SI 575 Community Information Corps Seminar

Professor Paul Resnick

Fall 2001

Syllabus

Last revised 11/28/01 (PR).

Meets Fridays 12-1:30  in 311 West Hall (Informal lunch at 11:30)
CIC Project listings
Schedule
CourseTools   (for discussion and other nice features: access restricted)

This 1-credit seminar course offers reading, reflection, and social networking experiences for students who are engaged in projects or considering careers as public interest informationists, (i.e., organizing information flows in support of communal and public needs). Many students will enroll concurrently in some kind of project work, either through a Directed Field Experience (DFE), an independent study, or a workshop course.

We will read about and discuss theories of community, civil society, and the role of the non-profit sector, and draw connections with project work (reading and reflection). There will also be frequent opportunities to learn about other students' projects and to meet some of the national leaders of the community information movement (social networking) and possibly travel to relevant conferences and workshops. At the end of this course, students who are interested in pursuing careers in the community information movement should have enough information and connections to begin a job search in this area.

This seminar also serves as a focal point for the School of Information's Community Information Corps, a loosely organized  interest group of faculty, doctoral and master's students, and outside "friends". Several faculty are planning to attend frequently, and students who do not wish to sign up for credit are welcome to come for those sessions that they find interesting.

You are encouraged to participate for multiple semesters (you can take it for credit up four times); while we'll keep revisiting similar themes, there will be minimal overlap in the readings and guests. The faculty coordinator will rotate as well, leading to slightly different emphases in different semesters.

Early in each semester, there will be announcements about project opportunities with faculty and Directed Field Experience opportunities. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their project experiences in the class. Academic credit for these projects, however, will not be arranged through this class. DFEs will be administered through Karen Jordan. Workshop courses have their own course numbers. Other projects will be arranged as independent study directly with the supervising faculty member.

Pre-requisites

None.

Objectives

After participating in SI 575, you should be able to:

• connect day-to-day grassroots activities with big ideas about citizenship, opportunity, and the public good in an information society.
• find a job or internship as a public informationist.

The Big Ideas

• Community, social capital, public goods, and collective action 
• Democracy and citizenship 
• Inequality, diversity, and identity 
• The institutional landscape of public interest information work 
• The impact of infrastructure

Throughout our examination of these ideas, we will keep returning to implications for the roles of information professionals.

We will keep returning to these big ideas each semester, but usually with somewhat different readings and guests to guide our exploration.

Readings

Readings will be handed out in class, or available on the Web. You will need to read materials before class so that we can have lively discussion (see reaction paper assignments below).

Assignments and Due Dates

This is a 1-credit class. Class meets for an hour and a half each week. You should spend, on average, about two and a half hours each week outside of class, doing the following:

• 24 hours before each class where readings will be discussed, post a 1-page reaction through Course Tools (I recommend that you compose this separately and then cut and paste it to Course Tools; some people have had their work disappear if they compose for a long time using the web interface in course tools).
• for any 2 of the guests during the semester, post brief comments in the Course Tools discussion area after the guest's visit.
• If you're involved in complementary project work, once or twice during the semester you'll be asked to present a 10 minute status report to the rest of the class. 
• At the end of the semester you'll be required to hand in a 4-5 page reflection paper tying your project work to the themes and activities discussed in class. If you're not doing a project, this paper will simply reflect on what you've learned.

Travel and Social Networking

If you find a conference that's worth going to and that you think will help you in assessing job prospects or developing project ideas for future semesters, you can ask me for travel funds.

Grading

This class must be elected pass/fail (satisfactory/unsatisfactory). This is not a class that lends itself to conventional grading.

Office Hours

Thursdays 10-11AM and Fridays 1:30-2:30PM. It's a good idea to call in advance or send email, as there are a few days when I'll have to miss office hours.

presnick@umich.edu

647-9458

314 West Hall

Session Schedule

This schedule is likely to be juggled significantly after the semester begins. Please consult the online version for the latest.

Early winter speaker ideas:

• Jonah Seiger: on-line advocacy
• Social Entrepreneurship Vanessa Kirsch; Fast Company article?