[Air-l] Course Prep Assistance Request

[Ted M Coopman]

Hello All,

I am a Ph.D. candidate who has been assigned to teach an upper-division course titled “New Media as Virtual Communities” for this fall. Here is the catalog description:

“Technologically-mediated virtual communities considered through analysis of historical precedents and influences and through an exploration of the concept of community. Issues include a focus on social interactions; the social, political, economic, and technological contexts of virtual communities and the limits for their sustenance.”

I know many of you have done research in this area and have also likely taught classes on the subject. I was hoping that some of you would pass along some tips and ideas for the course, including but not limited to literature and syllabi. I am not completely unschooled on the topic, having taken a graduate seminar on computer mediated communities, but would like to have the benefit of a variety of approaches.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Please respond off the list to coopman at u.washington.edu.

If anyone else would like access to the material I wind up collecting, shoot me an email and I will forward any material sent to me.

Thanks!

-TED

Ted M. Coopman
Department of Communication
University of Washington