Links on Communications and Cyberspace - Class Photos and Personal WEB Pages.
This syllabus has been revised and streamlined because the old one was getting cluttered with too many illustrative hyperlinks. The old schedule is still available for reference. Use this syllabus as a guide in preparing for the exam on November 21.
Assignment Schedule: See the old schedule for past assignments. Any new ones will be listed here. Each student has been scheduled for a presentation the week of November 12 to 16.
Class Schedule: See the old schedule for classes prior to the midterm.
Monday, Oct 8 - We discussed the logic of the "five paragraph essay" which consists of an introduction, three substantive points, and a conclusion. Each paragraph has a topic sentence and elaborative or illustrative points. This same logic is used by PowerPoint in its "Generic Presentation." It can be modified to fit particular topics, as I did with the rubric I prepared for a generic "forecasting presentation.
Wednesday, Oct 10 - We discussed the history of the personal computer as presented in the film The Triumph of the Nerds. This film illustrates several important points, the chaotic nature of an entrepreneurial market economy, the way the personality of a business leader can effect the outcome, the many errors made by large corporations in predicting future trends, the ways in which Microsoft established dominance in the personal computer industry
Friday, Oct 12 - We discussed the nature of capitalist or market economies, as championed by Adam Smith, as contrasted with socialist economies, as championed by Karl Marx. The personal computer industry emerged primarily from the private, market sector, but the Internet was first sponsored by the military. A combination of capitalist markets and government regulation is required, socialist ideals seem good in theory but have not worked out in practice. Paul Samuelson's article, The Gates of Power, covers many of the important ideas well.
Monday, Oct 15 - We finished the Triumph of the Nerds.
Wednesday, Oct 17 - We discussed methods of future studies, which include trend extrapolation, analysis of turning points and cyclical patterns, scanning the latest developments in the marketplace and in the literature, expert knowledge of technical developments, construction of future scenarios (plausible models of how things could be) and analysis of values and preferences. The forecasting assignment was designed to ask you to try to think about a topic in these different ways.
Friday, Oct 19 - We viewed The Global Brain, a film that presents a future scenario based on the projection of technological trends and some ideas from evolutionary theory. The fundamental principle guiding the movie was that complex systems emerge on their own when a system reaches a certain size. This is what the authors thought happened in the evolution of the human brain, and they believe that now that we are approaching ten billion humans, we have enough for a similar development. In his video speech, Ben Goertzel outlined a different idea, the idea that a "global brain" or truly intelligent computer can be consciously engineered. Both of these tendencies are at work in the world since the movie was produced: efforts are being made to engineer AI deliberately and We heard some video speeches by young scientists who are working on projects within this general area.
Monday, Oct 22- We continued the discussion of The Global Brain and evolutionary theory, the idea that progress takes place as a result of the competition of a great many entities to survive in a demanding environment. This is often contrasted with the idea that progress can be deliberately designed (e.g., by God or by a computer programmer). We looked at three contrasting kinds of computer algorithms, programs: recursive or rule based algorithms that follow a design, neural net algorithms that adjust through repeated trials, and evolutionary algorithms which create large number of possible solutions and let them compete with each other, choosing the best one.
Friday, Oct 26 - We discusset Stephenson's essay, In the Beginning Was the Command Line, which goes over the difference between command line and graphical user interfaces. Stephenson captures the ethos of people early computer hobbyists who enjoyed figuring out how things worked. He believes that "operating systems" are destined to be free, which contradicts Microsoft's tremendous success in selling them. This is perhaps the difference between philosophical purity and economic realism. I like the essay because it gives a feeling for what these systems mean or meant to the people who love them.
Monday, Oct 29- We met in the computer lab to work on the use of Power Point.
Wednesday, Oct 31 - We talked about the nature of Cyberspace as a "place" as discussed in Chapter 5 of UNSPUN. We looked at several early science fiction depictions of Cyberspace, and the attempt to create similar online communities on the Internet. Online communities have often failed because they are not financially self-sustaining, and because there are not sufficient boundaries to membership. There needs to be a hierarchy, with people enforcing rules. Some survive, such as the Well, where people use real names and pay a monthly fee, and they may have use in corporate settings as places where people who work in different geographic areas can meet. There are companies marketing electronic meeting software. Exploring Cyberspace and The Palace.
Friday, Nov 2 - We discussed three different principles for organizing multimedia presetations: Hierarchical, Organic and Dialectical organizational principles. In the hierarchal, one of the media predominates and the others are surbordinate to it and "illustrate" it, e.g., the sound track is the key media in a motion picture, the text is the key in an encyclopedia, the pictures are in an art museum, the music may be on a radio station, etc. In Organic organization, a general theme ties everything together, often something as simple as a color scheme or icon. Power Point does this with the templates that make all the screens seem like part of a whole. In dialectical organization, things are more chaotic and conflicted, and the hope is that creativity and new meaning emerges from the struggle between the parts (e.g., the old syllabus was dialectical, this one is hierarchal - in fact it is almost entirely a narrative text. If I had time or inclincation or skill, I could do a more organic syllabus by using frames and other web page design features (as on Matt Bedarnik's home page).
Monday, Nov 5- We worked on Library Searching Today's library is a gateway to online data sources, not so much a depository for print materials. The trick is to learn how to select what you need from the mass of information available.
