Contemporary Issues in the Information Age

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Class of Year 2003
Class of Year 2001

Syllabus URL: http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/psc300_103
PSC 300, Section 103
Time: 2:00-3:20, Tuesday, Thursday
Meeting Place: Eggers 032

Instructor: Jongwoo Han
Senior Associate of Center for Technology and Information Policy
Email: jonghan@maxwell.syr.edu
Phone Number: 443-5856
Office: 532 Eggers Hall
Office Hours: 3:30-4:30, Tuesday & Thursday and by Appointment

Korea

We are living in a period of major a historical transformation, Information Technology Revolution, as was the 18^th century the  Industrial Revolution. The extensive and systematic use of scientific knowledge and networked information technology in a society introduces new forms of relationship in the economy, state, society as well as in our private life. Contemporary society witnesses the unprecedented transformation in the processes of production and distribution changing the material basis of the human species, which will shape new sets of relationships in our political system and culture. In such a newly emerging networked society, there are many challenging socio-economic and political issues to be addressed. For example, Internet and politics of election campaigns, global civic alliance, taxation/security in the global and domestic Electronic Commerce, disputes over various kinds of intellectual property rights, new management system in the Internet, censorship and privacy in the virtual space, and new forms of regulation policy in the telecommunication industry. Furthermore, this networked society has to deal with the structural crisis of the legitimacy of the political community and identity as well as political changes from the cyber public sphere. Good examples are changes in the gender relationship, the future of the nation state, and Internet impacts on social capital. This course is designed to examine such major contemporary socio-economic and political issues in the advent of Information Society. This course will be based on active student research and presentation.

This course is mainly composed of  three parts: 1) an introduction on the impacts of networked information technology upon our community, especially on "online community" and the issues of "bonding" or "Bridging" and the brief review of topics for student presentations, which count a substantial part of the total grade; 2) Preliminary presentations and lectures on 7 topics; and 3) Final group presentation.  In the first part, this course includes an official session of Website-building. Every student should attend the session and learn how to build a Web site for the final presentation. And we will briefly go over 6 major topics so that students and each group can choose one topic for the preliminary presentation set. Each group will present its preliminary report for 20 minutes. The second part will review 7 topics: Topic 1 Information Society; Topic 2 Privacy;  Topic 3 IT and Political Change; Topic 4 IT and Election Campaign; Topic 5 IT and Government; Topic 6 IT and Online Community; Topic 7 IT and Security & Trustworthiness in the complex system. Each student is obliged to read assigned materials in the course website and is supposed to be ready to answer to the questions in the class. The last part is for the final group presentation. Each group works a specific presentation topic already chosen in the beginning of the course.

Information about the Maxwell Computer Account :Non-Maxwell students will be given the Maxwell computer account for the use of Maxwell computer system and for the access of the Interactive Media Lab (IML, Eggers 064, Monday through Friday from 9 to 5). After a session of how to build a Website, Students will have full access to consult with IML consultants and to use IML facilities for the construction of websites for your presentations.

Guideline for assignments

1. Guideline for a Paper and a Presentation:  for both Preliminary and Final presentation and paper
2. Example: NSI & Privacy (Civil Liberties)
3. Meeting with Instructor: At least two meetings with Instructor before and after your preliminary

Assignments and Grade Policy

1. Attendance:10% (Not more than three times of absence throughout this course)
2. Assignments: 15%
   1) An analytical paper on Intelligent Cities Project Report due on September 1, Thursday
   2) Group presentation on Online Community due on September 20, Tuesday and 22 Thursday.
3. Preliminary Group Presentation (October 27 and  November 1 classes) with 3-page group report& Web Building Project:15%
4. Final-term Exam: 30%
5. Final Presentation: 30%

Course Materials: All the reading assignments are either in course Web site with hyperlinks or digitally available at the Web site of Bird Library. Go to SU Bird web and click Course Materials and then find reading assignments under instructor name Jongwoo Han or Course number PSC 300103. Reserved materials at Reserve Desk of Bird Library. Books recommended for your own additional readings

1. This course encourages students to check various sources of News on IT every day basis:
   Major Daily News: www.abcnews.go.com, www.nyt.com, www.wired.com/news/
   Major Political Webs: www.meetup.com, www.moveon.org, www.rockthevote.com, http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
     

