International Communication

COMM 5620/6620 - 002

Dr. Sean Lawson
Email: lawson.sean2005+INTLCOMM@gmail.com 1
Phone: 801-585-7127
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/COMM5620

Class meets: Tuesday/Thursday, 12:25PM – 1:45PM, BEH S 102

Office hours: By appointment

Teaching Assistant: Gina Bacon

Email: gina.bacon@utah.edu

**After you have read through this syllabus carefully, please go to WebCT and fill
in the Syllabus Understanding and Agreement Form. Due date: 19 January 2010.
Late penalty: 5% reduction in overall course grade (i.e. one half letter grade) for not
competing the form by the due date.**

Overview & Objectives

This course will explore the impact of communication on international affairs with a
particular emphasis on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in
shaping international politics and security. For the first time in human history, we now
live in an age of instant, global communication that is enabled to a great degree by the
rapid development of electronic ICTs over the last century. This course will provide
students with a strong historical and theoretical grounding for thinking about some of the
impacts that these changes have had on the conduct of international politics and
economics, as well as the quest for international health and security.

At the conclusion of this course, students will have a strong grasp of the following topics:

• Various theoretical approaches to the study of technological development and

international communication;
• The historical and technological foundations of the “information revolution”;
• The impacts of ICTs upon the quest for peace and the conduct of war;
• The impacts of ICTs upon the global economy and the global distribution of
wealth;

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Only email sent to this address will be answered. See Course Communication Support
section under Policies at the end of this document for more detail on course email
policies and procedures.

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 • The opportunities and challenges that ICTs pose to the spread of freedom and
democracy worldwide;
• The global health impacts of ICTs; and
• The construction of international politics and security as communicative
processes.

Required Readings
Required text (available for purchase at the Campus Store):

• Hanson, Elizabeth C. (2008) The Information Revolution and World Politics

(Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield).

All other required readings will be available as electronic documents via WebCT, in a
folder labeled “Readings” available on the course home screen.

Readings should be completed prior to the class session for which they were assigned.
Some weeks have more reading than others, so be aware and plan ahead. You are
responsible for completing all of the assigned reading each week. Content from weekly
readings, as well as course lectures, will serve as the foundation for course exams.

Exams & Grading

Your course grade will be determined by your performance on three regular exams, a
cumulative final exam, and your attendance of course lectures. Exams will consist of a
combination of essay, short answer, multiple choice, and true/false questions. To succeed
on the exams, you will need to attend and take notes on course lectures, as well as
complete all of the assigned readings. We will hold a review session before each exam to
help you in your preparation.

Taking an Exam: Exams will be given online, via WebCT. Each exam will be available
during regularly scheduled class time on the day that it is given and ONLY DURING
THAT TIME. On an exam day, instead of coming to class, you will login to the course
WebCT page from a home or campus computer, navigate to and then complete the exam.
You will only have the allotted class time (1 hr 20 mins) to take the exam.

Exams and attendance will make up the following percentages of your overall course
grade:

• Exam 1 – 15%
• Exam 2 – 15%
• Exam 3 – 15%
• Final Exam – 35%

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 • Attendance – 20%

Weekly Schedule

Introduction and Overview

The Information Revolution

1/12 - Introduction to the Course

1/14 - Overview of Course Content

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 1

Historical and Theoretical Background

Communication, Technology, and Social Change

1/19 - Communication as/and Culture

Reading:

• "Introduction" and "A Cultural Approach to Communication," in

James W. Carey, Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and
Society (Routledge, 2008).

1/21 - Technology, Change, and Society: Determinism

Reading:

• "Code is Law" in Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of

Cyberspace (Basic Books, 2000)
• Marx, Leo (1997) 'Technology: The Emergence of a Dangerous

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 Concept', Social Research 64(3): 965-88.

1/26 - Technology, Change, and Society: Constructivism & Beyond

Reading:

• "The Nature of Technology," in R. Volti, Society and technological

change. (New York: St Martin's Press, 1995)
• Pinch and Bijker, "The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or
How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology
Might Benefit Each Other," in Wiebe Bijker, Thomas P. Hughes, and
Trevor Pinch, The Social Construction of Technological Systems:
New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology (The
MIT Press, 1989).

