Political Science Y210 (Course No. 28531 and 29818) – Fall 2008
Syllabus
Politics of the Internet
Class
Meets: Thursday
Instructor: Jeffrey Hart
Office: Woodburn Hall, Room 346
Office Hours: Wed 1-3
Phone: 855-9002
Email: hartj@indiana.edu
Instructor’s Web Site: http://mypage.iu.edu/~hartj
Course Web Site: http://www.indiana.edu/~polinter
Course Description
This is an undergraduate honors seminar designed to foster original research by students. It identifies the issues, stakeholders, and forums for debates over political issues connected with the Internet (and related information and communications technologies). We will be reading books and articles by authors who have thought deeply about these questions and will be conducting our own research on some issues. Among the issues to be considered are: the domain name system, restrictions on the use of file-sharing software, privacy, e-commerce, Web 2.0, mobile networks, and net neutrality.
Main Written Assignments
The written assignments for the course will be a midterm and final examination, a book report, and a term paper. Grades for the course will depend on grades for the midterm (20%), book report (10%), seminar participation (10%), term paper (20%), and the final examination (40%).
Texts
The following books have been ordered for purchase and will be available at the Indiana Memorial Union bookstore and T.I.S.:
William Aspray, ed., Chasing Moore’s Law
Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It
Reading List
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Sep. 4 |
Aspray, preface and ch. 1; Jeffrey Hart, Robert Reed, and François Bar, "The Building of the Internet," Telecommunications Policy, 16 (November 1992), 666-689. |
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Sep. 11 |
Aspray, ch. 2-3; Zittrain, chs. 1-3. |
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Sep. 18 |
Aspray, ch. 4; Zittrain, chs. 4-6 |
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Sep. 25 |
Zittrain, chs. 7-9 |
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Oct. 1 |
Zittrain, conclusion |
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Oct. 9 |
Aspray, ch. 7; Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture, chs. 1-3, http://www.free-culture.cc/freeculture.pdf. |
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Oct. 16 |
Aspray, ch. 5-6; “Digital Rights Management,” Wikipedia. |
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Oct. 23 |
Midterm
Examination |
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Oct. 30 |
Aspray, ch. 9: Milton Mueller, “The Politics and Issues of Internet Governance,” April 2007. |
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Nov. 6 |
Aspray, ch. 10; Jeffrey Hart,“The Controversies over Data Mining and Warrantless Searches in the Wake of September 11”. |
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Nov. 13 |
Presentations of term papers in class |
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Nov. 20 |
Presentations of term papers in class |
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Dec. 5 |
Presentations of term papers in class |
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Dec. 18 |
Final
Examination |
BOOK REPORT IS DUE Thursday, October 16, at the beginning of class.
TERM PAPER IS DUE Thursday, December 5, at the end of class.
FINAL EXAMINATION is on Thursday,
December 18,