Background | Aims | Structure | Topics | Assessment | Seminars | Deadlines | Coordinator | Resources

Background
Since McLuhan first envisioned a "global village", globalisation has been regarded as a dramatic human achievement in technology, telecommunication and social organisation. Globalisation is assumed to engender harmony among nations, the development of a new sense of world community, and seamless international commerce. However, the Utopian ideas of information and communication technologies in global communication are juxtaposed with disturbing social, cultural and ethical issues. We are experiencing such concurrent and contradictory processes as globalisation and localisation, multiculturalism and transnationalism, democratisation and pancapitalism, surveillance and privacy, censorship and freedom of speech.

Aims
The aim of this Honours unit is to improve communication and research skills as well as to develop critical enquiry about global technological issues.

Structure
The structure of the course is a series of seminars. There are six major issues that are discussed and explored. The duration of each issue is two weeks.

Topics
Introduction to the Unit
Impact of ICTs on local and indigenous languages and cultures
Globalisation, localisation and the "digital divide"
Politics of the global village in democratising or preserving hierarchy
Transnational communities
Virtual environments
Surveillance, privacy and censorship

Assessment
Presentation (oral and written) on each of the six issues - 60%
Major essay on one issue - 40%

Seminars
Seminars are held in VBS3.24, 3:30-5:00 on Thursdays

Deadlines
Seminar papers:
    Topic 1    Friday 17 August
    Topic 2    Friday 7 September
    Topic 3    Friday 21 September
    Topic 4    Monday 15 October
    Topic 5    Friday 2 November
    Topic 6    Friday 16 November
Major assignment:
    Any of above topics    Monday 19 November

Coordinator
Fay Sudweeks
Senior Lecturer in Information Systems
School of Information Technology
Murdoch University
Murdoch WA 6150 Australia
Tel: +61-8-9360-2364 Fax: +61-8-9360-2941s
Email: sudweeks@murdoch.edu.au
Fay's official departmental staff page