Sociology and the Internet
Winterim 2001
Robert E. Wood
Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice

Dec. 22 Jan. 2 Jan. 3 Jan. 4 Jan. 5
Jan. 8 Jan. 9 Jan. 10 Jan. 11 Jan. 12

 
Resources from the
Spring 2000 Course

Portal

Syllabus

Exercises

Electronic
Communication
Assignment

New Resources for 
the Winterim Course

Daily Notice Board

Research Project

Resources on the
Internet and Society

Student Research
 Papers

Google.Com
(this course's 
recommended
search engine)

Course Home Page

Email Prof. Wood
Fri.
Jan. 12		 Paper presentations. Hard copy and files in disks to be handed in.
Thurs.
Jan. 11		 Continue working on papers. Papers should be posted and announced on the WebCT bulletin board by the end of the day.
Wed.
Jan. 10

Agenda: 
1) Quiz on basic internet terms
2) Continue working on research papers
Tues.
Jan. 9		 Agenda: 
1) Review list of terms for Wednesday quiz.
2) Continue working on research papers
Mon.
Jan. 8 		Reading:  Catch up on assigned readings up to now if you are behind, plus Reading 24 in web.studies, so that you can answer questions posted to WebCT bulletin board.  Continue reading and researching for your research paper.  Check your mastery of list of terms for Wednesday quiz.
Agenda: 
1) WebCT bulletin board discussion of readings. Post responses to three different questions which have been added to the bulletin board about the readings. Your responses should be reasonably substantive and detailed (two paragraphs or so) and may be directed in the first instance either to the instructor's questions or to student responses to those questions. Your responses must be posted by midnight (you may do them in class if you wish).
2) Skill-Building:
   Screenshots
   Further Netscape Composer techniques
3) Continue working on research papers
Fri.
Jan. 5

Special Notice: We meet with the authors in the chatroom at 10:00!

 Reading Assignment: Focus on how groups use the internet.
   Readings 17, 18, 20, 21 in web.studies
   Strongly recommended: Peter Kollock, "The Economics of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace," and Christopher Mele, "Cyberspace and Disadvantaged Communities: The Internet as a Tool for Collective Action"
   Although their quality is somewhat uneven, feel free to check out the student research papers from previous courses. 
Agenda:
1) Review Research Project assignment
2) Chat room discussion with authors Daniel Miller and Don Slater
2) Skill-Building
   How web pages are structured: Basic HTML
   Making web pages using Netscape Composer
   Publishing web pages to a server

Thurs.
Jan. 4

Meet at 9 am promptly in the Robeson Library Lab
(basement)

Reading Assignment: Focus on how individuals use the internet.
   Review the Miller/Slater book.  Bring at least one question to class to ask the authors on Friday.
   Readings 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 15 in web.studies
   Recommended: Joshua Gamson, "The Web of Celebrity"
   Also relevant: the Carnegie Mellon, Pew, and UCLA reports available from Resources on the Internet and Society
Guest Workshop Presenter:  Librarian Julie Still will present a workshop on using the Rutgers Library's extension set of online bibliographic data bases.  Using these will be an important part of your research project.  Please arrive at the basement classroom lab in the Paul Robeson Library no later than 9:00 a.m.
Post-Workshop Agenda (BSB 117):
   Discussion of readings
   Using bibliographic data bases 

Wed.
Jan. 3

Reading Assignment: Focus on Classics.  Read the following pieces by or about the three most famous pioneers of the sociological study of the internet:
   the Howard Rheingold study in web.studies pp. 170-178; 
   Julian Dibbell, "A Rape in Cyberspace: How an Evil Clown, A Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society."
   "Session with the Cybershrink: An Interview with Sherry Turkle"
Note: Feel free to explore any of the other readings in Sections II or V in the Spring 2000 syllabus.
   Reading #13 (on search engines) in web.studies
Agenda: 
1) Video: The Internet: Behind the Web and discussion of the history of the internet.
2) Introduction of list of terms for which you are responsible for a quiz on Wednesday, Jan. 10th.  Feel free to use the bulletin board, chat room, and/or listserve to work together to master these terms.
3) Chat room discussion of the readings, followed by "real life" evaluation of the pros and cons of chat discussions.
4) Skill-building: 
   Using search engines to search for texts and images: Google and Alta Vista Image Search.  See also the Robeson Library's World Wide Web Search Tools. For images in the public domain, check out the clip art resources in the Spring 2000 Exercise 6
   Evaluating web pages
   Copyright issues you should know about
   Citing electronic and other resources

Tues.
Jan. 2

Over the holiday break I would like you to read the first two chapters in web.studies, pp. 2-30 and as much as Miller and Slater's The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach as possible (you may skip Chapters 5-6 for now).  Come prepared to discuss how web studies have changed over the brief time the web has been with us and what Miller and Slater's study of internet use in Trinidad tells us about the reach of the internet and the way it is transforming social life around the world.
Please also think about a topic for your research project and come prepared to consult with me about it. 
Agenda: 
1) Discussion of course structure and expectations
2) PowerPoint-based discussion of readings.  Demonstration of how to save PowerPoint for the web.
3) Skill-Building Exercises:
    Go to the WebCT bulletin board and read the postings of your classmates.  Then post two messages, one to a classmate's response to my question about how the internet has changed lives and one to a reply to one of those responses.  Note: your postings should be thoughtful and have substantive content, but mainly this is an exercise in making sure your postings end up in the right place.
   In lieu of personal introductions in class, please send a message to the class listserve introducing yourself, including, along with anything else you care to mention, your school, your major, where you come from, and your interests and goals.
   Do Exercise 1.  Get a set of headphones from the instructor to complete this exercise.  
   If you have extra time before 12:30 pm: Use Google to begin exploring a possible research topic.  Experiment with different searching strategies, using the Advanced Search link.  During this time I will come around to discuss the research topic you are thinking about.  

Friday,
Dec. 22

Welcome!  Please complete today as many of the following tasks as possible by 11:30 or so:
1) create your computer account on clam, if necessary; Note: there is a new system of account creation described at: http://rucs.rutgers.edu/services/account/index.html
2) subscribe to the class listserv and receive an emailed confirmation;
3) create a username and password to access the WebCT sections of the course website.  Click on 920 Sociology, then find Sociology and the Internet and click on the registration key icon.  Then follow instructions to create a MyWebCT profile.  Be sure to write down your username and password.  (Note: if you have created such a profile for a previous course, you may proceed at this point to log on to MyWebCT.)
4) post a response to the WebCT bulletin board query about how the internet has affected your life so far;
5) register at the New York Times and bookmarked its Technology page. (You are expected to check this page periodically for relevant articles.)
6)  complete Exercise 1 (you may need to borrow headphones for this).
7 ) complete the online questionnaire about computer use and submitted it electronically.
8) familiarize yourself with this course's website and with how to move around within it.
9) Before you leave today, send an email to Dr. Wood indicating which of these tasks you completed and which, if any, remain to be completed.