Communications
Global Digital Activism
COMM-270-401, Cross Listed with: SOCI-230-401
W 2:00 PM-5:00 PM
Guobin Yang
BFS Sector I
This seminar examines the forms, causes, and consequences of global digital activism, defined broadly as activism associated with the use of digital media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones, and the Chinese Weibo). The goal is to provide students with a theoretical tool-kit for analyzing digital activism and to develop a critical understanding of the nature of contemporary activism and its implications for global social change. Major cases to be examined include the “Occupy Wall Street” movement in the US, the Arab Spring, the “indignados” protests in Spain, and internet activism in China.
Students are required to conduct primary, hands-on research on a contemporary case (or form) of digital activism and produce a final research paper. This research project may be done individually or in small groups.