Course Syllabus

  • Week 1

    • Introduction and History of the Internet
    • What are Web Studies?
      • Web Theory.nu
    • Envisioning the Web
    • Web Training
      • Macromedia - Dreamweaver
      • Blackboard Learning System: Swarthmore Blackboard Site
  • Week 2

    • Representations of the Web in Popular Culture
    • Possible Assignments
      • Films
        • The Net
        • Copycat
        • Independence Day
        • Terminator 3
        • Matrix I, II, & III
        • 2001: Space Odyssey
        • Sphere
        • Pi
        • Blade Runner
        • AI
        • You've Got Mail
        • Total Recall
      • Fiction
        • Neuromancer by William Gibson
        • Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
        • He, She, and It by Marge Piercy
        • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
  • Week 3

    • Cyberspace - Online Environments, Addresses, and Tourism
  • Week 4

    • Living Online - User Communities
      • MUDs
      • IRC
      • Usenet Newsgroups
      • Fan Communities
      • Hacker Communities
    • Global and Local Web Studies
  • Week 5

    • Knowledge - Memory - Communication
    • Hypertext Theory and Critical Theory
  • Week 6

    • Online Ontologies - Identity Formation and Body Codes
  • Week 7

    • Race
    • Gender
    • Sexuality
  • Week 8

    • E-Commerce - Porn, Property, and Power
  • Week 9 - Geopolitical Dimensions

    • Public Sphere
      • Howard Dean -
      • - What is Hacktivism?
      • Blogosphere
  • Week 10

    • Web Art - A New Media Aesthetic
      • Viewers
      • Surfers
      • Readers
  • Week 11

    • Wrap Up / Student Presentations
  • Week 12

    • Final Exam
Swarthmore College | Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Contact Powen Shiah '06 & Professor Sunka Simon