:

  • "The Purple Guest" (Chapter 3) in "My Tiny Life" by Julian Dibbell

Online Site:

  • USENET (google groups)
    • alt.feminism
    • soc.feminism
8 3/1 Governance

Reading:

Online Site:

  3/3 Virtualia

Guest lecturer: Jose Zagal.

9 3/8 Social Roles, Leadership, and Hosting

Reading:

Recommended:

Online Site:

  3/10 Student Presentations: Community Analysis Papers

Due:

10 3/15 Student Presentations: Community Analysis Papers (continued)

 

  3/17 Participation and Lurking

Reading:

Online Site:

11 3/22 Spring Break (no class)  
  3/24 Spring Break (no class)  
  3/29 Klaus Entertainment Group
Guest lecturer: Chris Klaus, Klaus Entertainment Group

12 3/31 Case Study: Second Life

Reading:

Online Site:

13 4/5 Children Accessing Controversial Information

Reading:

Online Site:

  4/7 Online Cooperation and the Open Source Movement

Reading:

Online Site:

14 4/12 Privacy and Community

Reading:

Online Site:

  4/14 Cartoon Network
Guest Speaker: Chris Waldron, Cartoon Network

Online Site:



15 4/19 Presentations: Community Designs

Reading:

  4/21 Presentations: Community Designs (continued)

 

  4/22 Final Papers Due

Due:

Papers are due by 3:00pm at TSRB 338 (Amy's office)
There will be no exceptions/extensions!
16 4/26 Review Review for the final exam. Be prepared to discuss, talk about and ask questions about the class readings.
  4/28 Presentations: Community Designs (continued)  

Readings and assignments are subject to change.