Political Communication and Technology

Catalog description

This course examines how interactive communication technologies reshape political rhetoric, discursive civic culture, deliberation in the online public sphere, and participatory democracy. It traces the evolution of the public sphere and explores theoretical and empirical issues related to online political discourse (blogs, political discussion fora, viral politics of social networking sites), cyberactivism, smart mobs, networked publics, and peer-to-peer production (You Tube, Wikis). CAS 272N concentrates on online rhetorical and discursive strategies of candidates for public office, and individuals and organizations campaigning on specific issues and causes. It emphasizes civic engagement and includes topical areas such as mechanisms of online public spheres, citizen generated discourse and content, viral politics, connections between social networking sites and political discourse, and behaviors such as networked activism. It examines how various interactive communication options have affected political discourse, campaign communications and public deliberation. It provides students with hands-on experiences in analyzing the rhetorical and persuasive strategies involved in creating video content, writing blogs, creating wikis and twitter messages. It teaches students how they could use these communication options in working for political campaigns, civic action groups and non-profit institutions. The goal of the course is to help students understand the opportunities and constraints involved in using interactive communication technologies for civic and political actions, and facilitate their development as informed citizens. Class activities focus on identification and critique of rhetorical strategies employed when using interactive communication technologies, and learning to create content such as weblogs, wikis, and mashups. Students will be graded on exams, participation in discussion groups, analyzing and connecting course concepts to real world examples, creating content such as mashups, and analysis of rhetorical strategies of political candidates and activist groups. CAS 272N is highly recommended to students interested in examining the potential of interactive communication technologies for civic and political action.