fall 2006 course: digital democracy

this fall, my first class at USF will be media studies 390 - special topics: digital democracy. here's the course description:

Course title: Digital Democracy
Course professor: David Silver

Digital Democracy explores the interactions between democratic movements and digital media. We begin by examining a few pre-Web chapters of digital democracy, where digital includes film, poetry, posters, music, murals, and happenings. Next, we will analyze a number of contemporary case studies (local, national, and global) of digital media used to increase human rights and decrease human suffering. Finally, considering that fall 2006 is an election year, we will observe and explore various emerging forms of digital democracy, especially those related to local, state, and national elections.

In addition to a course reader, we will read:

• T.V. Reed, The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle (University of Minnesota Press, 2005)
  
• Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2006)