SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS 201:
ICT, Society, and Democracy  (3 units)
Spring Quarter 2008-2009, Stanford University
Instructor:  Todd Davies
Meeting Time: Wednesdays 7:00-9:15 PM
Location: 240-110
Instructor's Office: 460-040C (Margaret Jacks Hall, lower level)
Phone: x3-4091; Fax: x3-5666
Email: tdavies at csli.stanford.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 10:30 - 11:55 AM
Interactive website: http://symsys201.stanford.edu

Updated May 21, 2009 [added link to Presentation Guidelines]

Prerequisite: Completion of Psych 50, Psych 55, Psych 70, or SymbSys 170/270; or consent of the instructor

Course Overview:
 
This advanced small seminar explores the impact of information and communication technologies on social and political life. Under the proposed syllabus,we will all read two recent and influential books on this topic.  In the final two sessions (weeks 9 and 10), each student will lead a discussion about one of several other books concerning ICT, society, and democracy.  The course is designed to be discussion-based, both in class and online. 

Course Plan (tentative):

I propose to organize the course around two books:

• Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky (2008, Penguin, $16.00, 6 copies in stock in the Stanford Bookstore - General Books section); and
• Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge by Cass R. Sunstein (2006/2008, Oxford University Press Paperback, $15.95, on order at the Stanford Bookstore, Textbooks section)
  

The written component of the course will take place online, with weekly comments on the assigned readings graded in a mixed instructor/self/peer scheme (see below for details).  Comments must be made ahead of each class session by 5:30 pm so that everyone can read them before that week's discussion.  I will lead the discussions of Shirky's and Sunstein's books over the first phase of the course (weeks 1-8), turning it over to student presenters/discussion leaders in the latter phase (weeks 9-10).  A tentative schedule is given below.

Requirements:

Each student is required to (a) attend and participate regularly, (b) do the assigned reading and post at least one reaction comment on this website per week, by 5:30 pm on the day of class, and (c) select and present a focus topic in class, provide sample readings for the class at least one week ahead of their presentation, and lead a discussion on their focal topic during phase II of the course. There is no final paper or exam in the course.

• See the discussion guidelines for tips on how to contribute to in-class discussions.
  
• See the comment guidelines for tips on writing blog comments.
• See the presentation guidelines for tips on leading your discussion
  

Schedule:

Week 1 (April 1) -- Overview and Introductions

Week 2 (April 8) - Here Comes Everybody chapters 1, 2, & 3

Week 3 (April 15) -- Here Comes Everybody chapters 4, 5, & 6

Week 4 (April 22) -- Here Comes Everybody chapters 7, 8, & 9

Week 8 (May 20) -- Infotopia chapters 5, 6 & Conclusion

Week 9 (May 27) -- Student-led Discussions I

Week 10 (June 3) -- Student-led Discussions II

Grading

The course grade will be based on the following breakdown:

• 15% for attendance and participation
• 45% for online comments
  
• 40% for your presentation and discussion leading

Grades for the presentation/discussion leading and attendance/partifcipation will be assigned by me alone. Grades for comments, however, will be graded in the following way:

Each week, I will solicit from each student the following scores (out of 5 points possible), to be sent to me by email:

• a score for your own comments (S_k, assuming you are student k)
• a score for each of the other students in the class (P_ki for each student i)

(1/3) T_k

+

(1/3) {S_k / [1 + ln(1 +| S_k -   [∑_i≠k P_ik / (n-1)] | )]}

+

(1/3) [∑_i≠k P_ik / (n-1)] / {1 + ln[1 +∑_i≠k |T_i - P_ki| / (n-1)]}

This formula combines my score for you with your own self-evaluation and your peers' evaluations of you weighted by a meta-evaluation (how well your scores agree with mine and with your peers). This is an incentivizing system, but it makes it very hard to get a perfect score. As you will see, though, that is okay once you understand that scores are bound to appear lower than they otherwise will be. Don't worry - it won't mean that everyone will get a low grade at the end. The main things to understand are that (a) your total score will depend on what you, I, and your peers each think, (b) your total score will benefit a lot if (i) you assign scores to yourself that you think will be close to the ones your peers will assign, and (ii) you assign scores to your peers that you think will be close to the ones I will assign .

The formula above is a modified version of one I have tried in two previous courses: Symbsys 205 (Spring 2006-2007) and Symbsys 209 (Autumn 2007-2008). In the previous formula, the modifying term for each of the three factors was based on the scores that I assigned. The above version applies the average peer score of your comment, instead, in the modifying term for your self-score.  We'll have a few iterations to test it out. Previous experience has shown that the class and I tend to converge in our evaluations, so that we all provide a check on each other. So while it may seem complicated at first, over time I think you will see that it is fairer than just having me assign the scores alone.

The scoring system is also designed to get you thinking seriously about the value of your own and others' contributions. And I will certainly welcome your feedback on the scoring system as we proceed, especially at the end of the course. I will also share with you statistical analyses of how well our my scores, self scores, and peer scores are correlating with each other, as well as averages and other statistical data.

Pool of Suggested Readings for Student-Led Discussions (Weeks 9-10):

• Bauerlein, M. (2008). The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30). Tarcher.
  

• Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Knowledge and Freedom. Yale University Press.

• Brown, J.S. & Duguid, P. (2002).  The Social Life of Information. Harvard Business School Press.
  

• Carr, N. (2008). The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google. W.W. Norton.

• Davies, T. & Gangadharan, S., editors (2009). Online Deliberation: Design, Research, and Practice. CSLI Publications.
  

• Dibona, C. (1999). Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution. O'Reilly.

• Deibert, R., Palfrey, J.G., Rohozinski, R. & Zittrain, J., editors (2008), Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. MIT Press.

• Doctorow, C. (2005). Eastern Standard Tribe. Tor Books.

• Doctorow, C. (2007). Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present. Running Press.

• Goldsmith, J. & Wu, T. (2006). Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World. Oxford University Press.

• Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press.

• Johnson, S. (2006). Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. Riverhead Trade.
  

• Lessig, L. (2006). Code: Version 2.0. Basic Books. 

• Lessig, L. (2002). The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. Random House.

• Palfrey, J. (2008). Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. Basic Books. 

• Raymond, E. (1999). The Cathedral and the Bazaar. O'Reilly.

• Rheingold, H. (2003). Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Basic Books.

• Shane, P., editor (2004). Democracy Online: The Prospects for Political Renewal Through the Internet. Routledge.
  

• Small, G. & Vorgan, G. (2008). iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. Collins Living.
  

• Solove, D. (2006). The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age. NYU Press.

• Solove, D. (2007). The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. Yale University Press.

• Stephenson, N. (1992). Snow Crash. Bantam Spectra.

• Sunstein, C. (2007). Republic.com 2.0. Princeton University Press.

• Suroweicki, J. (2005). The Wisdom of Crowds. Anchor.

• Suarez, D. (2009). Daemon. Dutton Adult.

• Tapscott, D. & Williams, A.D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Portfolio Hardcover.
  

• Turner, F. (2006). From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism. University of Chicago Press.
  

• Von Hippel, E. (2006). Democratizing Innovation. MIT Press.
  

• Weber, S. (2004). The Success of Open Source. Harvard University Press.

• Weinberger, D. (2007). Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. Times Books.
  

• Williams, S. (2002). Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software. O'Reilly.

• Zittrain, J. (2008). The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It. Yale University Press.