Examples of Contemporary Social Problems  
FLASH MOB Comics 1, 2, 3
Illegally imported drugs
Credit Card Fraud
Organized Transnational Crime
Research, Statistics and Survey on Information Society
Y2K

Groups and Team Leaders

1. (Aug. 30, T) Course Introduction and Policy & Brief Review of 7 Topics
   1) Assignment: A 3-page analytical report on "The Intelligent Cities Project Reports", due on Sep. 1
   
    
2. (Sep. 1, Th) Major issues in the Information Age Overview I & Lecture Note & Topic and Group Selection
   1) Reading: The Intelligent Cities Project Report by Global Affairs Institute & Institute for  
       Electronic Government, IBM.
   2) From Nowhere to Everywhere and Lecture Power Point
    
3. (Sep. 6, T) NNIs and Social Capital: "Bonding" or "Bridging"? Lecture Power Point [DL: 2, 7]
   1) Introduction by Robert Putnam, Better Together
   2) Chapter 11: Craigslist.org: Is Virtual Community Real?
   
    
4. (Sep. 8, Th) Digital Integration I  (PowerPoint & Print Format)
   Reading [DL 13]: Andy Covell. Digital Convergence on "What is convergence.
   1) Chapter 2 Conventional Technologies
   2) Chapter 3 How Digital Does It Differently?
   
    
5. (Sep. 13, T) Digital Integration II
   1) Digital Integration: Technologies
     -- Analog, Analog vs Digital, Morse Code
     -- Circuit vs Packet Switching,
     -- ASCII, ASCII Scan Code,
     -- TCP/IP, How Data Travel,
     -- Domain Names
     -- Shutter Telegraph (Optical Telegraph)
    
6. (Sep. 15, Th) Building Website Using FrontPage in the Maxwell Computer system by Matt Coulter (Maxwell Webmaster)
   Tutorials: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/ict/knowledgebase/software/frontpage/default.asp
   
   Maxwell Accounts
    
7. (Sep. 20, T) Online Community I: Presenting the Most Popular Websites  (The Best of the Web): Peer Evaluation
   3 groups and 20 minutes for each group: David (Online community group), Amy (Privacy Group), and Ellen (Government group)
   
   1) Activist Organizations
   2) Blogs/Opinion
   3) Chat/Community/Personal Networking
   4) Government
   5) 2004 U.S. Election
   
    ** Top 100 Web Sites by Country
   
    
8. (Sep. 22, Th) Online Community II: Presenting the Most Popular Websites  (The Best of the Web):
   3 groups and 20 minutes for each group: Ahl (Election group), Emily (Security group), David Robbie (Political Change group)
   1) Activist Organizations
   2) Blogs/Opinion
   3) Chat/Community/Personal Networking
   4) Government
   5) 2004 U.S. Election
   
    ** Top 100 Web Sites by Country
   
   LECTURE on meetup.com as an example of "Online Community"
   
   PEER EVALUATION & Outcomes
    
9. (Sep. 27, T) U.S. Telecom Policy I  & Lecture Note
   Readings: [DL: 3, 44]
    
10. (Sep. 29, Th) US Telecom Policy II
    Readings: [DL: 3, 44]
    
    Review of Major 7 Issues in the Information Age
     
11. (Oct. 4, T) Topic 1: Information Society: Theory
    Readings: [DL: 29, 30, 32, 33]
    1) Information Society (Guideline) I  & Class Lecture
    2) Knowledge or Information Economy  (Guideline)
    3) Class Lecture on Historical Materialism (Print Format)
    4) Taylorism and Industrial Age
    5) Values of Information
    6) IT and new economy Digital Economy  (PowerPoint & Print Format) 
        -- Teleworking
        -- Virtual Aliens: Global Business Process Outsourcing
    
     
12. (Oct. 6, Th)  Topic 1: Information Society: America
    1) Pew’s Internet and American Life Project
      ** Getting Serious Online (required reading)
      ** The Internet and Daily Life (required reading)
      ** The Internet as a Unique News Source (optional)
      ** How Americans Get in Touch With Government (optional)
    
