American Cybercultures: Principles of Internet Citizenship

Practice of Art W23AC: American Cybercultures: Principles of Internet Citizenship

Art Practice W23AC, 'American Cybercultures: Principles of Internet Citizenship,' examines how the growth of online participation influences the development of and intersects online and residential communities. Students participate in online discussions surrounding internet culture or cyberculture within a modern context, as well as categories of personhood that make up the UC Berkeley American Cultures rubric (race and ethnicity), as well as gender, nation, and disability.

Although Professor Niemeyer has taught this course for over ten years, both in an in-person and hybrid format, Spring 2014 marked the first time an AC course was offered entirely online.  Fittingly enough, the course examines how the growth of online participation influences the development of and intersects online and residential communities.  Students participate in online discussions surrounding internet culture or cyberculture within a modern context, as well as categories of personhood that make up the UC Berkeley American Cultures rubric (race and ethnicity), as well as gender, nation, and disability.  In addition, students will work in small groups with about five members and complete learning missions through research and creative assignments using technology such as social apps to benefit their communities (visit the social apps lab page for examples of Citrus community development-based apps).  The course intends to establish a community of learners, innovators, and explorers who engage with 23 principles of Internet culture through missions.  The missions include aggregation, networking, identity, amplification, and subversion.