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ENV361-ENV361 Interrogating the Optics of Google Earth代写
时间：2023-02-13
ENV 361 是为对环境科学和可持续发展感兴趣的国际学生设计的课程。
本课程涵盖广泛的主题，包括气候变化、空气和水污染、废物管理和可再生能源。
该课程旨在让学生全面了解我们星球面临的环境问题以及可以采取的解决这些问题的步骤。
通过讲座、讨论和实践项目，学生将获得批判性思维、解决问题和沟通方面的宝贵技能。
此外，学生将有机会与当地社区和组织接触，以应用他们的学习成果并在现实世界中产生影响。 总的来说，ENV 361
是一门具有挑战性和有益性的课程，让学生对环境有更深入的了解，并帮助他们成为积极和负责任的公民。
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 1
University of Toronto, School of the Environment
ENV 361: Social Media and Environmentalism
Winter 2023: Dr. Hanna E. Morris
Friday 10AM – 12PM (Eastern time zone), Room GB 221
Contact Information for Professor:
Professor Hanna E. Morris, email: hanna.morris@utoronto.ca
Office Hours: online Wednesdays 3:30-4:30pm Eastern (please email me ahead of time
so I know you will be Zooming-in) and by appointment on Friday afternoons in-person
Class Meetings:
Lectures: Fridays 10am - 12 pm, First lecture is on Jan 13th. All lectures will be held in
GB 221.
Tutorials: February 3, February 10, February 17, March 10, March 17, March 24,
March 31
● Section 0101: Fridays 12-1pm, Room BF 315
● Section 0102: Fridays 12-1pm, Room BF 214
● Section 0201: Fridays 1-2pm, Room BF 315
● Section 0202: Fridays 1-2pm, Room BF 214
Tutorial Objectives: During tutorials, TAs will facilitate peer writing workshops and
group project work. The goal for tutorials is for students to have the time and space to
receive peer reviews and to improve their individual written assignments as well as to
develop their final group project.
Contact Information for Teaching Assistants:
Sections 0101,0201: Ichha Kohli, ichhakaur.kohli@mail.utoronto.ca
Sections 0102,0202: Emma Bernardo, emma.bernardo@mail.utoronto.ca
All course materials are posted on the Quercus course site.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 2
Course Overview:
Description: This course will examine a range of issues related to the environment and
digital technology, with a broad focus on the history, culture, and political economy of
social media and its impact on the environment and environmental activism. It is the
second of two new courses in the School of Environment, and builds on the ideas
explored in ENV360, but does not require ENV360 as a prerequisite.
Contemporary experiences of environmentalism are increasingly mediated through
internet technologies. The dynamics of how people engage with social media often
determine how they learn about topics such as climate change, environmental policy,
and the nature of protest movements. At the same time, the power of governments
and corporations to conduct mass surveillance via the internet can have a chilling effect
on those who express dissent over social, economic, and environmental policy. The
current generation of students has grown up with social media, but rarely gets the
opportunity to step back and think critically about its broader consequences, especially
in the face of grand societal and environmental challenges. The aim of the course is to
engage students in the School of Environment in critical thinking about the history,
culture, and political economy of social media, and the ways in which it is used to foster
or stifle social change and environmental activism.
Topics include the use of social media as a tool for community-building, online protest
movements, economic ownership and control of digital media platforms, digital media
infrastructure and technology, mass surveillance and its implications, and the impact of
misinformation on climate denialism.
What you will learn in the course:
● Critical thinking skills for analyzing complex socio-technical systems from
multiple perspectives, using methods from multiple disciplines.
● Improved technology literacy, cultural analysis, and communication skills,
through a deeper understanding of the history, culture, and political economy of
social media.
Required Texts: There is no set text for this course. PDFs of all readings are available on
the Quercus course site.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 3
Course Evaluation:
Grading Component Due Date Weighting
Assignment 1: Interrogating the Optics of
Google Earth
Draft: February 10, 2023
Final: February 17, 2023
5%
10%
Assignment 2: #activism: Opportunities and
Challenges for Activists Organizing Online
Draft: March 17, 2023
Final: March 24, 2023
5%
10%
Reading Responses (9 total) Due weekly before start
of class (except for the
first and last day of class)
Reply to at least two
other student’s
reflections by 11pm
Eastern on the following
Tuesday
20%
5%
Tutorial Participation and Attendance
(7 total)
In tutorials 10%
Final Project Presentation: March 31,
2023
Final project: April 11,
2023
10%
25%
Coursework Assignments and Final (details and instructions are at the end of this
syllabus): Each assignment and the final project will be developed in tutorials, and then
completed outside of class time. Submit a complete draft of Assignments 1 & 2 before
class via Quercus on the first due date, and bring either a digital or hard copy to your
tutorial to receive feedback on your draft during a peer writing workshop. You will then
have an additional week to make revisions. Drafts will be graded pass/fail. The grading
criteria for the final versions of the assignments will include depth of critical analysis,
coverage of the literature, coherence and comprehensibility, and presentation. The
final will be a group project and will consist of a presentation to be delivered during the
last tutorial session and a written component.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 4
Reading responses. Each week, you will describe five insights you gained from that
week’s assigned reading. Due before the start of class in the Quercus reading discussion
forum for your tutorial section. You must also reply to at least two other student’s
reflections by 11pm Eastern on the following Tuesday. Your reply can consist of a few
follow-up questions for the student or a short comment (3 – 5 sentences) – please keep
all comments courteous and constructive.