The Origins of the Information Revolution

1/28 - Printing: The First Technology of Mass, Global Communication

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 2, pgs 13-17

• Chpt 11, "Printing" in R. Volti, Society and technological change.
New York: St (Martin's Press, 1995).

2/2 - Electronic Communication at a Distance

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 2, pgs 17-45

• Chpt 19, "The Telephone Takes Command," in David Crowley and
Paul Heyer, Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society,
5th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 2006)
• Chpt 27, "Wireless World," in David Crowley and Paul Heyer,
Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 5th ed.
(Allyn & Bacon, 2006)
• Chpt 28, "Early Radio," in David Crowley and Paul Heyer,
Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 5th ed.
(Allyn & Bacon, 2006)

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2/4 - Ideological Readings of the New Communication Technologies

Reading:

• Pike, Robert & Dwayne Winseck (2004) 'The Politics of Global

Media Reform, 1907-23', Media, Culture & Society 26(5): 643-75.
• MacDougall, Robert (2006) 'The Wire Devils: Pulp Thrillers, the
Telephone, and Action At a Distance in the Wiring of a Nation',
American Quarterly 58: 715-41.
• RECOMMENDED - "Technology and Ideology: The Case of the
Telegraph," in James W. Carey, Communication as Culture: Essays
on Media and Society (Routledge, 1989)

The Globalization of Communication

2/9 - The New, New Communication Technologies

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 3
• Ch. 1, "Lessons from the History of the Internet," in Castells, M.
(2001) The Internet Galaxy : Reflections on the Internet, Business,
and Society (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press).
• RECOMMENDED - "The New Communication Technologies" in
Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies without Boundaries: On
Telecommunications in a Global Age (Harvard University Press,
1990)

2/11 - Theories of Information Revolution and International Communication

Reading:

• Ch. 2, "Approaches to Theorizing International Communication,"

in Thussu, D. K. (2006) International Communication: Continuity
and Change (London: Hodder Arnold).
• RECOMMENDED - Chpt 1, "From Mass Media Revolution to
Electronic Revolution," in Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies without
Boundaries: On Telecommunications in a Global Age (Harvard

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 University Press, 1990).
• RECOMMENDED - Chpt 3, "Crumbling Walls of Distance," in Ithiel
de Sola Pool, Technologies without Boundaries: On
Telecommunications in a Global Age (Harvard University Press,
1990).
• RECOMMENDED - Chpt 5, "Talking and Thinking Among People
and Machines," in Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies without
Boundaries: On Telecommunications in a Global Age (Harvard
University Press, 1990).

2/16 - Exam Review Session

2/18 - Test 1

Communication, Technology, and International Affairs

War and Peace in the Information Age

2/23 - Revolution in Military Affairs

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 4
• Cohen, Eliot A. (1996) 'A Revolution in Warfare', Foreign Affairs
75(2): 37-54.
• William Perry, "Perry on Precision Strike,"Air Force Magazine (April
1997), http://www.airforce-
magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/1997/April%201997/0497perr
y.aspx.
• Part I and II (pgs 1-10) of Andrew F Krepinevich Jr. ,The Military-
Technical Revolution: A Preliminary Assessment(Washington, D.C.:
Office of Net Assessment, Department of Defense, 1992).

