WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY
PROPOSAL FOR NEW COURSES
Department Mass Communication Date ______
Refer to Regulation 3-4, Policy for Changing the Curriculum, for complete information on submitting proposals for curricular changes.
MCOM 381 Desire and Technology 3
Course No. Course Title Credits
This proposal is for a(n) XXXX Undergraduate Course ______Graduate Course
Applies to: XXX Major ______Minor ______General Education Program*
______University Studies Program*
XXX Required _____ Required
_____ Elective _____ Elective
Prerequisites MCOM 280 Principles of Media Literacy
Grading method XXX Grade only ______P/NC only ______Grade and P/NC Option
Frequency of offering Once a year
*For General Education Program course approval, the form Proposal for General Education Program Courses must also be completed and submitted separately according to the instructions on that form. For University Studies Program course approval, the form Proposal for University Studies Courses must also be completed and submitted separately according to the instructions on that form.
Provide the following information:
A. Course Description
1. Catalog description.
This course will show how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. The student will study facets of Second Life, [how the residents create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts, attend weddings and religious services, buy and sell virtual goods and services, find friendships, fall in love - the possibilities are endless, and all encountered through a computer screen.] The rigor of critical review will be brought to the new frontier of second life, including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and group. WSU e-Learning Center Second Life will be utilized for demonstrations.
2. Course outline of the major topics and subtopics (minimum of two-level outline).
A. Brief history of the Metaverse
1. From old world to new world
2. Pre-histories of the virtual
3. Histories of virtual technology
4. Histories of virtual worlds
B. Place and Time
1. Visuality and land
2. Buildings and objects
3. Immersion
4. Presence
C. Personhood
1. The self
2. The life course
3. Avatars and alts
4. Embodiment
5. Gender and race
6. Agency
D. Intimacy
1. Language
2. Friendship
3. Sexuality
4. Love
5. Family
6. Addiction
E. Community
1. Thee group
2. Kindness
3. Grieving
4. Between virtual worlds
5. Beyond virtual worlds
F. Economy
1. Creationist capitalism
2. Money and labor
3. Property
4. Governance
5. Inequality
6. Social form
G. The Virtual
1. The virtual human
2. Culture and the online
3. Simulation
4. Fiction and design
5. The massively multiple
6. Online social engineering
7. Border disputes
8. Crime and punishment
9. Research, education and activism in an online world
3.a Instructional delivery methods utilized: (Please check all that apply).
Lecture: Auditorium / ITV / Online / Web EnhancedWSU e-Learning demonstrations in Second Life / Web Supplemented
Lecture: Classroom / Service Learning / Travel Study / Laboratory / Internship/Practicum
Other: Discussion, Group Work
3.b. MnSCU Course media codes: (Please check all that apply).
None: XXX / 3. Internet / 6. Independent Study / 9. Web Enhanced1. Satellite / 4. ITV Sending / 7. Taped / 10. Web Supplemented
2. CD Rom / 5. Broadcast TV / 8. ITV Receiving
4. Course requirements (papers, lab work, projects, etc.) and means of evaluation.
Projects with e-Learning in Second Life and creating an Avatar. Attached is matrix that will be used to create a rubric to be used in evaluating student projects.
5. Course materials (textbook(s), articles, etc.).
6. Boellstorff, Tom. Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explorers the Virtually Human.
7. Princeton, NJ; Princeton University Press; 2008.
8. Meadows, Mark Stephen. I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life.
9. Berkley, CA; New Riders; 2008
10.
11. Assessment of Outcomes
The attached matrix will be used to create a rubric to be applied to student projects.
12. List of references.
13. Bukatman, Scott. Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Post-Modern Science Fiction, sixth printing.. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press; 2005.
14. Rheingold, Howard. Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds – and How it Promises to Transform Society. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster; 1991.
15. Stone, Allucquere Rosanne. The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age, fourth printing.. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press; 2001
B. Rationale
1. Statement of the major focus and objectives of the course.
The major focus of this course is the examination of the many facets of this new frontier of human life including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and the group.
2. Specify how this new course contributes to the departmental curriculum.
This new course contributes to the departmental curriculum by providing students an opportunity to learn about how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Students will create their own Avatars and live in Second Life to learn how these virtual worlds influence identity and society. The course empowers students to better understand virtual worlds and their relationship to those virtual worlds.
3. Indicate any course(s) which may be dropped if this course is approved.
No Courses are being dropped. This course is part of new option – New Media- in the revised curriculum.
C. Impact of this Course on other Departments, Programs, Majors, or Minors
1. Does this course increase or decrease the total credits required by a major or minor of any other department? If so, which department(s)?
This course does not increase nor decrease the total credits required by a major or minor in any other
department nor does this course duplicate content of any other course offered at WSU. The course is
part of the Mass Communication’s revised program and is offered only to students with a Mass
Communication major or minor.
2. Attach letter(s) of understanding from impacted department(s).
Definitions:
01-Satellite:
02- CD Rom:
03- Internet: Predominately = where all, or nearly all, course activity occurs in an online environment. One to two activities may occur face-to-face in a classroom, with the maximum being two activities.
04 – ITV Sending: a course in which students are in the classroom with the instructor, other students join via interactive television technology from other geographically separate locations
05 – Broadcast TV:
06 – Independent Study: a course in which the teacher develops specialized curriculum for the student(s) based on department guidelines in the University course catalog
07 – Taped: a course in which the teacher records the lessons for playback at a later date
08 – ITV Receiving: a course in which students are not in the classroom with the teacher, other students join via interactive television technology from other geographically separate locations
09 – Web Enhanced- Limited Seat Time: For a course in which students are geographically separate from the teacher and other students for a majority of required activities. However, some on-site attendance is required. The course includes synchronous and/or asynchronous instruction.
10 – Web Supplemented- No Reduced Seat Time: For a course utilizing the web for instructional activities. Use of this code may assist your college/university in tracking courses for “smart classrooms” and/or facility usage.
Attach a Financial and Staffing Data Sheet.
Attach an Approval Form with appropriate signatures.
Department Contact Person for this Proposal:
______
Name (please print) Phone e-mail address
[Revised 9-7-11]