Tutorial participation: Seven tutorials, of one hour duration, will be held over the
course (February 3, February 10, February 17, March 10, March 17, March 24, March
31). You must attend and participate! This entails attending all tutorials and being
prepared for, actively contributing to, and participating in the peer writing and final
project workshops. Full attendance and participation will earn you 10%.
During the Fridays without scheduled tutorials, I encourage you to set-up an
appointment with me to discuss the course and/or your academic and career goals.
Please email me at hanna.morris@utoronto.ca to set a time to meet!
Submitting coursework: All assignments should be submitted through Quercus before
the beginning of class (Fridays at 10am). The final project should also be submitted
through Quercus by one group member on behalf of the entire group by 10am on April
11th.
All assignments and the final project should be double spaced, using 12 point font, and
numbered pages. Attach a cover page with the following information:
1) Your name(s);
2) Your student ID(s);
3) Tutorial Section
4) Title of assignment;
5) Instructor’s name;
6) Course title & number
Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to the University’s
plagiarism detection tool for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible
plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source
documents in the tool’s reference database, where they will be used solely for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of this
tool are described on the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation web site
(https://uoft.me/pdt-faq).
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 5
Class Policies:
Late penalty for assignments: If you are having difficulty completing your work for any
reason, please discuss this with your TA before the due date, to arrange an alternative
schedule. If you have not agreed to an alternative plan prior to the due date, work
submitted up to one week late will be penalized 10% per day late for up to 7 days; after
this, it will not be accepted. Note: If you are unavoidably absent from the university,
please self-declare in ACORN and contact your TA as soon as you return to discuss the
situation.
If you are unable to attend a tutorial, please complete the ACORN self-declaration
form and send your TA a screenshot.
Requests to re-mark an assignment must be submitted in writing to Prof. Morris and
clearly state the reason for your request. Prof. Morris will respond within a week as to
whether your assignment will be remarked. Your assignment will be remarked by your
TA.
Communications policy: We will use Quercus for all announcements about the course,
and to respond to questions outside of class time. The TAs will respond to substantial
questions within 24 hours (except on weekends). Exception: do not expect responses to
questions about assignments within 24 hours of the due date.
Academic integrity:
Very few of us have truly original ideas – we almost always build on ideas and
information provided by others. However, it is a serious offense to represent someone
else’s words as your own, or to submit work that you have previously submitted for
marks in another class or program. Assignments, reading summaries and projects will
be reviewed for evidence of these infractions. Penalties for these offences can be
severe and can be recorded on your transcript. Trust your own ability to think and write
and make use of the resources available at U of T that can help you do so (e.g.
professors, TAs, writing centres). See the U of T writing website, especially the “How
Not To Plagiarize” document at http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/ and
the website of the Office of Student Academic Integrity
https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academic-advising-and-support/student-
academic-integrity
The following is a list of examples (not complete) of what constitutes an academic
offence:
● Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement
● Copying material word-for-word from any source (including lecture and study group
notes) without quotation marks and a citation for the author/source
● Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the
instructor
● Making up sources or facts, including references to sources that you did not use.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 6
● Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment including:
o Working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual work
o Having someone rewrite or add material to your work while “editing”
● Lending your work to a classmate who submits it as his/her own without your
permission
● Misrepresentation:
o Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including
doctor’s notes
o Falsifying institutional documents or grades
Communication:
We all need to communicate respectfully. “The University of Toronto is committed to
equity, human rights and respect for diversity. All members of the learning
environment in this course should strive to create an atmosphere of mutual respect
where all members of our community can express themselves, engage with each
other, and respect one another’s differences. U of T does not condone discrimination or
harassment against any persons or communities.”
Privacy rights and appropriate use of course material:
Course content and materials belong to your instructor, the University, and/or other
source depending on the specific facts of each situation, and are protected by
copyright. In this course, you are permitted to download course materials for your own
academic use, but you should not copy, share, or use them for any other purpose
without the explicit permission of the instructor.
