Bachelor
2020/2021
Digital Social Research
Type:
Elective course (Sociology and Social Informatics)
Area of studies:
Sociology
Delivered by:
Department of Sociology
When:
2 year, 3, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
56
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Digital anthropology is a discipline focusing on anthropological study of human (social) behavior at the digital era. The course focuses on exploration of how various social practices and settings are getting configured and implemented through and within various digital environments of today. We will focus on bigger clusters of social meanings like time and space, technologies, economics, everyday mythologies, Self, authenticity and identity, body, gender, etc. This discipline is based on MOOC "Why We Post: The Anthropology of Social Media" - https://extendstore.ucl.ac.uk/product?catalog=UCLXWWP-en
Learning Objectives
- answer need of those students whose thesis is related to exploration of any practices and experiences that are mediated and enabled by technologies of today
- answer need of for those who consider any of job tracks connected with online representation of people, goods or companies.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Understand modern theoretical approaches to online communities and social media
- Navigating in anthropological approaches to online social life
- Be able to plan, perform and report on digital ethnographic research in academic and professional settings
Course Contents
- What is social media and how should we define it?
- Academic approaches to social media and an introduction to anthropology.
- The rise of images in communication.
- The impact of social media on gender and politics.
- The impact of social media on education, commerce and privacy.
- The impact of social media on inequality.
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Underberg, N. M., & Zorn, E. (2013). Digital Ethnography : Anthropology, Narrative, and New Media (Vol. 1st ed). Austin: University of Texas Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=548651
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Adams, C., & Thompson, T. L. (2016). Researching a Posthuman World : Interviews with Digital Objects. London: Palgrave Pivot. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1353895
- Horst, H. A., & Miller, D. (2006). The Cell Phone : An Anthropology of Communication. Oxford: Berg Publishers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=231138