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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2011/2012
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Sociology

Undergraduate Course: The Internet and Society (SCIL10056)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaSociology Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionIs Internet changing sociology? How are core assumptions embedded in the received notions of interaction and situatedness challenged by electronically mediated encounters and fields such as social media sites and other upcoming Web 2.0 technologies?
Social scientists are after a general theory of all types of interaction and try to avoid what might be called &«flip flop&ª social analysis: one form of sociology for studying the offline world and then &«flip&ª to another for the online world. The tendency to conceive of the digital as simply and exclusively digital and the non-digital as simply and exclusively that, filters out alternative conceptualizations, thereby precluding a more complex reading of the impact of digitization on material and place-bound conditions.
The course will provide reasons why flip flop social analyses have to be avoided and an overview of the different scholarly attempts to avoid so. First, we will discuss perspectives by which when it comes to the online world no major shift of sociological framing is required. According to the proponents of this perspective, this is due either because the consequences of Internet for the social life, and for social theory, have been exaggerated or because offline interaction can be equally technologically mediated. In this case, familiar notions from the sociology of interaction such as &«copresence&ª, &«increments&ª, &«reciprocation&ª &«imitative behavior&ª &«norms&ª, &«commitments&ª, &«obligations&ª, &«value&ª and &«reputations&ª are conceived to be of use in studying online worlds.
In the second part of the course, we will review authors arguing that the assumptions that have characterized much microsociological thinking in the past are theoretically no longer adequate in a world in which interaction can also be disembedded from local spaces. In this latter case, notions that draw on microsociology have to be extended to capture global social forms. A distinction between embodied presence and response presence is introduced, together with the notion of face-to-screen situation.
Finally we will present a third and last way of thinking the relationship between internet and society. According to this third perspective, technological mediation in online interactions is radically different from that taking place offline. Rather, if this difference is underrated this is because of the (micro) sociological lens applied to the understanding of technologically mediated fields of interaction.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have at least 3 Sociology or closely related courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralLecture1-11 09:00 - 10:50
First Class Week 1, Thursday, 09:00 - 10:50, Zone: Central. Seminar Room 5, Basement, Chrystal Macmillan Building
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Critical understanding of received notions of sociology of interaction deriving from micro-sociology and ethnomethodology.
Assessment Information
Short paper (25%) and long essay (75%)

Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Gian Campagnolo
Tel: (0131 6)51 4273
Email: g.campagnolo@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Sue Renton
Tel: (0131 6)50 6958
Email: Sue.Renton@ed.ac.uk
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© Copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 16 January 2012 6:47 am