Spring 2020
INF 386E Information and Culture
Wed
Cross-listing of LAS 381, offered by the Department of Latin American Studies. Instructor: Jennifer Isasi
DESCRIPTION
Examines information as a cultural phenomenon; may include e-commerce, privacy and secrecy, censorship, information as a commodity, Internet culture, access to cultural heritage, and control of the cultural record. Repeatable with Different Topics
COURSE NOTES
There is a limited presence of Spanish-language cultural production in the digital cultural record and, as a consequence, less opportunities to build and interrogate archives and to also apply computer-aided textual analysis methods to their study. Starting from this premise, this seminar/workshop will focus on theoretical issues related to the presence (or lack thereof) of Latin American and Caribbean texts in the digital record, while at the same time providing students with the experience of building a student-led, collaborative, open-access resource. Through this process we will ask: what type of theory and tools work or are still needed to address issues specific to the wider academic and social contexts of the selected Latin American texts? The course will pair critical analysis with theoretical and hands-on approaches from the digital humanities, including topic modeling, sentiment analysis and mapping. By the end of the course, students will critically analyze the practices and assumptions that have long privileged the cultural products of the northern Anglophone world while developing digital literacy strategies based on knowledge production rather than consumption.
PREREQUISITES
Graduate standing. Additional prerequisites may vary with the topic.