Credits and Courses
The credits for the Digital Citizenship Institute are:
AMST 390, Digital Identity (1 credit):
What makes an online citizen “good” or “bad”? How should different forms of participation on digital platforms be valued? This pre-course for the DC Summer Institute examines a range of seemingly negative forms of engagement -- including hacktivism, trolling, and taking creative liberties with the truth -- that might also express creativity and political protest. It also explores the unintended consequences of seemingly positive forms of democratic engagement, such as voting, donating, volunteering, and organizing. A collaborative media production assignment will synthesize preliminary research, as students explore their own digital identities. It analyzes the rhetoric of online civility, free speech, and intellectual property as concerns for the digital public sphere. It also shows why governments might want to regulate online behavior and technology companies.
AMST 390: Digital Citizenship (3-credits)
How should digital citizens be educated to promote civic literacy? This course on online communities and digital activism examine how new media and distributed networks can help or hinder social justice with a focus on cross-cultural and international connections. It considers how the campaigns of social movements, online organizations, hashtag activists, independent journalists, fans, influencers, and other kinds of global digital citizens organize and disseminate ideas to promote political, civil, or human rights.
