PSY 4930: Psychology and the Internet

Spring 2006
15298 M.W.F 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM PS227 Boca Raton

Professor Larry S. Liebovitch
Office: Behavioral Science Building BS-12, Room 323
561.297.2239
liebovitch@clifford.ccs.fau.edu
http://www.ccs.fau.edu/~liebovitch/larry.html


DESCRIPTION:

The INTERNET has become an important mode of how people acquire information, interact with each other, and conduct business.
Thorough knowledge of the INTERNET is becoming of pivotal importance in academic Psychology and in the Business environment.
This course will:
   Tell you what the INTERNET is, how it works, and how it came to be.
   Describe the social space and processes that happen over the INTERNET.
   Describe how the INTERNET is changing social interactions, businesses, politics, and the military.


TEXTBOOKS:

required
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. Linked.Perseus Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-7382-0667-9 (or paperback published by Plume - Penguine Group, 2003, ISBN 0-452-28439-2).
- Manuel Castells. The Internet Galaxy.Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-19-924153-8.

additional non-required materials
- Robert Cringely. Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get A Date. Harper Business, 1993, 0-88730-855-4.
- Robert Cringely. The Triumph of the Nerds. Amrbose Video Publishing. (in DVD and videotape).
- Robert Cringely. Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet. PBS Home Video (in videotape).
- Manuel Castells, Editor. Network Society: A Cross Cultural Perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84542-435-2.
- Tom Forester and Perry Morrison. Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing. MIT Press, 1993, ISBN 0262560739 (or paperback 2nd Edition, MIT Press, 1994, ISBN 0-262-56073-9).
- David Porter, Editor: Internet Culture. Routledge Press, 1996, ISBN 0-415-91684-4.
- Sara Kiesler, Editor. Culture of the Internet. Lawrence Erlbaum Associated Publishers, 1997, ISBN 0-8058-1636-4.
- Geert Lovink. Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture. MIT Press, 2002, ISBN 0-262-12249-9.
- Kimberly S. Young. Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction - and a Winning Strategy for Recovery. John Wiley & Sons, 1998, ISBN 0-471-19159-0.


TOPICS

  1. A BRIEF (BUT INTERESTING) HISTORY OF COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET
  2. HOW ARE THINGS CONNECTED?
  3. THE WAY THE WEB IS CONNECTED
  4. LAYERS OF CULTURE
  5. PRIVACY
  6. BUSINESS
  7. MILITARY
  8. POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL MOVEMENTS

COURSE POLICIES:

Attendance:

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