2/25 - Terrorism and Global Communication

Reading:

• Michele Zanini and Sean Edwards, "The Networking of Terror in the

Information Age," in Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror,

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 Crime, and Militancy(RAND Corporation, 2002), 29-
60; http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/MR1382.
ch2.pdf
• Lia, Brynjar. 'Al-Qaeda Online: Understanding Jihadist Internet
Infrastructure', Janes Intelligence Review (2 December 2005).
• 304th MI Bn OSINT Team. 'Sample Overview: Al Qaida-Like Mobile
Discussions & Potential Creative Uses', 304th MI Bn Periodic
Newsletter (16 October 2008). (File is “Army Terrorist Twitter
Report.pdf”)
• Rossmiller, Shannon (2007) 'My Cyber Counter-Jihad: How a
Montana Woman Broke New Counterterrorism Ground', MIDDLE
EAST QUARTERLY Summer: 43-
48; http://www.meforum.org/1711/my-cyber-counter-jihad

3/2 - Softwar, Perception Management, and Public Diplomacy 2.0

Reading:

• Chuck De Caro, "Operationalizing SOFTWAR," inAlan D. Campen

and Douglas H. Dearth, Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries &
Reality (AFCEA International Press, 1998).
• "Strategic ambiguity, communication, and public diplomacy in an
uncertain world: principles and practices" in Corman, S. R., A.
Trethewey & H. L. Goodall (2008) Weapons of Mass Persuasion:
Strategic Communication to Combat Violent Extremism (New York:
Peter Lang).
• "Communication and media strategy in the jihadi war of ideas"
in Corman, S. R., A. Trethewey & H. L. Goodall (2008) Weapons of
Mass Persuasion: Strategic Communication to Combat Violent
Extremism (New York: Peter Lang).
• Dauber, C. E. (2009) 'The Truth is Out There: Responding to
Insurgent Disinformation and Deception Operations', Military Review
January-February: 13-24.

3/4 - Cyberwars and Cell Wars: Telecom Infrastructure as Target and

Battlefield

Reading:

• Clarke, Richard (2009) 'War From Cybersapce', The National

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 Interest
October/November; http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=2
2340
• Lewis, James A. (2009) 'The 'Korean' Cyber Attacks and Their
Implications for Cyber
Conflict'; http://csis.org/files/publication/091023_Korean_Cyber_Atta
cks_and_Their_Implications_for_Cyber_Conflict.pdf
• Harris, Shane. 'The Cyberwar Plan', National Journal (14 November
2009):
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/print_friendly.php?ID=cs
_20091114_3145.
• Clark, Wesley K. & Peter L. Levin (2009) 'Securing the Informatiion
Highway', Foreign Affairs 88(6).
• Denning, Dorothy (2009) 'Barriers to Entry: Are They Lower for
Cyber Warfare?', IO Journal 1(1): 6-10.
• Fitsanakis, Joseph & Ian Allen (2009) 'Cell Wars: The Changing
Landscape of Communications Intelligence', RIEAS Research Paper
131.

The Information Revolution, the Global Economy, and the Distribution

of Wealth

3/9 - The New Economy

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 5
• W. Brian Arthur, “Increasing returns and the new world of business,”
Harvard Business Review, (July-August 1996).
• RECOMMENDED - “e-Business and the New Economy” in Manuel
Castells, The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business,
and Society (Oxford University Press, USA, 2003).

3/11 - Work/Play in the New Economy

Reading:

• Hector Postigo, “From Pong to Planet Quake: Post-Industrial

Transitions from Leisure to Work,”Information, Communication &

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 Society 6, no. 4 (2003).
• Hector Postigo, “Emerging Sources of Labor on the Internet: The
Case of America Online Volunteers,”International Review of Social
History 48, no. 11 (2003): 205-223.
• Eric Raymond, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar,”First Monday 3, no. 3
(1998), http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_3/raymond/.
• Tim O'Reilly, “What Is Web 2.0,”O'Reilly, September 30,
2005, http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/
what-is-web-20.html

3/17 - The Digital Divide

Reading:

• Chpt 1, "The Digital Divide," and Chpt 2, "Understanding the Digital

Divide," in Pippa Norris,Digital Divide: Civic Engagement,
Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide (Cambridge
University Press, 2001).

3/18 - Exam Review Session

3/30 - Test 2

Global Communication and the Nation-State

4/1 - The Decline of the State?

