GEO 210 - HOW THE INTERNET WORKS: UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL PLACES AND PEOPLE

College of Arts and Sciences

Credit(s): 3

Through a social science approach, this course introduces key principles of internet studies in order to interpret the way the internet-as a place unto itself-works through us, upon us, and even in us to shape and be shaped by our everyday lives. This course introduces the concepts, technologies, politics and histories behind the digital system known as the Internet and the larger information ecosystem of the world today from a critical social perspective. In the course, we review the hardware, infrastructure, algorithms/software and data of these systems, and explore the possibilities, limitations, disruptions and implications of cutting-edge sites of internet development. Students will be able to understand and intervene in the ways the Internet structures and is structured by our daily practices, perceptions, and politics.

Meets UK Core: Intellectual Inquiry in the Social Sciences.