Technology requirements:
Please see https://www.viceprovoststudents.utoronto.ca/covid-19/tech-requirements-
onlinelearning/Links
Advice for online learning:
https://onlinelearning.utoronto.ca/getting-ready-for-online/Links
Accommodation:
The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations
for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or
course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible:
accessibility.services@utoronto.ca or http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/as
Additional services and support:
The following are some important links to help you with academic and/or technical
service and support
• General student services and resources at Student Life
• Full library service through University of Toronto Libraries
• Resources on conducting online research through University Libraries Research
• Resources on academic support from the Academic Success Centre
• Learner support at the Writing Centre
• Information for Technical Support/Quercus Support
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 7
Course Schedule: Topics and Reading Assignments
All readings are provided on the course site on Quercus
Dates marked in purple & with an (*) are days tutorials will be held
Date Lecture Topic and Readings Tutorial Hand in
Unit 1: Foundations: History, Culture, & Political Economy of the World Wide Web
1 Jan 13 Course Introduction
2 Jan 20 Digital Utopia: The Origins of Cyberculture &
Cyberspace
Readings:
• Barlow, J.P. (1996). A Declaration of the
Independence of Cyberspace.
https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-
independence
• Turner, F. (2006). “Introduction” in From
Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart
Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the
Rise of Digital Utopianism. Chicago
University Press, pp. 1 -9.
• Wiener, A. (2018, November 16). The
Complicated Legacy of Stewart Brand’s
“Whole Earth Catalog.” The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-
from-silicon-valley/the-complicated-
legacy-of-stewart-brands-whole-earth-
catalog
Reading
Response
3 Jan 27 “As Gods”, part I: Google Earth & the Optics of
Planetary Control
Readings:
• Demos, T.J. (2017). “Ch. 1: Welcome to the
Anthropocene!”, “Ch. 2: Geoengineering
the Anthropocene” and “Ch3: Against the
Anthropocene” in Against the
Anthropocene: Visual Culture and
Environment Today. Berlin: Sternberg
Press, pp. 5-58.
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 8
4 Feb 3* “As Gods”, part II: Surveillance Capitalism
Readings:
• McChesney, R.W. (2013). “Chapter 1: What
is the Elephant in the Digital Room?” in
Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is
Turning the Internet against Democracy.
The New Press, pp. 1-22.
• Zuboff, S. (2019). “Chapter 1: Home or
Exile in the Digital Future” in The Age of
Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a
Human Future at the New Frontier of Power.
Public Affairs, pp. 3-24.
Close
reading
skills and
notetaking
workshop
Reading
Response
Unit 2: #activism: Power and Resistance
5 Feb 10* Social Media and Social Movements: Arab Spring
and Occupy
Readings:
• Tufecki, Z. (2017). “Ch 1: A Networked
Public” in Twitter and Teargas: The Power
and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale
University Press, pp. 3-27.
• Kavada, A. (2015). Creating the collective:
social media, the Occupy Movement and its
constitution as a collective actor,
Information, Communication & Society,
18(8), 872-886.
Peer review
writing
workshop:
Assignment 1
Draft
Assignment
1
Reading
Response
6 Feb 17* #NoDAPL and its Legacies
Readings:
• Estes, N., & Dhillon, J. (2019).
“Introduction: The Black Snake, #NoDAPL,
and the Rise of a People’s Movement” in
Estes, N., & Dhillon, J. (Eds.) Standing with
Standing Rock. Minnesota University Press,
pp. 1-10.
MORE READINGS CONTD. ON NEXT PAGE
Final group
project
workshop Final
Assignment
1
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 9
• TallBear, K. (2019). “Badass Indigenous
Women Caretake Relations:
#STANDINGROCK, #IDLENOMORE,
#BLACKLIVESMATTER” in Estes, N., &
Dhillon, J. (Eds.) Standing with Standing
Rock. Minnesota University Press, pp. 13-18.
• Brown, A. (2019, March 7). A Lakota
Historian on What Climate Organizers Can
Learn From Two Centuries of Indigenous
Resistance. The Intercept. Retrieved from
https://theintercept.com/2019/03/07/nick-
estes-our-history-is-the-future-indigenous-
resistance/
Feb 24 Reading Week - No Lecture
7 March 3 The Empire Strikes Back: Threats of Silicon Valley
Tech-bros and Authoritarian “Strong Men”
Readings:
• Sellers, C., Dillon, L., Ohayon, J. L., Shapiro,
N., Sullivan, M., Amoss, C., Bocking, S.,
Brown, P., De la Rosa, V., Harrison, J.,
Johns, S., Kulik, K., Lave, R., Murphy, M.,
Piper, L., Richter, L., Wylie, S., EDGI. (2017,
June 19). “Executive Summary” and
“Introduction” in The EPA Under Siege, pp.
1-8.
• Calma, J. (2022, December 5). Climate
Misinformation explodes on Twitter. The
Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/5/2349
4220/elon-musk-twitter-climate-
misinformation-rise-analysis
• Tufecki, Z. (2017). “Ch 9: Governments
Strike Back” in Twitter and Teargas: The
Power and Fragility of Networked Protest.
Yale University Press, pp. 223-260.
