ANTH 341 (Information Age Cultures): the Dimensionality of Networks

("12-cube" by Tomruen - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - Photos by Sam Collins.)

Samuel Collins, , pages.towson.edu/scollins

Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice

Mondays and Wednesdays, 2-3:15 pm

Liberal Arts, Room 3329

Office Hours: 9:30 am-10:30 am, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

LA 3334

Course Description

Subways, buses, highways, flu, SARS, MERS, obesity, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, smartphones, meet-ups, flash mobs, the Internet of Things (IoT), Amazon, Alibaba, ISIS, NSA, high-school dating, energy grids. Do these have anything in common? At least three things: first, they all describe action that is initiated and sustained by connection. Second, social scientists (and anthropologists) have tried to understand and analyze these connections using the idea of social networks. Finally, people have used this understanding of social networks to plan, structure and practice these connections: an ultimatelyrecursive practice of social networks that is a clear illustration of the Thomas theorem.

Accordingly, this class will introduce networks through at least two modalities, the first as a kind of social fact emerging through the actions of networked individuals; the second as a concept “good to think with,” a way of theorizing about the self and social life in an age of globalization and late capitalism. In other words, there is a circular logic to network thinking. Having established that networks are good to think with, “network thinking” becomes the basis for all kinds of social structures—from social networking software to 1-minute dating happy hours. Of course, it’s not too much to add that there’s a networked element to this, that our networked understanding networks, virus like, to other phenomena, until this understandingcascades into more-or-less universal assumptions about the way our life works.

Along the way, we shall concentrate our attention on three, ethnographically informed sites that span the apparent universality of networks. The first is the material: the undersea cables that enable 99 percent of our digital lives. Secondly, we look to the networked spread, propagation of disease (specifically the H1N1 outbreak in 2009), together with the networked response to the outbreak. Finally, we look to the networked reactions of Anonymous to the highly networked forms of surveillance and control institutions wield against ordinary people. Together these ethnographic investigations should prompt us to ask the big questions: are our selves, social lives and physical behavior networked effects? What do we gain by considering them in this way, and what do we lose? And is there life after networks?

In order to address these challenges, we will undertake a variety of small exercises into each of these dimensions of network thinking, from mapping bus routes to downloading Facebook data. Each exercise will involve both the deployment of network methods and theory as well as critical reflexity: whenever we “network” our understanding of social cultural life, we simultaneously limit our interpretations as well as constrict the scope of alternative possibilities. Our final project for the class, an application of each of these three dimensions—material, social and institutional—to sites around Baltimore, should additionally question the terms of the debate. What would a post-network understanding look like?

Students will be moving through a large body of contemporary theory, but they will also be introduced to a series of useful methodologies that have become de rigeur in a world understood through networks: social network analysis, actor network theory, Web analytics. Whatever else, students should leave this class withtools for living in a networked world—even if it is one we might wish to transform.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the social and cultural characteristics of networks.

• Demonstrate the ways in which networks allow people to form connections with each other in a variety of contexts.

• Be able to analyze networks using concepts drawn from the social sciences and from the computer sciences (e.g., ties, range, density) in order to characterize the quality of agent/alter interactions and the efficacy of the network in promoting its avowed goals.

• Utilize models for understanding computer-mediated social networks (e.g., small world, random network, etc.).

• Understand the challenges involved in scaling social network analysis for web-based social networking.

• Construct visualizations of computer mediated social networks using different techniques (e.g., sociograms).

• Speculate on the future of “network thinking” in information society.

• Critically reflect on the effects of "information society" changes on the lives of the student

herself and the people around her.

• Understand the usefulness of computation in: 1) solving problems posed by social networks and 2) suggesting alternatives to existing computer-mediated social networks.

Required Readings:

Coleman, Gabriella (2014). Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy. NY: Verso Press.

MacPhail, Theresa (2014). The Viral Network. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Starosielski, Nicole (2015). The Undersea Network. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

In addition, there may be articles assigned for different weeks. These are available either on or through Course Blackboard.

Required Software/ Social Network Accounts:

1). Facebook.

2). Storify

3). Twitter

4). Instagram

5). NodeXL:

6). (or) Gephi:

Recommended Books:

1). Introduction to Social Network Methods

2). Easley, David and Jon Kleinberg (2010). Networks, Crowds and Markets. NY:Cambridge University Press.

Assignments:

1). Class Assignments (4chosen from 6 scheduled during the semester, each worth 15 points). Students will participate in a series of structured activities utilizing canned data, data derived from their own social networks, templates and open source software designed to help them think about networks. Three of the four activities must be utilized in some way in the student’s final project (see below). 60 pts.

