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PS 545 SPRING 2009
AMERICAN POLITICALTHOUGHT
TR 2PM-3:15PM CB 233
 ps545spring09.pbwiki.com
INTRODUCTION:
PS 545 American Political Thought explores contemporary American political thought, its formation andthe ways in which it is involved in major problems of culture, political economy, ideology, community andidentity. We will explore contemporary issues of capitalism, such as the intellectual history and conflictsurrounding intellectual property and copyright; consumer culture and the schizophrenia of moderncapitalist life; sexual taboos and the construction of subaltern communities; and the problematics ofconstructing virtual communities and publics. We will be engaging these questions through a variety ofmethods. Pedagogically, we will be using deep reading and discussion in class to explore the readings,and using digital ethnographic methods in Second Life to explore how these concepts play out in anartificial digital environment that some political theorists consider the idealized tabula rasa of Americanpolitical yearnings. During the semester we will learn to explore these major issues within contemporaryAmerican political thought as political theorists do and as a community of “metanauts.”
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Instructor:
Dr. Christopher S. Rice
Email:
Christopher.Rice@uky.edu
Office:
1649 Patterson Office Tower
Telephone:
257-7030
Office Hours:
TR 3:30pm-5pm
Web:
christopherscottrice.com
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Grades and Examinations:
Your final course grade will be based on
three (3)components
:
•
 
Class Preparation & Participation
–
30%
 
•
 
Research Journal – 30%
 
•
 
Second Life Virtual Fieldwork Project – 40%
 
Course Readings
:
The following texts are required reading for this course:
•
 
Tom Boellstorff, Coming of Age in Second Life. ISBN: 978-0-691-13528-1
•
 
James Boyle, The Public Domain. ISBN: 978-0-300-13740-8
•
 
Cory Doctorow, Content. ISBN: 978-1892391810
•
 
Warren Ellis, Crooked Little Vein. ISBN: 978-0061252051
•
 
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture. ISBN: 978-0143034650.
•
 
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club. ISBN: 978-0393327342.
 
 
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All of the reading in this syllabus is
REQUIRED
. You should read all of the assigned material before theclass period for which it is assigned and be prepared to discuss it in class. Be forewarned that there areelements in the Palahniuk and Ellis readings that you may find to be offensive. Fight Club containsmaterial of a violent nature, whereas Crooked Little Vein contains material referencing various sexualsubcultures in a highly graphic manner. If you find such material offensive, you should drop the classimmediately. These are core readings relating to our Second Life work and there is no substituteavailable. If you have questions concerning these works and their potential offensiveness, please speakwith me immediately. By continuing in the course past receipt of this syllabus, you acknowledge yourwillingness to be exposed to and engage with such material.
Class Participation:
 
Because this course is designed around a collaborative research andlearning approach, attendance is absolutely necessary to your success, as well as that of the course. Youwill be expected to come to each class session (in-class or in-world) having completed all readingsassigned for that class period and prepared a one-page summary of key points for that day
ʼ
s readingswith a few questions or provocative points to guide our day
ʼ
s discussion. You must bring a printed copy ofthis paper with you to each class session and post it to your avatar page before the beginning of classthat day. This requirement also includes your participation in Second Life both as an individual and as partof your group activities. You will be required to fill out an assessment sheet for each member of yourgroup at the end of the semester, commenting on their quality and level of participation in the researchgroup
ʼ
s in-world activities. I will also be making my own assessment of your in-world activities. If you feelthat you cannot devote the time to this course that is expected (2.5 hours in-class + 8-10 hours out ofclass per week), then you may want to consider dropping the course. For those of you willing to invest thetime, however, I promise you a rewarding experience!
Research Journal:
 
In order to help you keep a record of your Second Life experiences and tohelp you make sense of these experiences in relation to our classroom work and the readings, you will beexpected to keep an online research journal. You must post at least one entry of ~500 words per weekdiscussing your participant observation work in Second Life. You must include at least one (1) image youhave taken yourself in each journal entry. You should be certain to trace connections between your in-world work and the theoretical focus of the readings we are engaged with in class at the time. You arerequired to start a Wordpress account using your avatar name and send the URL to me by January 27.You must then begin posting your journal entry to this blog by Noon EST each Friday, beginning January30. This journal will comprise 30% of your total grade, and I expect well-reasoned, well-researched andwell-written entries. You may use the blog or your avatar space on the wiki as a storage place for otherimages and research notes for this project. If you choose to use the blog, please mark the entry you wishto count for this requirement with a title like “Weekly Research Report” (or something similar).
SECOND LIFE VIRTUAL FIELDWORK PROJECT:
Introduction:
 