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 10
8 March
10*
Digital Media Infrastructure
Readings:
• Merchant, B. (2019, February 21). How
Google, Microsoft, and Big Tech Are
Automating the Climate Crisis. Gizmodo.
https://gizmodo.com/how-google-
microsoft-and-big-tech-are-automating-
the-1832790799
• Parks, L. (2015) “’Stuff You Can Kick’:
Towards a Theory of Media Infrastructures”
in Svensson, P., & Goldberg, D.T. Between
Humanities and the Digital. The MIT Press,
pp. 355-373.
Final group
project
workshop
Reading
Response
Unit 3: Imagining the Internet Otherwise
9 March
17*
Retreat or Build Alternatives?
Readings:
• Vadukul, A. (2022, December 15). ‘Luddite’
Teens Don’t Want Your Likes. The New
York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/styl
e/teens-social-media.html
• O’Connell, M. (2018, February 15). Why
Silicon Valley billionaires are prepping for
the apocalypse in New Zealand. The
Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/
feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-
prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-
zealand
• Benjamin, R. (2019). “Introduction” in Race
after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for
the New Jim Code. Polity Press, pp. 1-32.
Peer review
writing
workshop:
Assignment 2
Draft
Assignment 2
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 11
10 March
24*
Internet for the People?
Readings:
• Barendregt, W., Becker, C., Cheon, E.,
Clement, A., Reynolds-Cuéllar, P., Schuler,
D., & Suchman, L. (2021). Defund Big
Tech, Refund Community. Tech Otherwise.
https://doi.org/10.21428/93b2c832.e0100a
3f
• Holthaus, E. (2022, December 7). Elon
Musk wants eco-apartheid. Project
Mushroom wants justice. Project
Mushroom.
https://newsletters.projectmushroom.xyz/
elon-wants-eco-apartheid/
Final group
project
workshop
Final
Assignment 2
Reading
Response
11 March
31*
Conclusion
Final project
presentations
Final
Presentations
April 7 University Closed – No Lecture
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 12
Assignment 1: Interrogating the Optics of Google Earth
Draft Due: February 10, 2023
Final Due: February 17, 2023
Length:
~4 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least two course readings. You are not required to
reference any outside texts but may do so if additional sources will contribute to your
paper’s analysis and argument.
Instructions:
In our readings and class discussions so far, we’ve learned about the conceptual and
cultural roots of Silicon Valley’s visions of the World Wide Web. In particular, we
discussed the influence of Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog in shaping a “techno-
libertarian” ideology. In this assignment, I want you to reflect on this “techno-
libertarian” ideology and examine what a “Whole Earth way of seeing” means?
Anna Wiener (2018) from your week 2 reading assignment writes: “[Stewart] Brand
doesn’t have much to do with the current startup ecosystem, but younger
entrepreneurs regularly reach out to him, perhaps in search of a sense of continuity or
simply out of curiosity about the industry’s origins. The spirit of the [Whole Earth]
catalogue—its irreverence toward institutions, its emphasis on autodidacticism, and its
sunny view of computers as tools for personal liberation––appeals to a younger
generation of technologists. Brand himself has become a regional icon, a sort of human
Venn diagram, celebrated for bridging the hippie counterculture and the nascent
personal-computer industry. In a 2005 commencement address at Stanford, Steve Jobs
described the ‘Whole Earth Catalog’ as ‘Google in paperback form, thirty-five years
before Google came along.’”
What does Steve Jobs mean by this, exactly? In this assignment, I want you to draw
upon lecture content and course readings to think critically about this and how a
“Whole Earth” way of seeing has shaped the optics of Google Earth.
Indeed, Stewart Brand imagines himself (and men like him) “as Gods” – what does this
mean, exactly? Drawing upon assigned readings and discussions from lectures, please
reflect on how this outlook shared by Brand and his Silicon Valley peers have shaped
the design and optics of Google Earth? (Hint: unpack what a “God’s eye view” way of
seeing means. What are the dynamics / hierarchies of power associated with looking
from above down below at life / “mortals” on Earth “as Gods”?). What do you think of
Google Earth’s optics / way of seeing? What are some potential problems / threats /
risks associated with this way of seeing?
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 13
Assignment 2: #activism: Opportunities and Challenges for Activists Organizing
Online
Draft Due: March 17, 2023
Final Due: March 24, 2023
Length:
~4 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least two course readings and at least two outside
texts.
Instructions:
Drawing upon assigned readings and discussions from lectures, please write a short
critical essay reflecting on: (1) the opportunities afforded by social media for building
social movements, and (2) the obstacles / challenges for organizing social movements
online. Please choose one social movement that we have discussed in class (e.g.,
Occupy, Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, NoDAPL) to analyze as a “case
study” and to help you build your essay’s argument.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 14
Final Project: Imagining the Internet Otherwise: Envisioning a New Social Media
Platform for Climate Justice
Final Presentations: March 31, 2023
Final Project Due: April 11, 2023*
*The final project should be submitted through Quercus by one group member on
behalf of the entire group by 10am on April 11th
Length:
~10-12 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least four course readings and at least two additional
outside peer-reviewed texts.