Wednesday, Nov 7 - We will talk a bit about the use of Hypertext (Chapter 10 in UNSPUN), especially in Hypertext Fiction. This lecture is organized as a presentation, using simply html code rather than Power Point.
Friday, Nov 9 - This class will be a shift in emphasis, we will focus on public speaking skills, in preparation for presentations next week. We will look at Delivery Dynamics - a WEB site with links to illustrative audio and video clips. Here are some poems and speeches for practice.
Monday, Nov 12 - Presentations: Cyberspace and the Economy: James Emerson, Justin Lattany, Sherwin Munar, Eileen Villanueva - any additional presentations we can fit in since I must be out of town wednesday and friday.
Wednesday, Nov 14 - Video: Faces of the Enemy. This is part of the Minicourse on Terrorism,. The first scene, especially, goes into the psychology of "lone wolf" terrorists. The rest relates to war in general, not just to terrorism. There is a book that goes with this, perhaps I will photocopy a chapter for you. I have to be out of town, so I will ask a colleague take attendance.
Friday, Nov 16 - We will have an online class discussion using the chat room on WEBCT (or on our Yahoo Club if WEBCT should be down for some reason). Click on the "Chat" Icon on the course WEBCT home page and go to "General Chat for Fal2001_50920425_goertzel". Discussion will be on the film Faces of the Enemy, and any other topics you want to bring up. We could discuss the comments in this highly critical review. You can participate from any computer on Campus or elsewhere. Participation in the online chat will be counted as an assignment for credit.
Monday,
Nov 19 - Presentations: Education, Books, Games
and Telephony: Crystal Bates, Matthew Kay, Julian Walcott,
Carmen Zimmitt + Sherwin Munar make-up
Wednesday, Nov 21 - Friday Classes - Second Midterm Cancelled. Presentations: Napster, Robotics, Media Distribution, Face Recognition: Nicholas Davidson, Daniel Penney, Sara Moore, Graig Ferguson, Matthew Bedarnik (if he wants to present again).
Friday, Nov 23 - Thanksgiving Holiday
Monday, Nov 26 - Beginning of the Mini-Course on Terrorism. What is Terrorism? When and why is it wrong? Is the United States a Terrorist Nation? See the reading by Herman and Peterson on the ZNET site. Reading The Ethics of Terrorism and Revolution. Is the war we are conducting in Afganistan a Just War under the traditional Christian doctrine?
Public Lecture By Colonel Richard Christie: Monday, November 26, 12:15-1:15, "Nato's Role in the War on Terrorism" North Conference Room, Student Center. Attending counts as a make-up for missing one day of class.
Wednesday, Nov 28 - The Military and Law Enforcement Response
to the September 11 attacks. Discussion of Richard 
Christie's
talk on Monday (see above) . " This
War is Not Just" "What
Terrorists Want. Robespierre.
Anarchism
-Czar Alexander
II - Fanon.
Tupamaros.
Carlos
Marighela - Weathermen
- Bernardine
Dohrn - David
Horowitz on Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
Friday, Nov 30 - The Future of Warfare and Domestic Politics. The domestic law enforcement response.
Monday, Dec 3 - September 11: New Yorker Portfolio. Futurist Analyses: Could the September 11 Attack Have Been Predicted? Bill Moyers Speech. A 1994 article from The Futurist. How will in look in 2011: was Sept 11, 2001 a turning point in history? What do other nations do to protect against terrorist attacks? The Transportation Technology of the Future.
Wednesday, Dec 5 - Origins of Middle Eastern Terrorism. A Sociological Look at the Role of Religion in Afghanistan. Discussion of lecture by Tahmeena Faryal. "We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us." (Osama bin Laden, Newsweek, Nov 26, 2001, p. 32). An Interactive Guide to Bin Laden's Caves.
Friday, Dec 7 - Netwar: How Networking Principles Apply to Fighting Terrorism. Technological Implications of the Sept 11 attacks. Bush's New Rules Transform Legal Landscape. The Challenge of Terror: A Traveling Essay.
Monday, Dec 10 - Review for final exam, part one: material covered from October 8 to November 9. The most important readings to review are: The Gates of Power, Methods of Future Studies, and Chapters 5, 6, 10 and 13 of UNSPUN. The summaries for each day on this page and the Notes for Review should be helpful. More detail can be found on the old class schedule.
Wednesday, Dec 12 - Review for Final Exam: Terrorism Material. Belief in high tech "silver bullet" solutionsThe most important readings are: The Ethics of Terrorism, What Terrorists Want, Principles of a Just War, September 11, 2001, Predicting Terrorism, The Origins of Middle Eastern Terrorism, Osama bin Laden in Newsweek, Nov 26, 2001, and Netwar.
December 17, 9 a.m. Final Exam: covering material since the midterm.
Lecture November 26:
The International Relations Society
will be sponsoring a lecture
during the free period (12:15-1:15) on Monday, November 26 in the North
Conference Room of the Campus Center (lower level) by Colonel
Richard Allen Christie of NATO headquarters in Brussels. Col.
Christie's area of specialization is the use of ground forces, and
he has been
involved in planning for NATO actions in the former Yugoslavia and
the
present conflict in Afghanistan. His topic is "NATO's Role in
the War
on Terrorism," and his talk will be closed to the media and will not
be for
attribution. Please try to attend, and encourage your students
to do
likewise, as this will be a unique opportunity to get the inside story
of the current military situation. Food will be served.