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ETHS 324 Race, Identity, and the Internet

This course examines conceptions and constructions of race in relation to the Internet as a multidimensional socio-cultural, economic, and political phenomenon, with a specific focus on the United States. Topics may include varied cultural histories and social impacts of the Internet; notions of identity on the Internet; race, embodiment, and disembodiment; social media, race, and racial controversy; electronic activism around race and racial identities on the Internet, and different theoretical approaches to understanding the unique socio-cultural dimensions of race and the internet. Significant focus is given to issues of race and racism.

Special information

Prerequisites: 30 credits of lower-division coursework.

Learning outcomes

General

  • Examine varied approaches to understanding and analyzing the Internet as a social and cultural phenomenon
  • Differentiate between various critical and analytic approaches to racial identity formation and the Internet
  • Analyze different aspects of race, racial identity, proxies for race, and the Internet, such as electronic activism, social media, racial representation, and processes of racial controversy on the Internet
  • Appraise the role of racism in various dimensions of the socio-cultural function(s) of the Internet
  • Evaluate various theoretical paradigms in relation to race, proxies for race, and the Internet
  • Synthesize course concepts, approaches, and materials to better understand race in relation to the Internet, as well as different processes of digital racial formations and proxies for race

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 7: Human Diversity

  • Understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States' history and culture.
  • Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society.
  • Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry.
  • Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion.
  • Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity.

Spring 2024

Section Title Instructor books eservices
50 Race, Identity, and the Internet Alton, Amber M. Books for ETHS-324-50 Spring 2024 Course details for ETHS-324-50 Spring 2024

Fall 2024

Section Title Instructor books eservices
50 Race, Identity, and the Internet Vaughan, Margaret AM Books for ETHS-324-50 Fall 2024 Course details for ETHS-324-50 Fall 2024