The final project will be completed in teams of 5-6 students, all of whom should be
attending the same tutorial section.
For the final project, imagine and propose an “ideal” new social media platform for the
climate justice “community.” This is a chance to be creative and work together with
your peers to imagine how social media could be different and “better” than the current
options.
You will have the chance to work on this project with your group during three final
project workshops to be held during tutorials on February 17, March 10, and March 24.
These tutorials will give you an opportunity to develop your project and coordinate
tasks between group members, but you will need to finish your group project outside of
class.
You will also need to collaboratively prepare a ~8 minute-long final presentation to be
delivered on March 31 during your last tutorial. The presentation can be delivered by
one person, a handful of group members, or the entire group – you can decide as a
group what you would prefer to do.
Instructions:
Using Project Mushroom’s Manifesto as an example (see below), what would the
values, mission, and vision be for a new climate justice social media platform that you
are collaboratively building as a group?
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 15
Write a 1-2 sentence mission statement, a 1-2 sentence vision statement, and set at
least four values with 3 to 4 paragraph-long explanations for your rationale behind each
value, drawing upon course readings, lecture content, and relevant outside texts.
In addition to detailing the values, mission, and vision please address the following in
your proposal:
• What would your social media platform be called? Briefly explain why you chose
the name / what it represents or connotates.
• What functions / capabilities would the platform feature? Why?
• Do you plan to moderate the content shared on the platform or set rules of
conduct? Why or why not? And how so?
• How would you fund the platform (e.g., would you use an advertiser-based
model, investor or donation-based, public, community-owned/crowd funded,
etc.)? Briefly explain in 3-4 paragraphs why you chose this funding model.
Example: (Clarifying Note: your proposals should be much longer and with more
detail added than the example provided below.)
Project Mushroom's Manifesto https://newsletters.projectmushroom.xyz/about/
The scorched-earth policies of billionaires on a warming planet are undermining
democracy. We are building the world that needs to exist because there is no time to
waste.
MISSION
To cultivate timely and accurate information that supports community resilience and
safety during the climate emergency.
VISION
We help illuminate possible paths toward a liberated, habitable and joyful future for
people and the environment alike.
VALUES
• Community: We work to build strong long-term relationships with people whose
stories we share and those who use our services.
• Justice: We recognize that the climate emergency, and the inequality it reproduces,
is a symptom of capitalism and colonialism and work to help repair these injustices.
• Safety: We amplify community-led systemic change and aim to protect all life,
especially that which has been harmed by oppressive systems and left most
vulnerable to extreme weather impacts.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 16
• Joy: We embrace our role as stewards of the Earth and center joy, first and
foremost, in our reporting and services.
University of Toronto, School of the Environment
ENV 361: Social Media and Environmentalism
Winter 2023: Dr. Hanna E. Morris
Friday 10AM – 12PM (Eastern time zone), Room GB 221
Contact Information for Professor:
Professor Hanna E. Morris, email: hanna.morris@utoronto.ca
Office Hours: online Wednesdays 3:30-4:30pm Eastern (please email me ahead of time
so I know you will be Zooming-in) and by appointment on Friday afternoons in-person
Class Meetings:
Lectures: Fridays 10am - 12 pm, First lecture is on Jan 13th. All lectures will be held in
GB 221.
Tutorials: February 3, February 10, February 17, March 10, March 17, March 24,
March 31
● Section 0101: Fridays 12-1pm, Room BF 315
● Section 0102: Fridays 12-1pm, Room BF 214
● Section 0201: Fridays 1-2pm, Room BF 315
● Section 0202: Fridays 1-2pm, Room BF 214
Tutorial Objectives: During tutorials, TAs will facilitate peer writing workshops and
group project work. The goal for tutorials is for students to have the time and space to
receive peer reviews and to improve their individual written assignments as well as to
develop their final group project.
Contact Information for Teaching Assistants:
Sections 0101,0201: Ichha Kohli, ichhakaur.kohli@mail.utoronto.ca
Sections 0102,0202: Emma Bernardo, emma.bernardo@mail.utoronto.ca
All course materials are posted on the Quercus course site.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 2
Course Overview:
Description: This course will examine a range of issues related to the environment and
digital technology, with a broad focus on the history, culture, and political economy of
social media and its impact on the environment and environmental activism. It is the
second of two new courses in the School of Environment, and builds on the ideas
explored in ENV360, but does not require ENV360 as a prerequisite.
