CAS 403 is an upper division course (3 credits) which will be taught by Dr. Jaishree Odin to the University of Hawaii's Manoa Outreach students using Lotus Domino and Lotus LearningSpace.
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Course Description
The course will deal with the impact of information technologies. Just as the printing revolution had far reaching
effects on European society, the electronic revolution is dramatically
changing our socio-cultural landscape by radically transforming not only
our conceptions of time and space, but also of the body. The age of the
Internet is contributing to notions of identity formations that are based
on plurality, multiplicity, and difference. The cyborg technology focusing
on human-machine interface either to repair dysfunctional organs or to augment the human body raises interesting questions about the
nature of humanity itself. You will explore how these socio-cultural
changes are linked to the latest economic developments which,
in order to sustain markets globally, are promoting
consumer culture that is increasingly centered around the use
of new technologies for business as well as recreational purposes.
Unit I-Text, Hypertext, and Multilinear Narratives
This unit will familiarize you with how the underlying premises
and assumptions of electronic text differ from those of the print
text. The traditional concepts of the reader, writer, and the text all
undergo a radical transformation in the networked or hypertext environment,
for example, on the World Wide Web. The ability to combine video, sound,
and images redefine what we conceive of as text. Even the concept
of authorship changes in a networked environment as each text is connected to every other text.
By studying the electronic revolution in historical perspective, you will
explore how the basic assumptions of electronic text are very different
from those of the print text. This unit will thus give you a hands-on experience
as well as understanding of the electronic medium both from the practical
and theoretical perspective.
| Sept 7-13, 1997 | Jaishree Odin. Print Revolution: Social and Cultural Formations J.L. Borgese. "The Garden of Forking Paths" (short story) |
| Sept 14-20, 1997 | Jaishree Odin. "Electronic Revolution" Richard Lanham. "The Electronic Word" Sherry Turkle. Life on the Screen(Chap 1) |
| Sept 21- Sept 28, 1997 | Jaishree Odin. "Hypertext Theory" Richard Lanham, "Digital Rhetoric and the Digital Arts" Sherry Turkle Life on the Screen(Chap 2) |
Unit II: Technobodies and Virtual Geographies
Virtual geographies are emerging due to phenomenal increase in the use of the Internet that is unfolding a virtual alternate world to which people are increasingly turning for information, communication, as well as recreation. The virtual interactive spaces created on the Internet through chat rooms, bulletin boards, and electronic mailing lists have put traditional notions of identity into question and are promoting notions of multiplicity, heterogeneity and difference which are more appropriate for an ethnically diverse culture. As computer programs are created that can mimic humans in behavior as well as intelligence, even the concept of humanity may need to be rethought. To study questions of identity as well as our relationship to computer generated artificial intelligences (AI's), we will read Marge Piercy's novel He, She, and It.
| Sept 28-Oct 4, 1997 | Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen Chapter 3, 4, 5 | |
| Oct 5-12, 1997 | Jaishree Odin. "Cultural Formations in the Age of the Internet" Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen Chapter 7, 8, 10 |
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| Oct 13-18, 1997 | Marge Piercy He, She, and It | |
| Oct 18-25, 1997 | Marge Piercy. He, She, It |
Unit III: Space-Time Compression and Material Geographies
Theorists point out that postmodern trend can be located in changes in modes of communication in information-based advanced capitalist societies which have given rise to new social formations as well as cultural productions. Material geographies crystallize around us in the form of postmodern literature, art, and architecture which are characterized by fragmentation, juxtaposition of radically different realities, multilinearity, and emphasis on local narratives. We will study the postmodern phenomena in historical perspective to understand how postmodernity exhibits our changed relation to time and space which has resulted from the impact of new technologies.