2). Midterm examination: A combination of “word-bank” and short answer questions covering lectures, readings and major themes explored during the semester. 40 pts.

3). Semester Project: During the course of the semester, students will select a group, social movement, organization or behavior that interests them and examine it in the multi-dimensional ways we’ve explored throughout the semester.

The assignment is broken up into several, graded parts, including:

A one-on-one session regarding your topic. 5 pts.

• A short (5-7 minute) in-class presentation. 15 pts.

• A paper (5-7 pages) describing the network through a) concepts and theories learned in class lectures and class readings; b) analysis of the network utilizing tools from at least three of the four class activities (see above); c) visualizations of the networks; d) discussion of the promises and problems of networked life in the context of the project focus. To receive full credit, each paper should be posted on our class “Blackboard” site. 40 pts.

Note: Students will receive a precise guide to the final paper after the midterm examination.

4). Final Examination. Students will answer a series of short, essay questions about class lectures and readings, including in-class presentations at the end of the semester. 40 pts.

Grading:

Class Assignments: 60 pts.

Midterm exam: 40 pts.

One-on-one meeting: 5 pts.

In-class presentation: 15 points.

Final paper: 40 pts.

Final examination: 40 pts.

A 186+

A- 180-185

B+ 174-179

B 166-173

B- 160-165

C+ 154-159

C 140-153

D+ 134-139

D 120-133

F <120

Class Schedule:

Week 1 (8/26): Class Introduction: Theories of Information Society—Progress, Utopia, Dystopia and the Technological Sublime.

-Kinship to Networks.

-Anthropology and networks.

-Anthropocene

Required Reading: Starosielski, Introduction

Week 2 (8/31-9/2): Network Thinking, Part I:

-History of Networks.

-Actor-network Theory

-Network Mapping

Required Readings: Starosielski, Chapters 1-2

Recommended Reading:

Abrahamsson, Sebastian (2014). “An Actor Network Analysis of Constipation and Agency.” Subjectivity 7(2): 111-130.

Week 4 (9/14-9/16): Egocentric networks

-Cell Phone networks

Activity #2: Networks and the Daily Round. Trace your own daily round and choose five of your friends and trace their perambulations. Analyze differences and upload visualizations and analysis onto Blackboard.

Required Readings:

Starosielski, Chapter 6- Conclusion

Week 5 (9/21-9/23): Online Social Networks

Required Readings: MacPhail, Prologue-Chapter 1

Recommended Readings: boyd, danah m. and Nicole B. Ellison (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13: 210-230.

Kim, Kyung-Hee and Haejin Yun (2008). “Cying for Me, Cying for Us: Relational Dialectics in a Korean Social Network Site.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13: 298-313.

Activity #3: Download your Facebook network, compute metrics and discuss your findings. Upload your analysis and your visualization onto Blackboard.

Week 6 (9/28-9/30):Virality and Contagion

-Zombies!

Readings: MacPhail, Chapter 2-3

Recommended Readings: Doer, Benjamin, Mahmoud Fouz and Tobias Friedrich (2012). “Why Rumors Spread So Quickly in Social Networks.” Communications of the ACM 55(6): 70-75.

Week 7 (10/5-10/7): Networked Organization

MIDTERM EXAMINATION: Wednesday, October 7.

Required Readings:MacPhail, Chapters 4-5

Recommended Readings: Burris, Val, Emery Smith and Ann Strahm (2000). “White Supremacist Networks on the Internet.” Sociological Focus 33(2): 215-235.

Week 8 (10/12-10/14): Networks and Power

Readings:MacPhail, Chapters 6-7

Activity #4: Construct a hyperlink network of a Baltimore area non-profit. Analyze your findings and place your analysis and visualization on Blackboard.

Week 9 (10/19-10/21): The Society of the Spectacle and the City

Required Readings:

MacPhail, Epilogue

Coleman, Introduction

Recommended Readings: Choi, Jaz Hee-jeong (2010). “The city is connections.” Multimedia Systems 16: 75-84.

Activity #5: Download Twitter data about a recent event in Baltimore onto NodeXL. Run metrics and visualization, analyze and upload your results onto Blackboard.

Week 10 (10/26-10/28): Networks and Sharing.

RequiredReadings:Coleman, Chapters 1-2

Recommended Readings: Kelty, Christopher et al (2008). ANTHROPOLOGY OF/IN CIRCULATION: The Future of Open Access and Scholarly Societies. Cultural Anthropology.

Week 11 (11/2-11/4):Networked apps in anthropology, Wireframing

Meetings with Collins for final projects.

Required Readings:

Coleman, Chapters 3-5

Recommended Readings: Jo, Dongwon (2010). “Real-time networked media activism in the 2008 Chotbul protest.” Interface 2(2): 92-102.