Contemporary experiences of environmentalism are increasingly mediated through
internet technologies. The dynamics of how people engage with social media often
determine how they learn about topics such as climate change, environmental policy,
and the nature of protest movements. At the same time, the power of governments
and corporations to conduct mass surveillance via the internet can have a chilling effect
on those who express dissent over social, economic, and environmental policy. The
current generation of students has grown up with social media, but rarely gets the
opportunity to step back and think critically about its broader consequences, especially
in the face of grand societal and environmental challenges. The aim of the course is to
engage students in the School of Environment in critical thinking about the history,
culture, and political economy of social media, and the ways in which it is used to foster
or stifle social change and environmental activism.
Topics include the use of social media as a tool for community-building, online protest
movements, economic ownership and control of digital media platforms, digital media
infrastructure and technology, mass surveillance and its implications, and the impact of
misinformation on climate denialism.
What you will learn in the course:
● Critical thinking skills for analyzing complex socio-technical systems from
multiple perspectives, using methods from multiple disciplines.
● Improved technology literacy, cultural analysis, and communication skills,
through a deeper understanding of the history, culture, and political economy of
social media.
Required Texts: There is no set text for this course. PDFs of all readings are available on
the Quercus course site.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 3
Course Evaluation:
Grading Component Due Date Weighting
Assignment 1: Interrogating the Optics of
Google Earth
Draft: February 10, 2023
Final: February 17, 2023
5%
10%
Assignment 2: #activism: Opportunities and
Challenges for Activists Organizing Online
Draft: March 17, 2023
Final: March 24, 2023
5%
10%
Reading Responses (9 total) Due weekly before start
of class (except for the
first and last day of class)
Reply to at least two
other student’s
reflections by 11pm
Eastern on the following
Tuesday
20%
5%
Tutorial Participation and Attendance
(7 total)
In tutorials 10%
Final Project Presentation: March 31,
2023
Final project: April 11,
2023
10%
25%
Coursework Assignments and Final (details and instructions are at the end of this
syllabus): Each assignment and the final project will be developed in tutorials, and then
completed outside of class time. Submit a complete draft of Assignments 1 & 2 before
class via Quercus on the first due date, and bring either a digital or hard copy to your
tutorial to receive feedback on your draft during a peer writing workshop. You will then
have an additional week to make revisions. Drafts will be graded pass/fail. The grading
criteria for the final versions of the assignments will include depth of critical analysis,
coverage of the literature, coherence and comprehensibility, and presentation. The
final will be a group project and will consist of a presentation to be delivered during the
last tutorial session and a written component.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 4
Reading responses. Each week, you will describe five insights you gained from that
week’s assigned reading. Due before the start of class in the Quercus reading discussion
forum for your tutorial section. You must also reply to at least two other student’s
reflections by 11pm Eastern on the following Tuesday. Your reply can consist of a few
follow-up questions for the student or a short comment (3 – 5 sentences) – please keep
all comments courteous and constructive.
Tutorial participation: Seven tutorials, of one hour duration, will be held over the
course (February 3, February 10, February 17, March 10, March 17, March 24, March
31). You must attend and participate! This entails attending all tutorials and being
prepared for, actively contributing to, and participating in the peer writing and final
project workshops. Full attendance and participation will earn you 10%.
During the Fridays without scheduled tutorials, I encourage you to set-up an
appointment with me to discuss the course and/or your academic and career goals.
Please email me at hanna.morris@utoronto.ca to set a time to meet!
Submitting coursework: All assignments should be submitted through Quercus before
the beginning of class (Fridays at 10am). The final project should also be submitted
through Quercus by one group member on behalf of the entire group by 10am on April
11th.
All assignments and the final project should be double spaced, using 12 point font, and
numbered pages. Attach a cover page with the following information:
1) Your name(s);
2) Your student ID(s);
3) Tutorial Section
4) Title of assignment;
5) Instructor’s name;
6) Course title & number
Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to the University’s
plagiarism detection tool for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible
plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source
documents in the tool’s reference database, where they will be used solely for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of this
tool are described on the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation web site
(https://uoft.me/pdt-faq).
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 5
Class Policies:
Late penalty for assignments: If you are having difficulty completing your work for any
reason, please discuss this with your TA before the due date, to arrange an alternative
schedule. If you have not agreed to an alternative plan prior to the due date, work
submitted up to one week late will be penalized 10% per day late for up to 7 days; after
this, it will not be accepted. Note: If you are unavoidably absent from the university,
please self-declare in ACORN and contact your TA as soon as you return to discuss the
situation.
If you are unable to attend a tutorial, please complete the ACORN self-declaration
form and send your TA a screenshot.
Requests to re-mark an assignment must be submitted in writing to Prof. Morris and
clearly state the reason for your request. Prof. Morris will respond within a week as to
whether your assignment will be remarked. Your assignment will be remarked by your
TA.
Communications policy: We will use Quercus for all announcements about the course,
and to respond to questions outside of class time. The TAs will respond to substantial
questions within 24 hours (except on weekends). Exception: do not expect responses to
questions about assignments within 24 hours of the due date.