| Oct 26-Nov 1, 1997 | Charles Jencks. "Post-Modernism Defined" |
| Nov 2-8, 1997 | David Harvey. The Condition of Postmodernity |
| Nov 9-15 , 1997 | David Harvey. The Condition of Postmodernity |
Unit IV: Virtual Capitalism
In this unit we will explore implications of information revolution for the latest economic developments which have led to a shift from centralized mass production and management style to flexible, individualized, decentralized modes of production. The electronic web allows democratic exchange as well as access to information which makes it ideal for virtual community formations. It is also a perfect marketing tool as it provides individualized customer data as well as direct points of sale to buyers--becoming thus an important tool in promoting consumerism, and corporate interests and profits. As Bill Gates says--the internet is contributing toward "frictionless capitalism"--frictionless indeed for sellers of services and goods. We will read Don DeLillo's White Noise which is a commentary, both humorous and ironic, on contemporary media-inundated consumer culture where it is easy to take images presented on our computer or television screen as more real than reality itself.
| Nov 16-22, 1997 | David Harvey The Condition of Postmodernity |
| Nov 23-28, 1997 | Don DeLillo. White Noise. |
| Nov 28-Dec 6, 1997 | David Harvey. The Condition of Postmodernity |
| Dec 6-15 1997 | Peter Manicas, Virtual Capitalism Michael Dawson and John Bellamy Foster. "Virtual Capitalism. The Political Economy of the Information Highway" Final Paper due. |
Teaching/learning in asynchronous environment is different from a face-to-face traditional lecture style classroom where the instructor delivers a lecture and students sit passively and listen to the lecture. My role in this course will be to explain, to clarify, to direct, in order to get you actively involved in the process of learning. I have created writing/reading assignments that would require your active reading of the course materials. Read the course materials regularly, share your thoughts about it with other course participants, respond to their thoughts to create a context for shared learning experiences. Discussion space in the CourseRoom is for facilitating exchange of ideas. Not only can you respond to reading assignments at any time and from any place, you can also have an extended discussion-you can explore your personal interest in the particular topics from your own perspectives. You have space and time to do that, and others in your group will have chance to read your ideas and respond to them. So what does that do? It has potential for getting all of us very involved-and getting very involved means what we read in books or the web or hear from others, we relate to our own lives and to our own experiences. In order to make this pilot course a success, all of us have a responsibility to regularly contribute to create a virtual community f learners who are deeply engaged in the process of learning.
You will be required to devote the same time to this asynchronous course as you would to a traditional course. Since we will not be meeting at a scheduled time, you need to work out a time schedule for yourself which is best for you. Set aside days that would be good for doing the reading assignments on a regular basis. If you need to use the MCC lab computers, set aside a few hours once or twice a week to check the schedule and complete the work assignments as well as discussion postings. Both these activities are required for this course on a weekly basis.
If you want to communicate with other students in person or on phone, you should do it. The asynchronous mode of teaching does not exclude such synchronous interaction. You might post the summary of these discussions in the CourseRoom so that other course participants who don't get an opportunity to engage in such an interaction would get the benefit of this communication.
Electronic Discussion in the CourseRoom: Each student will be required to post at least two entries per week in the CourseRoom. These online entries could be in response to the discussion that has already been initiated or it could be an entry to start a new discussion. All discussions will be threaded, so pay attention to discussion titles. The online discussions will be informal and exploratory in nature and could involve open-ended arguments.
Short Summary/Response: Each student will be required to read the assigned reading material and send me weekly responses. Summarize the main ideas in a paragraph and discuss briefly the ideas that you found interesting. This weekly assignment is due on every Saturday. You can write this summary as a word processing document while you are off-line and then cut and paste it to the assignment work area. Make the entry Private to the Instructor.
Two Short Essays on Unit I, II, and III (Five Pages each): Each essay will be graded. I will give you feedback on it and give you a chance to revise it if you want to. Each essay will have a due date and it must be submitted by that date.
One Final Researched Essay at the end of Unit IV (Ten Pages): A final research paper could be based on any topic that we cover throughout the semester. In the first week of November, you will give me a rough idea about the topic of your final essay and submit an outline by November 25th. I will give you feedback on the rough draft. The final essay is due on December 15th.
Team Work: Teams of five students each. Each team will be responsible for leading discussions at least one week per month. The teams can communicate through the team conferencing in LearningSpace.
Final Research Paper: 20%
Participation in Class Discussion (includes weekly responses and work assignments) 40%
Team Work: 10%