Internet & Society: The Technologies and Politics of Control

Course Schedule

We will meet for 14 sessions from 2-4 p.m. in Hauser Hall 102. (Note that this means the total enrollment is likely to be no more than about 40-50 students.) The first two sessions will be on Thursday and Friday, 1/2/03 and 1/3/03. We depart from the default HLS course calendar in that there is *no* class planned for Saturday, January 4, 2003. The class will then meet for the following full two business weeks (weeks of Monday, 1/6/03 and Monday, 1/13/03). Class on Friday, 1/17/03 will be a special 4-hour class, with details to follow. Our final two sessions will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1/21/03 and 1/22/03.

Course Requirements

This is a 3-credit law school course, but it meets for only two hours a day -- the third credit is explained below. Note that there may be limits on the number of non-classroom credits you can apply towards a diploma; consult with the registrar if in doubt.

The following requirements vary from previous years -- they're designed to better tie the readings to the classtime, to focus energies on a useful class product, and to make best use of the intensity of the winter term.

* Collaborative Presentation & Paper

Yes, groupwork. It won't dominate the course, but it is an important part of it, and will provide an opportunity for you to come to know better at least some of the other participants in the course.

You will be assigned to a group of 5 students (total). Each group will be responsible for especially thinking about the material covered in one session, the group's "Assigned Session." At the beginning of the class meeting immediately *following* your group's Assigned Session, your group must present its response to the major questions posed during the Assigned Session. These questions -- and the expectations for the group's presentation -- will become explicit as class unfolds during your Assigned Session. Your group is expected to meet to collaborate between the assigned session and the one that follows; your presentation the next class day should be unified and well organized and on the order of ~ ten minutes.

No later than one week after your presentation date, your group will submit a 7-10 page paper reflecting refinements of -- or successors to -- the ideas expressed in your presentation. One paper is turned in for the entire group. The writing credit associated with this course is a result of this paper requirement, but you will receive a single grade for the course overall, into which this will factor.

Groups and assigned sessions will be assigned randomly on the first day of class. However, I'd like (at least) 10 brave souls to volunteer to join the first 2 groups so that everyone can have sufficient advance notice. If you are willing to do so, please email me as soon as possible with your willingness at <zittrain@law.harvard.edu>.

* Final Exam

There will be a ~2-hour in-class exam on Friday, 1/24. Details will follow.