Reading:

• Hanson, Ch. 6
• Mathews, Jessica T. (1997) 'Power Shift', Foreign Affairs 76(1): 50-
66.
• Keohane, Robert O. & Joseph S. Nye (1998) 'Power and
Interdependence in the Information Age', Foreign Affairs 77(5): 81-
94.
• Krasner, Stephen D. (2001) 'Sovereignty', Foreign
Policy January/February: 20-29.

4/6 - Internet Filtering and Censorship

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Reading:

• Robert Faris and Nart Villeneuve, "Measuring Global Internet

Filtering," in Deibert, R. (2008) Access Denied : The Practice and
Policy of Global Internet Filtering (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press).
• Jonathan Zittrain and John Palfrey, "Internet Filtering: The Politics
and Mechanisms of Control," in Deibert, R. (2008) Access Denied :
The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering (Cambridge,
Mass: MIT Press).

4/8 - Resistance and Protest

Reading:

• Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner, “New Media and Internet

Activism: From the ‘Battle of Seattle’ to Blogging,” New Media &
Society6, no. 1 (2004): 87-95.
• Carafano, James Jay. 'All a Twitter: How Social Networking Shaped
Iran's Election Protests', Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, No.
2300 (20 July 2009):
http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternetandTechnology/bg2300.cf
m.

One of the following:

• Tiffany Danitz and Warren P. Strobel, "Networking Dissent: Cyber

Activists Use the Internet to Promote Democracy in Burma,"
in Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and
Militancy(RAND Corporation, 2002): 129-
169; http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/MR138
2.ch5.pdf
• Svetlana V Kulikova and David D Perlmutter, “Blogging Down the
Dictator?: The Kyrgyz Revolution and Samizdat
Websites,”International Communication Gazette 69, no. 1 (2007): 29-
50.

Other Issues and Approaches

4/13 - Environment and Health: The Problem of E-waste

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Reading:

• BAN and SVTC. 2002. "Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of

Asia". Seattle and San Jose: Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley
Toxics Coalition, February 25, 2002. Available:
http://www.ban.org/E-waste/technotrashfinalcomp.pdf

4/15 - Rhetorical Approaches to International Security

Reading:

• Dauber, Cori Elizabeth (2001) 'The Shot Seen 'Round the World: The
Impact of the Images of Mogadishu on American Military
Operations', Rhetoric & Public Affairs 4(4): 653-87.
• Mitchell, Gordon R. (2000) 'Placebo Defense: Operation Desert
Mirage? The Rhetoric of Patriot Missile Accuracy in the 1991 Persian
Gulf War', Quarterly Journal of Speech 86(2): 121-45.
• Ch. 2, "Security Analysis: Conceptual Apparatus," in Buzan, B., O.
Wæver & J. d. Wilde (1998) Security : A New Framework for
Analysis (Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner Pub).

4/20 - Exam Review Session

4/22 - Test 3

4/27 - Course wrap-up

4/30 – 10:30 AM – 12:30 AM – Final Exam

Policies

Course Communication Support

Communication outside of class will be channeled through email. When you fill out the
Syllabus Understanding and Agreement form acknowledging that you have read and
understood this syllabus, please enter your preferred email address to be used to contact
you in this course. We will use email frequently to share important course information
and I expect that you will both be able to receive those emails and read them. Please send

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course-related email to the address listed at the top of this syllabus (i.e.
lawson.sean2005+INTLCOMM@gmail.com). ONLY COURSE-RELATED EMAIL
SENT TO THAT ADDRESS WILL BE ANSWERED. I have set up an auto-reply for
all mail sent to this address that will send you a confirmation that you message was
received. If you do not receive an automatic confirmation reply, then your message
was not received and will not be answered.

Course news and updates will be posted to the course Twitter feed available at
http://www.twitter.com/COMM5620. If you have a Twitter account, you can follow
@COMM5620 to see the updates. Otherwise, the updates will be viewable in WebCT.

A text message alert system is also available for this course. To sign up to receive the
alerts, please visit the course WebCT page and use the embedded widget at the bottom of
the page. Text message alerts will only be used in the event of a last minute class
cancellation or other important, last-minute event. You will NOT be spammed with
junk text messages. Text message alerts will be cross-posted to the course Twitter feed
and, if possible, will be emailed.

