Summer 2012 Courses

MLS 826 • Digital World (Summer I)

The Internet has become a staple part of life for many, making us increasingly live in a digital world.  Email, the Web, online services, high definition digital television, mp3 players and numerous other digital applications have become commonplace.  Researchers working in technology and society are concerned with better understanding of the impact of living in the digital world.  In this course we will be covering different aspects of the digital world, such as the Internet in general, Web-based applications, interpersonal communication tools such as blogs, podcasts, chat rooms, and the overall impact of these technologies on the way we live.  The course will discuss the benefits and burdens of living in the digital world so that we are better able to understand the impact of the digital developments.

          Class schedule, 6:00 – 9:00 pm each of the following evenings:

          Tuesday, May 29
          Wednesday, May 30
          Monday, June 4
          Wednesday, June 6
          Monday, June 11
          Wednesday, June 13
          Thursday, June 14
          Monday, June 18
          Wednesday, June 20
          Thursday, June 21

Carswell Hall, room 305
Ananda Mitra      758-5134            ananda@wfu.edu

Ananda Mitra (Ph.D. University of Illinois) is a Professor in the Department of Communication.  He was trained in engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, and received his doctoral degree in communication.  Given his unique training in technology and culture, his primary research interest is in understanding the role of new technologies in society and the impact of new technologies on everyday life.  He brings a keen understanding of technology, culture, communication and society to the courses he teaches.  This course will use material from the 10-book encyclopedic series called The Digital World, spanning topics from cyber-community to cyber-terrorism.

MLS 741 • Music and Political Power (Summer II)

This course focuses on how social movements evolve and change culture through music. We study music of protest in the Americas from the 1920s to the present day, and study how artists transmit social values through music. We also seek to understand the inter-relationships of the United States and the countries in Latin America during and after the Cold War, and the events that shaped musical expression in both continents. Includes consideration of how music defines space for communication and moves masses into action, how artists mobilize traditions in music to form personal and collective identities, and how the music industry manipulates artists and cultural values.

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, 6:00-9:00 pm
Scales Fine Arts Center, Room M307
Tuesday, July 10 – Thursday, August 9
Patricia Dixon     dixonpa@wfu.edu 

Patricia Dixon is a professional musician and performer who has lived in Chile and the United States, and has a passion for the history of popular and classical music in both continents. She met many of the protest singers of the Southern cone in the 1960s, and had exposure to their counterparts in the US as a young college student during the Civil Rights Movement. She is fascinated by the topic of politics and music, and has taught an undergraduate seminar on Music of Protest at Wake Forest since 1996.