Virtual Communities and Social Media

With the advent of virtual communities, smart mobs, and online social networks, old questions about the meaning of human social behavior have taken on renewed significance. Although this course is grounded in theory, it is equally rooted in practice, and much of the class discussion takes place in social cyberspaces. Although it has special relevance in today's world of social media, "What is community?" is not a new question. Using a variety of online social media simultaneously, and drawing upon theoretical literature in a variety of disciplines, this course delves into discourse about community across disciplines. This course will enable diligent students to understand the kinds of analyses applied by different disciplines to questions about community, to apply methodologies of different disciplines to contemporary questions about community in a variety of settings, and to establish both theoretical and experiential foundations for making personal decisions and judgments regarding the relationship between mediated communication and human community.

Note: This course is cross-listed with Sociology 167