Academic integrity:
Very few of us have truly original ideas – we almost always build on ideas and
information provided by others. However, it is a serious offense to represent someone
else’s words as your own, or to submit work that you have previously submitted for
marks in another class or program. Assignments, reading summaries and projects will
be reviewed for evidence of these infractions. Penalties for these offences can be
severe and can be recorded on your transcript. Trust your own ability to think and write
and make use of the resources available at U of T that can help you do so (e.g.
professors, TAs, writing centres). See the U of T writing website, especially the “How
Not To Plagiarize” document at http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/ and
the website of the Office of Student Academic Integrity
https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academic-advising-and-support/student-
academic-integrity
The following is a list of examples (not complete) of what constitutes an academic
offence:
● Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement
● Copying material word-for-word from any source (including lecture and study group
notes) without quotation marks and a citation for the author/source
● Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the
instructor
● Making up sources or facts, including references to sources that you did not use.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 6
● Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment including:
o Working in groups on assignments that are supposed to be individual work
o Having someone rewrite or add material to your work while “editing”
● Lending your work to a classmate who submits it as his/her own without your
permission
● Misrepresentation:
o Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including
doctor’s notes
o Falsifying institutional documents or grades
Communication:
We all need to communicate respectfully. “The University of Toronto is committed to
equity, human rights and respect for diversity. All members of the learning
environment in this course should strive to create an atmosphere of mutual respect
where all members of our community can express themselves, engage with each
other, and respect one another’s differences. U of T does not condone discrimination or
harassment against any persons or communities.”
Privacy rights and appropriate use of course material:
Course content and materials belong to your instructor, the University, and/or other
source depending on the specific facts of each situation, and are protected by
copyright. In this course, you are permitted to download course materials for your own
academic use, but you should not copy, share, or use them for any other purpose
without the explicit permission of the instructor.
Technology requirements:
Please see https://www.viceprovoststudents.utoronto.ca/covid-19/tech-requirements-
onlinelearning/Links
Advice for online learning:
https://onlinelearning.utoronto.ca/getting-ready-for-online/Links
Accommodation:
The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations
for a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom or
course materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible:
accessibility.services@utoronto.ca or http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/as
Additional services and support:
The following are some important links to help you with academic and/or technical
service and support
• General student services and resources at Student Life
• Full library service through University of Toronto Libraries
• Resources on conducting online research through University Libraries Research
• Resources on academic support from the Academic Success Centre
• Learner support at the Writing Centre
• Information for Technical Support/Quercus Support
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 7
Course Schedule: Topics and Reading Assignments
All readings are provided on the course site on Quercus
Dates marked in purple & with an (*) are days tutorials will be held
Date Lecture Topic and Readings Tutorial Hand in
Unit 1: Foundations: History, Culture, & Political Economy of the World Wide Web
1 Jan 13 Course Introduction
2 Jan 20 Digital Utopia: The Origins of Cyberculture &
Cyberspace
Readings:
• Barlow, J.P. (1996). A Declaration of the
Independence of Cyberspace.
https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-
independence
• Turner, F. (2006). “Introduction” in From
Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart
Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the
Rise of Digital Utopianism. Chicago
University Press, pp. 1 -9.
• Wiener, A. (2018, November 16). The
Complicated Legacy of Stewart Brand’s
“Whole Earth Catalog.” The New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-
from-silicon-valley/the-complicated-
legacy-of-stewart-brands-whole-earth-
catalog
Reading
Response
3 Jan 27 “As Gods”, part I: Google Earth & the Optics of
Planetary Control
Readings:
• Demos, T.J. (2017). “Ch. 1: Welcome to the
Anthropocene!”, “Ch. 2: Geoengineering
the Anthropocene” and “Ch3: Against the
Anthropocene” in Against the
Anthropocene: Visual Culture and
Environment Today. Berlin: Sternberg
Press, pp. 5-58.
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 8
4 Feb 3* “As Gods”, part II: Surveillance Capitalism
Readings:
• McChesney, R.W. (2013). “Chapter 1: What
is the Elephant in the Digital Room?” in
Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is
Turning the Internet against Democracy.
The New Press, pp. 1-22.
• Zuboff, S. (2019). “Chapter 1: Home or
Exile in the Digital Future” in The Age of
Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a
Human Future at the New Frontier of Power.
Public Affairs, pp. 3-24.
Close
reading
skills and
notetaking
workshop
Reading
Response
Unit 2: #activism: Power and Resistance
5 Feb 10* Social Media and Social Movements: Arab Spring
and Occupy
Readings:
• Tufecki, Z. (2017). “Ch 1: A Networked
Public” in Twitter and Teargas: The Power
and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale
University Press, pp. 3-27.
• Kavada, A. (2015). Creating the collective:
social media, the Occupy Movement and its
constitution as a collective actor,
Information, Communication & Society,
18(8), 872-886.
