Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "CMS 312"
COURSE NAME: "Social Media, Social Movements, Social Change"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2017

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Donatella Della Ratta
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 6:00 PM 7:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: COM 220
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course examines the technological capabilities, organizational structures, social effects, and ethical implications behind the use of social media platforms –Twitter, Facebook and others-- in recent social movement organizing. The course will investigate how social media have been utilized and rendered effective by a variety of social movements and in a diversity of contexts and interests, from the Arab Spring, to Black Lives Matter, to It Gets Better. Students will be offered a broad overview of the affordances of social media for mobilizing for social change or political action. Students will consistently engage with critical concepts from both classic social theory and new media studies put forward both by scholars and organizers.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Social media have been widely utilized and extremely influential in social movements over the past decade in a diversity of contexts and interests, from the Arab Spring, to Occupy Wall Street, to Black Lives Matter. This course examines hashtag activism – the technological capabilities, organizational structures, social effects, and ethical implications behind the use of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc., in recent social movement organizing. Students will acquire a broad overview of the affordances of social media for mobilizing for social change or political action. We will take sustained looks at specific case studies of social movements or campaigns such as the ones named above, exploring their chosen platforms, organizational strategies, ideological standpoints, and human outcomes. We will look into the past at how earlier incarnations of the same or similar movements utilized the traditional media of print, broadcast, radio, and even recorded music, in order to better understand the ways in which social media practices have created or expanded possibilities. We will also consider the dystopian perspectives about the political uses of social media, particularly the exercise of state power to quash resistance movements by shutting down or monitoring social media. To guide our thinking, we will consistently engage with critical concepts from both classic social theory and new media studies put forward by scholars and organizers themselves, including such concepts as the digital public sphere, the network society, networked publics.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

- Identify the major debates, controversies, dilemmas and conflicts in studying and analyzing social media and social movements

- Enhance conceptual and empirical understanding of the interaction between the digital media ecology and social change

- Apply multidisciplinary theoretical perspectives to the analysis of a specific social movement
- Develop a deep and critical understanding of contemporary social movements with specific focus on the use of networked communications technologies within these events

- Develop and demonstrate competency in new media literacy (information, visual, technological and textual) and communicate effectively in a variety of formats (oral, written and multimedia)

TEXTBOOK:

NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Short Reflection Papers	Two short reflection papers (1000-3000 words) will be assigned. For each paper students will be required to choose a film from the lists below, watch and analyze it in connection to concepts, theories, and languages discussed in the course.	30%
Group Project	Group presentations (3-4 people) are due on the last weeks of classes. Students will be asked to select a social movement and analyze its communication strategies and use of media. Presentations will be judged on the following criteria: critical thinking, quality of information, structure and organization of the presentation, clarity, oral presentation, teamwork, and ability to give answers during the Q&A session after the presentation.	25%
Attendance and Participation	Class participation consists of your contributions to class discussions and other activities including in-class presentations on assigned topics. Classroom participation is encouraged and emphasized. Students are required to come to class having completed the assigned readings for each week. For Attendance policy see below	20%
Final Research Paper	Students are required to write a research paper between 3500-6000 words related to the topic of the group presentation. Paper will be graded according to its clarity, originality, style, structure, adherence to the course topics, coherence of the argument, attention to diversity of sources, correct formatting of citations, ability to give answers and further clarification if needed.	25%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the co
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Please note that the two library sessions on searching and citing (calendar will be provided) are mandatory and absences will automatically lower your participation grade.

Also please consider that more than 4 absences will automatically result in lowering your participation grade by one letter grade for each absence.

If you have a serious health problem which causes you to miss more classes than allowed here, please contact the Dean's Office.

Lateness: If unexcused, students more than 10 minutes late are marked as absent. Late arrival (less than 10 minutes) is marked as such, and 3 late arrivals are counted as one absence.