     
13. (Oct. 11, T) Topic 2 Privacy I – Lecture Note
    Readings: [DL: 4, 49, 50] & "Do Not Call List"
    
    October 13, Thursday: NO CLASS
     
14. (Oct. 18, T) Topic 3: IT and Political Change and [Lecture Power Point] & Tables
    1) Jongwoo Han: Putting Social Capital to Use in Cyberspace 
    2) NGO Korea & Defeat Movement
    3) Salt Lake Winter Olympics in 2002
    3) World Cup Games and Red Devil Phenomenon
    4) Red Devils' Images: 1
    
    
15. (Oct. 20, Th)  Topic 3: IT and political change Continued
    1) Readings: [DL: 15, 16, 40, 47]
    2) "meetup.com, moveon.org, rockthevote.com, United for Peace and Justice"
    2) Guidelines: What are these websites for and how different from each other? How are they different
         from Industrial medium? What are the problemsSYDMOB,  Mob BBC,  CNN
    3) Flash Mob Lecture Note,
    4) Yong Generation's Voting
    5) Polling Problems of Cellular Phone Users
    
     
16. (Oct. 25, T) 
    
     
17. (Oct. 27, Th) Preliminary Presentation of your Research Topics: Government [Evaluation], Privacy [Evaluation], On-line [Evaluation]
    1) Assignments: 3-page Group Report and 20 minute Group Web-Presentation
    2) Guideline
    3) Critiques:
    
    
18. (Nov. 1, T)  Preliminary Presentation of your Research Topics: Political Change [Evaluation], Security [Evaluation], Election [Evaluation]
    1) Assignments: 3-page Group Report and 20 minute Group Web-Presentation
    2) Guideline
    3) Critiques:
    
    
19. (Nov. 3, Th) Topic 4: IT and Election Campaign I
    1) Cyber Democracy I (PowerPoint & Print Format)
    2) Reading: Federal Election Commission
    3) Internet Campaign (PowerPoint)
    4) Updated: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/record/2005/may05.pdf
                       
    
    
20. (Nov. 8, T)  Topic 4: IT and Election Campaign II (PowerPoint)
    1) Reading: Federal Election Commission
    2) Summary Table
    
     
21. (Nov. 10, Th)  Topic 5: IT and government (PowerPoint & Print Format)
     Readings: [DL: 18, 19]
    1) David Osborne and Ted Gaebler "Preface of Reinventing Government
    2) Relyea, Harold C. 2001. "Electronic Government: A Conceptual Overview," CRS Report for
        Congress
    3) E-Government Analyzing/Evaluation Framework
    
    
22. (Nov. 15, T) Topic 5: IT and government 
    1) Reading: Jongwoo Han, Governance of Electronic Government & Lecture Note
    2) Internet Governance and UN
    
     
23. (Nov. 17, Th)  Topic 6: On-line Community: Inhabiting the virtual city by Judith S. Donath & Lecture Notes
    1) Readings: Part I (Chapter 2 The city and the body & 3 Contemporary on-line social environments)
    2) What is online (virtual) community? MUDs
    
     
24. (Nov. 22, T) Topic 7: IT and security
    1) Encryption Technology: Reading & Lecture
    (by Charles C. Mann, Atlantic Monthly, September, 2002)
    
    Thanksgiving Holiday, November 23, Wednesday -- November 27, Sunday
     
25. (Nov. 29, T) Final Presentation I (2 groups/session and 30-35 minutes for each)
    : Political Change Group  (Before: Political Change & After) & Evaluation
    : Security Group (Before: Security  & After) & Evaluation
    
     
26. (Dec. 1, Th)   Final Presentation II (2 groups/session and 30-35 minutes for each)
    : Government Group (Before: Government  & After) & Evaluation
    : Online Group (Before: On-line & After) & Evaluation
    
    
27. (Dec. 6, T)  Final Presentation III (2 groups/session and 30-35 minutes for each):
     : Election Group (Before: Election & After) & Evaluation
     : Privacy Group (Before: Privacy & After) & Evaluation
     
28. (Dec. 8, Th) Final Wrap-up and Final Exam Review
     
29. Final-Term Exam: December 12, Monday from 10:15-12:15 at 032 Eggers Hall