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This course examines issues at the intersection of digital media, culture, and politics, such as regulation and network architecture, piracy and hacking, and grassroots activism. It provides you the opportunity to engage with a range of theories about cultural politics, democracy, liberalism, and neo-liberalism in relation to digital information and communication technologies.

Learning Objectives

• Describe key terms that are relevant to the study of digital culture and politics, such as algorithms, digital media infrastructures, information, disinformation, and activism;
• Explain how algorithms and digital infrastructures shape political opinions and behaviors;
• Execute an independent research study;
• Evaluate arguments, evidence, and opinions;
• Assess various technological, social and ethical dilemmas that underpin the relationship between digital culture and politics today.

In this course, you will

   Conduct a small-scale research study that investigates how Google search algorithms shape social perceptions, opinions and attitudes; 

   Determine if search results resemble representational patterns in the broader media environment and what, if any, are the consequences to such representations; 

   Conduct a literature review and ask several people (e.g., family members/friends) to do a Google search on specific terms and talk to them about the search results;

   Report findings in a video recorded research presentation. 

Meet Your Instructor

Sandra Ristovska 

  sandra.ristovska@colorado.edu 

Sandra Ristovska (PhD, University of Pennsylvania) is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at the College of Media, Communication, and Information and an affiliated Associate Professor at Colorado Law at the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ. Her research looks at how images shape the pursuit of justice and human rights in institutional and legal contexts nationally and internationally. A 2021 Mellon/ACLS Scholars & Society Fellow, Ristovska recently completed a research residency with the Scientific Evidence Committee of the Science and Technology Law Section of the American Bar Association. Her publications include the award-winning monograph, "Seeing Human Rights: Video Activism as a Proxy Profession" (The MIT Press, 2021), an edited book, "Visual Imagery and Human Rights Practice" (Palgrave, 2018), and over two dozen journal articles and book chapters. Her work has received multiple awards from the International Communication Association (ICA), the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), and the National Communication Association (NCA).