Class procedure: Use of cell phones affects your participation grade and is strictly forbidden during class. Please make sure that your cell phone is turned off (and not just muted) when class starts.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

For the first short reflection paper choose a film from among the following (all available at the library)

1. “A grin without a cat” (1977) by Chris Marker

2. “Everything's all right” including the post-scriptum film essay “Letter to Jane” (1972) by Jean Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Morin

3. “The Weather Underground” (2002) by Sam Green and Bill Siegel

4. “Underground” (1976) by Emile de Antonio

For the second short reflection paper choose a film from among the following (for those not available at the library links will be provided)

1. “The square” (2013) by Jehane Noujaim

2. “300 miles” (2016) by Orwa al Mokdad

3. “Occupy Wall Street: History of an occupation” and “Surviving the Winter” (2012) by Al Jazeera English

SCHEDULE

Week 1. Introduction and course overview: What is a social movement?

Read:

Della Porta, Donatella, and Diani, Mario, “Chapter I”, “Chapter II”, in Social Movements: an Introduction (Malden MA: Blackwell, 2006), 1-63.

Watch: “A grin without a cat” (1977), “Everything's all right” and “Letter to Jane” (1972), “The Weather Underground” (2002), “Underground” (1976)

Week 2. Why do people get together and act together? Collective and connective action, identities and values

Read:

Della Porta, Donatella, and Diani, Mario, “Chapter III”, “Chapter IV”, “Chapter V”, “Chapter VI”, in Social Movements: an Introduction (Malden MA: Blackwell, 2006), 64-162

Bennett, W. Lance, and Segerberg, Alexandra, “The Logic of Connective Action: Digital Media and the Personalization of Contentious Politics”, Information, Communication & Society 5, 15 (2012): 739-768 .

Bimber, Bruce, Flanagin, Andrew J., and Stohl, Cynthia, “Reconceptualizing collective action in the contemporary media environment”,Communication Theory 4, 15 (2005): 365-388.

Watch: “A grin without a cat” (1977), “Everything's all right” and “Letter to Jane” (1972), “The Weather Underground” (2002), “Underground” (1976)

Week 3. Why is the Internet expected to bring social change? Social Movements and the Networks

Read:

Joyce, Mary, “Preface: the Problem with Digital Activism”, “Introduction: How to Think about Digital Activism”, in Joyce, Mary ed., Digital Activism Decoded. The New Mechanics of Change, (New York: International Debate Education Association, 2010) vii-14

Scholz, Trebor, “Infrastructure: its Transformation and Effect on Digital Activism”, in Joyce, Mary ed., Digital Activism Decoded. The New Mechanics of Change, (New York: International Debate Education Association, 2010), 17-31.

Jenkins, Henry ,"What Constitutes Meaningful Participation?", in Jenkins, Henry, Ford, Sam, and Green, Joshua eds., Spreadable Media. Creating value and meaning in a networked culture, (New York and London: New York University Press, 2013), 153-194.

Rheingold, Howard, “Mobile Media and Political Collective Action”, in Katz, James E. ed, Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies, (Boston: MIT Press, 2008), 225-239.

Harvey, David, “The Fetish of Technology: Causes and Consequences”, Macalester International 13, 7 (2003): 3-30.

Watch: “The Machine is Us/ing Us” (2007), “Here comes everybody” (2008), selected clips from “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World” (2016)

Recommended Readings:

Barbrook, Richard, and Cameron, Andy, “The Californian Ideology”, Mute Magazine, 1995.

Packer, George, “Change the world”, The New Yorker, May 27, 2013.

Week 4. Is Internet a public sphere?
* First short paper due

Read:

Dean, Jodi, "Why the Net is not a public sphere", Constellations 1, 10 (2003): 95-112.

Shirky, Clay, “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change”, Foreign Affairs, (2011 January/February 2011).

Papacharissi, Zizi, “The virtual sphere 2.0: the Internet, the Public Sphere and beyond”, in Chadwick , Andrew, and Howard, Philip N. eds, Handbook of Internet Politics, (Oxford: Routledge, 2009) 230-245.

Watch: “The public sphere and the Internet” (2007), “Why the history of the public sphere matters in the Internet age” (2009), “ New Media and the Public Sphere “ (2008), selected clips from “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World” (2016)

Recommended Readings:

Benkler, Yochai, "Political Freedom Part 2: Emergence of the networked public sphere", in The Wealth of Networks. How social production transforms markets and freedom, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006) 212-272.

Week 5. The Arab Spring part one: Was it a 2.0. revolution?