In order to better understand and to be able to apply the concepts in Americanpolitical thought that we will be exploring this semester, we will be conducting digital fieldwork in the realmof Second Life (http://secondlife.com). The project will be more fully explained in class and on the coursewebsite within the first two weeks of class, but you will need to be aware of the following basicrequirements for the project:
•
 
You are required to set up a free Second Life account and create your avatar athttp://secondlife.comand send me your avatar name by January 27.
•
 
You are also required to create a PBWiki account by going tohttp://pbwiki.com. After creatingyour account, go to the course webpage while logged in, and click the “Join This Space” buttonand follow the instructions. Then email me with your PBWiki ID by January 27. Unless otherwiseapproved, your PBWiki user ID should be the same as your complete SL avatar name, only all in
 
 
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one “word.” If possible, please send your PBWiki ID and your Second Life avatar name in thesame email.
•
 
We will only identify each other by avatar name when we are in Second Life and on PBWiki topreserve anonymity. Therefore, your avatar name should not be related to your UK user ID orother identifying elements of your data shadow (yahoo ID, gmail account name, etc.).
•
 
Students will need to form research teams of 4-5 students each. We will discuss in class how todo this (I assign you or you self-organize), but groups must be assigned and a “team page”created on the course webpage by January 29.
•
 
A page explaining the research project will be posted on the course wiki early in the semester andexplained in-class by Dr. Rice. We will also be having two orientation and training sessions in alab at the W.T. Young Library on January 27 and 29 during our regular classroom period to getyou all up to speed on how to do this type of fieldwork and navigate Second Life. Don
ʼ
t Panic!
Grading:
The Second Life Research Project will be a combination of individual and group work. Yourgrade for Second Life (40% of your course grade) will be broken down into the following elements:
•
 
Each student will create an Avatar Page on the course wiki with photos, videos and other detailsregarding your avatar. You must also place a link to your Research Journal, Group Page on thewiki, and links to your participation papers on this page.
•
 
Each group will be required to submit a work plan for their research project to their group page onthe course website by April 2. When the group submits their final project work on their group pageon the course website, it must include an itemization of the work each member contributed to theoverall project. At the conclusion of group presentations during the Final Exam period, you mustsubmit to me a completed evaluation form for each of your group
ʼ
s members (including yourself)assessing their contribution to the group effort and participation in Second Life. Finally, you mustattend all presentations during the Final Exam period. Should you miss any of the finalpresentations for an unexcused absence, you will forfeit the entire 40% for the Second Lifeproject.
•
 
Each group will make a 20 minute multimedia presentation (with an additional 5-10 minutes of Q& A) on their research project during the designated Final Exam period. The entire group mustparticipate in the presentation, and the presentation must include a slideware (Powerpoint,Keynote, Sliderocket, etc.) element and video and images from your research. The presentationwill be worth 10% (out of 40%) of your SL Project grade.
•
 
Each member of the group must produce at least 3500 (but no more than 4000) words and aminimum of 10 images on the group research topic to contribute to the Project. This must beposted to the course website on the group page by April 30. Each member
ʼ
s contribution shouldbe edited so as to form a part of a seamless whole. Video may substitute for some of the imagesand words, but this must be negotiated with the instructor in advance. This portion of the SLproject will be worth 30% (out of 40%) of your SL Project grade.
Safety Note:
For most of your fieldwork you will be going out into the wilds of The Grid. TheUniversity of Kentucky has no control over what goes on in these spaces, and you may occasionally beexposed to something offensive, frightening, or downright bizarre. Much of the Grid is under a Maturedesignation, meaning you could be exposed to profanity, nudity, giant anthropomorphic squirrels havingbizarre bondage sex in an abandoned house, or griefers employing strange scripts (such as a swarm offlying, singing penises) to harass speakers and disrupt public events. While rare, these situations dooccur. By continuing in the course past the receipt of this syllabus, you acknowledge that you understandthat you may be confronted inadvertently with offensive material. You are not, however, required to stay inthe presence of anything or any situation which you perceive to be offensive, threatening or otherwiseunsafe. The University of Kentucky has purchased an island in Second Life that is considered to be a“safe space.” The SLURL for UK Island ishttp://slurl.com/secondlife/University%20of%20KY/209/142.28.You are to designate this SLURL as your “Home” location. If at anytime you want to bail out of a situationon The Grid, simply hit the Home button at the top of your Second Life browser and you will be teleported
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