Disability Accommodation

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and
activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class,
reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin
Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make
arrangements for accommodations.

All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with
prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.

Content Accommodation

The University recognizes that students’ sincerely-held core beliefs may make it difficult
for students to fulfill some requirements of some courses or majors. It is the student’s
obligation to determine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when course
requirements conflict with the student’s sincerely-held core beliefs. If there is such a
conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution
impracticable may request a content accommodation from the instructor. Though the
University provides, through this policy, a process by which a student may make such a
request, the policy does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in those
cases when a denial would be arbitrary and capricious or illegal.

Attendance

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The student handbook states:

You [the student] may not attend a University course unless you are officially registered
and your name appears on the class roll.

The University expects regular attendance at all class meetings. You are not
automatically dropped from your classes if you do not attend. You must officially drop
your classes by the published deadline in the academic calendar to avoid a "W" on your
record.

You are responsible for satisfying the entire range of academic objectives, requirements
and prerequisites as defined by the instructor. If you miss the first 2 class meetings, or if
you have not taken the appropriate requisites, you may be required to withdraw from the
course. <http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/handbook/attend.htm>

Extensions, Incompletes, and Extra Credit

In general, the policy in this course is that extensions will not be given for assignment or
exam due dates. You will know the due dates for all assignments and exams from the
beginning of the course and should plan accordingly to get your assignments/exam turned
in/completed on time. If you are absent from class to participate in officially sanctioned
University activities (e.g. band, debate, student government, intercollegiate athletics),
religious obligations, or with instructor's approval, you should make arrangements to turn
your work in ahead of the assigned deadline. Extensions will only be granted in the case
of documented cases of personal or family illness, a death in the family, or some other
serious circumstance. If you believe that you have such a circumstance, please contact
me immediately and we can discuss the possibility of an extension.

An Incomplete will only be given for work not completed due to circumstances beyond
your control. Additionally, you must be passing the course and have completed at least
80% of the required coursework to be eligible for an Incomplete. If you feel that you
have met these criteria, please contact me and we will discuss the possibility of an
Incomplete, as well as what would be required for you to see a successful outcome in the
course. For more on the university's policy on Incompletes, see
http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/handbook/grpolicy.htm.

Finally, extra credit assignments will not be given under any circumstances, and certainly
not in lieu of a missed regular assignment. Your grade will based solely upon your
completion of the assignments identified in this syllabus and quality of your work on
those assignments.

Academic Honesty

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It is expected that your work will be your own or, in the case of group exercises and
projects, the original work of you and assigned members of your group. Cases of
plagiarism and/or any other form of cheating will be dealt with severely, either with
failure on the assignment in question or failure for the entire courses depending upon the
particular circumstances. The university's definition of plagiarism is as follows:

“Plagiarism” means the intentional unacknowledged use or incorporation of any

other person's work in, or as a basis for, one's own work offered for academic
consideration or credit or for public presentation. Plagiarism includes, but is not
limited to, representing as one's own, without attribution, any other individual’s
words, phrasing, ideas, sequence of ideas, information or any other mode or
content of expression.

Ultimately, it is your responsibility to read and understand the university policy on

student academic conduct (see http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html). As
they say in legal proceedings, "Ignorance is no excuse before the law."

WebCT

Students sometimes have difficulty understanding how WebCT works, and sometimes
students find that their personal computers, home Internet connections, or preferred Web
browsers have difficulty working with WebCT. Additionally, WebCT is sometimes
quirky and can have problems. Figuring out how you will use WebCT to suit your needs
is entirely your responsibility. Be persistent when faced with a technical problem—try
again before giving up. Visit the university’s library to use a WebCT-friendly computer.
Also, WebCT has an extensive "Help" function, you can find many discussion forums
dedicated to troubleshooting in WebCT through a Google search, and the university’s
TACC office (http://tacc.utah.edu) exists to help you with WebCT issues. The instructor
is your very last resort for WebCT troubleshooting.

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