Read:

Gladwell, Malcolm, “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted” The New Yorker, October 4, 2010.

Abdulla, Rasha A., “The Revolution Will Be Tweeted” The Cairo Review of Global Affairs 3, 1 (2011).

Burris, Greg, “Lawrence of E-rabia: Facebook and the new Arab Revolt”, Jadaliyya, October 17, 2011.

Lim, Merlyna, “Clicks, Cabs, and Coffeehouses: Social Media and Oppositional Movements in Egypt, 2004–2011”, Journal of Communication 2 , 62 (2012): 231–48.

Lynch, Marc, “Twitter Devolutions: How Social Media is Hurting the Arab Spring”, Foreign Policy, February 7, 2013.

Della Ratta, Donatella, and Valeriani, Augusto, “Just a Bunch of (Arab) Geeks? How an elite of 'techies' shaped a digital culture in the Arab region and contributed to the making of the Arab uprisings”, in Sabry, Tarik, and Ftouni, Layal, Arab Subcultures: Transformations in Theory and Practice (London: I.B. Tauris, 2017)

Della Ratta, Donatella, and Valeriani, Augusto, “Remixing the Spring!: Connective leadership and read-write practices in the 2011 Arab uprisings”, CyberOrient 1, 6 (2012)

Watch: “Asma Mahfouz, the video that sparked the Egyptian Revolution” (2011), “Tweets from Tahrir” (2012), “Tunisia: portion of irevolution CNN (2011)”, “Bahrain: portion of irevolution CNN” (2011) , “Egypt: portion of irevolution CNN” (2011), "How Facebook changed the world- the story of the Arab Spring" (2012)

Week 6. The Arab Spring part two: Ideology and Political Economy of (Arab) Digital Activism

Read:

Ben Gharbia, Sami, “The Internet Freedom Fallacy and the Arab Digital Activism”, Nawaat, September 17, 2010.

Aouragh, Miriyam, “Social media, mediation and the Arab revolutions”, Triple C 10, 2 (2012): 518-536.

Della Ratta, Donatella, “On ready-made revolutions in the Arab world: how armchair journalism and citizen empowerment fit into the rhetoric of contemporary neoliberal discourse”, in Bennet, Pete, and McDougall, Julian, Popular Culture and the Austerity Myth: Hard Times Today (London: Routledge, 2016).

De Angelis, Enrico, and Della Ratta, Donatella, “Mind the Gap: Bridging knowledge and practices of activism at the Fourth Arab Bloggers Meeting”, Jadaliyya, June 7, 2014.

Schmidt, Eric, and Cohen, Jared, “The Digital Disruption: Connectivity and the Diffusion of Power”, Foreign Affairs 89, 6 (2010): 75–85.

Clinton, Hillary Rodham, “Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices & Challenges in a Networked World”, US Department of State, February 15, 2011.

Watch: “Citizen journalism and Arab Spring: Andy Carvin” (2012), “10 Tactics for turning information into action” (2010), “How to make a trustworthy video” (2013)

Recommended Readings:

Assange, Julian, “Google is not what it seems”, Newsweek, October 23, 2014.

Week 7. The Arab Spring part III: Syria, the state of disarray of a Youtubized revolution

Read:

Snowdon, Peter, “The revolution will be uploaded: Vernacular Video and the Arab Spring”, Culture Unbound 6, (2014): 401–429.

Della Ratta, Donatella, “Violence and Visibility in contemporary Syria: an ethnography of the “Expanded Places”, CyberOrient 1, 9 (2015)

Della Ratta, Donatella, “A new wave of Syrian films exposes the failure of Images”, Hyperallergic, September 16, 2016.

Della Ratta, Donatella, “The unbearable lightness of the image. Unfinished thoughts on filming in contemporary Syria” (forthcoming).

Thompson, Jesse, "The Pixelated Frontline: 'Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait'”, Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine 185 (2015): 94-97.

Alkousaa, Riham, “How Facebook hurt the Syrian Revolution”, Al Jazeera English, December 4, 2016

Watch: “Silvered Water” (2014), “The Uprising” (2013), user-generated videos from Syria, Mujatweets and other Isis-made production (no graphic images will be shown)

Week 8. Reclaiming Public Spaces: Squares and streets vs bits and pixels

Gerbaudo, Paolo, “Introduction”, “Chapter I”, in Tweets and the streets. Social media and contemporary activism, (London: Pluto Press,2012), 1-17; 17- 47.