Activity #6: Wireframe an app that networks together diverse media with Baltimore’s physical spaces. Give a short introduction explaining what you were trying to accomplish and load other explanation and wireframe onto Blackboard.

Week 12 (11/9-11/11): Networked apps in anthropology, MIT App Inventor

Required Readings:Coleman, Chapters 6-8

Week 13 (11/16-11/18):Theorizing the Post-Network

Required Readings: Coleman, Chapters 9-11

Recommended Readings: Munro, Rolland (2005). “Partial organization: Marilyn Strathern and the elicitation of relations.” Sociological Review 245-266.

Week 14 (11/23):

THANKSGIVING BREAK—11/25-11/29

Required Readings:

Coleman, Conclusion

Week 15 (11/30-12/2):

Presentations

Week 16 (12/7-12/9):

Review for final examination.

FINAL EXAMINATION: December 11, 12:30 pm- 2:30 pm.

Notes

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend every class, arrive prepared with course materials, and fully engage in course lectures, discussions, films, activities, etc. If you contemplate missing class, here are some things to keep in mind: 1) You will need to get class notes from your colleagues; 2) unless your absence is excused, I cannot allow you to make-up graded activities or exams.

Class Participation: You will need to participate in this class in order to learn the material. In addition, graded activities will involve active participation.

Academic Integrity:

Department Statement on Academic Integrity (Updated Spring 2015)

The faculty of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice expects students to demonstrate academic integrity at all times. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any class. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, any form of cheating or unapproved help on an exam or academic exercise, copying someone else’s written work without citation, presenting fabricated information as legitimate, any unauthorized collaboration among students, or assisting someone to cheat in any way. Penalties for academic dishonesty are determined by the individual faculty member. The minimum penalty in for academic dishonesty in this class is a “0” for the assignment. Students who are charged with academic dishonesty must remain enrolled in the course and cannot withdraw. Instructors will file a report of academic dishonesty with the Office of the Student Conduct and Civility Education, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and to the Chair’s Office in the department.

For more information on academic integrity, see the TU Student Academic Integrity Policy

( and the

College of Liberal Arts’ Academic Integrity and Appeals Information, (

We also encourage students to make use of campus resources to learn more about academic integrity and how to avoid academic dishonesty, such as the resources provided by Cook Library and the Writing Center (

Disability and Support Services: This course is in compliance with Towson University policies for students with disabilities.

Students with disabilities are encouraged to register with Disability Support Services (DSS), 7720 York Road, Suite 232, 410-704-2638 (Voice) or 410-704-4423 (TDD). Students who expect that they have a disability but do not have documentation are encouraged to contact DSS for advice on how to obtain appropriate evaluation. A memo from DSS authorizing your accommodation is needed before any accommodation can be made.

Policy on Repeating Course: Students may not repeat this course more than once (make a third attempt at this course) without the prior approval of the Academic Standards Committee. Please call 4-4351 for more information.

Late assignments: Late assignments will be accepted at ½ credit (1-2 days late) or ¼ credit (3-4 days late). After 4 days, late assignments will no longer be accepted.

Make-up Work: Under extraordinary circumstances, documented by physicians, police, etc., students may be allowed to make-up missed work.

Behavior: Students who are disruptive may be dismissed from class. “Disruptive behavior” may include (but is not limited to) speaking out of turn, creating a hostile environment and utilizing smart phones or other digital devices for reasons not related to class work.

Emergency Statement (TU Office of the Provost):

In the event of a University-wide emergency, course requirements, classes, deadlines and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme. In the case of a University-wide emergency, I will attempt to communicate with you via e-mail and/or the Blackboard site.

For more general information about any emergency situation, please refer to the following:

Web Site:

Telephone Number: 410-704-2000

TU Text Alert System Sign-up at: This is a service designed to alert the Towson University community via text messages to cell phones when situations arise on campus that affect the ability of the campus - students, faculty and staff - to function normally.

Weapons: Weapons of any kind are forbidden on Towson University’s campus. For additional information go to:

explanation of grading:

Consistent with University policy, the following grades will be assigned according to the designated criteria:

A: A superior performance surpassing assigned work in unique and novel ways and

integrating diverse ideas from a wide range of sources in addition to those discussed in class.

A-

B+

B: Excellent work surpassing the expectations of the assignment and demonstrating initiative

and a willingness to move beyond the basic requirements of the assigned work.

B-

C+

C: Satisfactory work meeting all basic requirements of the assignment.

D+

D: Work in some way less than satisfactory. Although conforming to basic requirements in

some way, the completed work is nevertheless not a coherent response to the

assignment.

F: A profoundly unsatisfactory performance which doesn't meet

the intent of the assignment at any level.