Professor Robin Mansell, STC. S107.

This is an optional course for students on MSc Global Media and Communications (with Fudan or USC), MSc Media and Communications, MSc Media and Communications (Research), MSc Media and Communications (Media and Communication Governance), MSc Media, Communication and Development and MSc Politics and Communication. Other students may attend subject their own degree regulations and at the discretion of the teacher responsible.

The aim of this course is to examine the innovation processes that influence the development of information, communication and knowledge systems from a variety of critical perspectives. The main emphasis is on the implications of these developments for social and economic change and for policy.

The course begins from the premise information and communication technologies are developed and used within a complex innovation system. The course will enable students to understand some of the interrelationships between innovations in these technologies and transformations in society. Particular attention will be given to incentives to create open digital platforms and services as compared to those favouring exclusive platforms for reasons of security, privacy, or profit. Students will be encouraged to develop critical appraisals of whether the innovation system associated with these technologies is creating opportunities for individual and collective empowerment. The course will emphasise issues related to the Internet and 'new media'.

Lecture (one hour) x 10 LT; seminar (one hour) x 10 LT.

All students are expected to complete advance reading, prepare seminar presentations, and submit one essay of 1,500 words.

Anderson, C. (2010) 'The Web is Dead: Long Live the Internet - Who's to Blame: Us'. Wired, September, 1-17; Baym, N. K. (2010) 'Social Networks 2.0', in R. Burnett, M. Consalvo and C. Ess (eds),The Handbook of Internet Studies (pp. np Kindle), Wiley-Blackwell; Castells, M. (2009) Communication Power, Oxford University Press; Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Department for Culture Media and Sport. (2009) Digital Britain: Final Report. London: BIS, DCMS; Lessig, L. (2008) Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, Bloomsbury Academic; Mansell, R. and Raboy, M. (2011) 'Introduction: Foundations of the Theory and Practice of Global Media and Communication Policy', in R. Mansell and M. Raboy (eds), The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy (pp. 1-20), Blackwell-Wiley; Mansell, R., Avgerou, C., Quah, D. & Silverstone, R. (eds) (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies, Oxford University Press, pbk 2009; Turkle, S. (2011) Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Basic Books; Wessels, B. (2010) Understanding the Internet: A Socio-Cultural Perspective, Palgave Macmillan; Zittrain, J. (2009) The Future of the Internet--and How to Stop It, Yale University Press.

A written assignment of not more than 3,000 words.