printer friendly pageCOMM 1B: Media, Culture, and Society (AMSTUD 1B)
The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMM 100S: Introduction to Digital Labor
Digital technologies have had a profound influence on our economy, the ways we communicate, and the ways in which we work. This course will provide a lens through which to understand digital labor and digital work today. We will explore the ideological and cultural values of Silicon Valley and their role in shaping the new business models of the Internet Age (such as crowdsourcing, the sharing economy, and humans-as-a-service). We will examine the past, present, and future of mechanisms of workplace control (from clocks to algorithmic management) and the implications of the digital turn on spatial and material dimensions of labor. Finally, we will turn our attention toward possible futures of work, given the increasing presence of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace. By engaging with social scientific analyses and popular media, students will leave the course with a greater appreciation of worker perspectives and challenges in the digital era.
Last offered: Summer 2019
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
COMM 108: Media Processes and Effects (COMM 208)
(Graduate students register for
COMM 208.) The process of communication theory construction including a survey of social science paradigms and major theories of communication. Recommended: 1 or
PSYCH 1.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-SI
COMM 120W: The Rise of Digital Culture (AMSTUD 120, COMM 220)
From Snapchat to artificial intelligence, digital systems are reshaping our jobs, our democracies, our love lives, and even what it means to be human. But where did these media come from? And what kind of culture are they creating? To answer these questions, this course explores the entwined development of digital technologies and post-industrial ways of living and working from the Cold War to the present. Topics will include the historical origins of digital media, cultural contexts of their deployment and use, and the influence of digital media on conceptions of self, community, and state. Priority to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, GER:DB-SocSci
COMM 124: Truth, Trust, and Tech (COMM 224)
Deception is one of the most significant and pervasive social phenomena of our age. Lies range from the trivial to the very serious, including deception between friends and family, in the workplace, and in security and intelligence contexts. At the same time, information and communication technologies have pervaded almost all aspects of human communication, from everyday technologies that support interpersonal interactions to, such as email and instant messaging, to more sophisticated systems that support organization-level interactions. Given the prevalence of both deception and communication technology in our personal and professional lives, an important set of questions have recently emerged about how humans adapt their deceptive practices to new communication and information technologies, including how communication technology affects the practice of lying and the detection of deception, and whether technology can be used to identify deception.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
COMM 125: Perspectives on American Journalism (AMSTUD 125, COMM 225)
An examination of American journalism, focusing on how news is produced, distributed, and financially supported. Emphasis on current media controversies and puzzles, and on designing innovations in discovering and telling stories. (Graduate students register for
COMM 225.
COMM 125 is offered for 5 units,
COMM 225 is offered for 4 units.)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Hamilton, J. (PI)
;
Ross, R. (TA)
COMM 135: Deliberative Democracy and its Critics (AMSTUD 135, COMM 235, COMM 335, ETHICSOC 135F, POLISCI 234P, POLISCI 334P)
This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Fishkin, J. (PI)
;
Chang, S. (TA)
COMM 137W: The Dialogue of Democracy (AMSTUD 137, COMM 237, POLISCI 232T, POLISCI 332T)
All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just campaigning or does it include deliberation? Small scale discussions or sound bites on television? Or social media? What is the role of technology in changing our democratic practices, to mobilize, to persuade, to solve public problems? This course will include readings from political theory about democratic ideals - from the American founders to J.S. Mill and the Progressives to Joseph Schumpeter and modern writers skeptical of the public will. It will also include contemporary examinations of the media and the internet to see how those practices are changing and how the ideals can or cannot be realized.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Fishkin, J. (PI)
;
Chen, C. (TA)
COMM 138: Deliberative Democracy Practicum: Applying Deliberative Polling (COMM 238)
In this course, students will work directly on a real-world deliberative democracy project using the method of Deliberative Polling. Students in this course will work in partnership with the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford, a research center devoted to the research in democracy and public opinion around the world. This unique practicum will allow students to work on an actual Deliberative Polling project on campus. In just one quarter, the students will prepare for, implement, and analyze the results for an Deliberative Polling project. This is a unique opportunity that allows students to take part in the entire process of a deliberative democracy project. Through this practicum, students will learn and apply quantitative and qualitative research methods. Students will explore the underlying challenges and complexities of what it means to actually do community-engaged research in the real world. As such, this course will provide students with skills and experience in research design in deliberative democracy, community and stakeholder engagement, and the practical aspects of working in local communities. This practicum is a collaboration between the Center for Deliberative Democracy and the Haas Center for Public Service. CDD website:
http://cdd.stanford.edu; Hass Center website:
https://haas.stanford.edu
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, WAY-AQR
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
Instructors:
Siu, A. (PI)
;
Terra, L. (PI)
COMM 142W: Media Economics (COMM 242)
Uses economics to examine the generation and consumption of information in communication markets. Covers concepts that play a large role in information economics, including public goods, economies of scale, product differentiation, and externalities. Looks at individuals' information demands as consumers, producers, audience members, and voters. Topics include economics of Internet, sustainability of accountability journalism, and marketplace of ideas.
Last offered: Autumn 2017
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
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