NOTE: Course information changes frequently, including Methods of Instruction. Please revisit these pages periodically for the most recent and up-to-date course information.

As the line between humans and technology becomes increasingly blurred, the proliferation of social media platforms is transforming conceptions of identity, community, and citizenship. This course aims to build on the premise that technology changes not only what we do but also who we are. We draw upon established theories of identity formation, self-presentation, and impression management in order to map the intersection between new media technologies and the evolving processes by which identities are constructed, maintained, and represented. We consider how these developments are providing new opportunities for individual expression and collective empowerment, while at the same time contributing to a growing sense of fragmentation, polarization, and uncertainty.

Central to this course is the understanding that self and identity are both the product of social interaction, and a force impacting the societies which help create them. Toward that end, through a combination of readings, lectures, discussions, videos, short papers, group work, and oral presentations, students investigate the connections between social media and the following topics: 1) The development of the “commodified self” and “self-branding.” 2) “Digital surveillance” and the “managed self.” 3). Expanding opportunities for the expression of historically “marginalized” identities, including race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. 4). New avenues for the formation and mobilization of oppositional (or resistance) identities, including collective identification with political movements spanning the ideological spectrum from the far left to the far right.

The central goal of this course is to provide students with a deeper appreciation for how digital technologies are fundamentally redefining traditional understandings of self and society, as well as to push participants to think more critically about their own place in what promises to an increasingly networked future.