Dean, Jodi, “Occupation as Political Form”, Occupyeverything, April 12, 2012.

Elshahed, Mohamed, “Tahrir Square: Social Media, Public Space,” Design Observer, February 2011.

Paraskevas, Frederique, “Tahrir Square and Haussmann’s Paris: Physical Manifestations of Political Doctrines” 2011.

Watch: “Tahrir” (2012), “How the Internet has made social change easy to organize but hard to win” (2014)

Recommended Readings:

Berkley Journal of Sociology, Understanding Occupy, December 2011.

Week 9. Art and activism, hacktivism, tactical use of media in social movements

Garcia, David, and Lovink, Geert, The ABC of Tactical Media Manifesto, May 16. 1997

Critical Art Ensemble, “Preface”, “Chapter I: Electronic Civil Disobedience”, Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular Ideas (Autonomedia, 1996), 2-32.

Renzi, Alessandra, “The Space of Tactical Media”, in Boler, Megan ed., Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times, (Cambridge MA and London:MIT Press, 2008), 71-100.

Raley, Rita, “Introduction Tactical media as Virtuosic Performance”, Tactical Media, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 2009), 1-30.

Coleman, E. Gabriella, “Anonymous, from the LULZ to Collective Action”, Mediacommons, April 6, 2011.

Gerbaudo, Paolo, “Protest avatars as memetic signifiers: political profile pictures and the construction of collective identity on social media in the 2011 protest wave”, Information, Communication & Society 8, 18 (2015): 916-929.

Watch: Paper Tiger TV, Indymedia, Luther Blisset, Liberation Newsreel, Critical Art Ensamble, The Yes Men, AdBusters, Anonymous.

Recommended Readings:

Costanza-Chock, Sasha, “Mic Check!Media Practices in the Occupy Movement”, Social Movement Studies 3-4,11 (2012): 375-85.

Week 10. The Dark Side of Digital Activism I: Surveillance, Authoritarianism, Cyber Terror, Digital Jihad

*Second short paper due

Read:

Murdoch, Stephen, “Destructive Activism”, in Joyce, Mary ed., Digital Activism Decoded. The New Mechanics of Change, (New York: International Debate Education Association, 2010) 137-148.

Columbus, Simon, “The new casualties: prisons and persecutions, in Joyce, Mary ed., Digital Activism Decoded. The New Mechanics of Change, (New York: International Debate Education Association, 2010), 165-179.

Morozov, Evgeny, “Introduction”, “Chapter IV”, “Chapter VI”, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, (New York: PublicAffairs, 2011), ix-xvii; 85-112; 143-178.

Watch: Syrian Electronic Army videos, Isis videos (no graphic images will be shown), TOR, NSA, activists' campaigns on detained bloggers in the Middle East, fakenews, Israel Instagram campaigns

Week 11. The Dark Side of Digital Activism II: Commodity Activism, Clickivism, Slacktivism and Digital (activism) Divide

Read:

Mukherjee, Roopali, and Banet-Weiser, Sarah (eds), “Introduction”, “Brand me 'Activist'”, “Mother Angelina:Hollywood Philanthropy Personified”, “Fair Vanity: The Visual Culture of Humanitarism in the age of commodity activism”, “Civic Fitness: the body politics of commodity activism”, in Commodity Activism: cultural resistance in neoliberal times, (New York and London:New York University Press) 2012.

Watch: Kony campaign, Avaaz campaigns, Invisible children, Aylan Kurdi

Week 12 . Digital & Networked Publics/

Locating the social in social media. What's social in social media?

Read:

Lovink, Geert, “What is the social in social media?”, in Social Media Abyss: critical Internet culture and the force of negation, (Cambridge UK: Polity Press, 2016).

Warner Michael, “Publics and Counterpublics”, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 4, 88 (2002).

Watch: Nokia campaign in Syria

Week 13. Online vs Offline activism? Digital Activism is the new black

Class review & wrap up

Presentations

Week 14

Presentations