Peer review
writing
workshop:
Assignment 1
Draft
Assignment
1
Reading
Response
6 Feb 17* #NoDAPL and its Legacies
Readings:
• Estes, N., & Dhillon, J. (2019).
“Introduction: The Black Snake, #NoDAPL,
and the Rise of a People’s Movement” in
Estes, N., & Dhillon, J. (Eds.) Standing with
Standing Rock. Minnesota University Press,
pp. 1-10.
MORE READINGS CONTD. ON NEXT PAGE
Final group
project
workshop Final
Assignment
1
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 9
• TallBear, K. (2019). “Badass Indigenous
Women Caretake Relations:
#STANDINGROCK, #IDLENOMORE,
#BLACKLIVESMATTER” in Estes, N., &
Dhillon, J. (Eds.) Standing with Standing
Rock. Minnesota University Press, pp. 13-18.
• Brown, A. (2019, March 7). A Lakota
Historian on What Climate Organizers Can
Learn From Two Centuries of Indigenous
Resistance. The Intercept. Retrieved from
https://theintercept.com/2019/03/07/nick-
estes-our-history-is-the-future-indigenous-
resistance/
Feb 24 Reading Week - No Lecture
7 March 3 The Empire Strikes Back: Threats of Silicon Valley
Tech-bros and Authoritarian “Strong Men”
Readings:
• Sellers, C., Dillon, L., Ohayon, J. L., Shapiro,
N., Sullivan, M., Amoss, C., Bocking, S.,
Brown, P., De la Rosa, V., Harrison, J.,
Johns, S., Kulik, K., Lave, R., Murphy, M.,
Piper, L., Richter, L., Wylie, S., EDGI. (2017,
June 19). “Executive Summary” and
“Introduction” in The EPA Under Siege, pp.
1-8.
• Calma, J. (2022, December 5). Climate
Misinformation explodes on Twitter. The
Verge.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/5/2349
4220/elon-musk-twitter-climate-
misinformation-rise-analysis
• Tufecki, Z. (2017). “Ch 9: Governments
Strike Back” in Twitter and Teargas: The
Power and Fragility of Networked Protest.
Yale University Press, pp. 223-260.
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 10
8 March
10*
Digital Media Infrastructure
Readings:
• Merchant, B. (2019, February 21). How
Google, Microsoft, and Big Tech Are
Automating the Climate Crisis. Gizmodo.
https://gizmodo.com/how-google-
microsoft-and-big-tech-are-automating-
the-1832790799
• Parks, L. (2015) “’Stuff You Can Kick’:
Towards a Theory of Media Infrastructures”
in Svensson, P., & Goldberg, D.T. Between
Humanities and the Digital. The MIT Press,
pp. 355-373.
Final group
project
workshop
Reading
Response
Unit 3: Imagining the Internet Otherwise
9 March
17*
Retreat or Build Alternatives?
Readings:
• Vadukul, A. (2022, December 15). ‘Luddite’
Teens Don’t Want Your Likes. The New
York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/styl
e/teens-social-media.html
• O’Connell, M. (2018, February 15). Why
Silicon Valley billionaires are prepping for
the apocalypse in New Zealand. The
Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/
feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-
prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-
zealand
• Benjamin, R. (2019). “Introduction” in Race
after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for
the New Jim Code. Polity Press, pp. 1-32.
Peer review
writing
workshop:
Assignment 2
Draft
Assignment 2
Reading
Response
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 11
10 March
24*
Internet for the People?
Readings:
• Barendregt, W., Becker, C., Cheon, E.,
Clement, A., Reynolds-Cuéllar, P., Schuler,
D., & Suchman, L. (2021). Defund Big
Tech, Refund Community. Tech Otherwise.
https://doi.org/10.21428/93b2c832.e0100a
3f
• Holthaus, E. (2022, December 7). Elon
Musk wants eco-apartheid. Project
Mushroom wants justice. Project
Mushroom.
https://newsletters.projectmushroom.xyz/
elon-wants-eco-apartheid/
Final group
project
workshop
Final
Assignment 2
Reading
Response
11 March
31*
Conclusion
Final project
presentations
Final
Presentations
April 7 University Closed – No Lecture
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 12
Assignment 1: Interrogating the Optics of Google Earth
Draft Due: February 10, 2023
Final Due: February 17, 2023
Length:
~4 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least two course readings. You are not required to
reference any outside texts but may do so if additional sources will contribute to your
paper’s analysis and argument.
Instructions:
In our readings and class discussions so far, we’ve learned about the conceptual and
cultural roots of Silicon Valley’s visions of the World Wide Web. In particular, we
discussed the influence of Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog in shaping a “techno-
libertarian” ideology. In this assignment, I want you to reflect on this “techno-
libertarian” ideology and examine what a “Whole Earth way of seeing” means?
Anna Wiener (2018) from your week 2 reading assignment writes: “[Stewart] Brand
doesn’t have much to do with the current startup ecosystem, but younger
entrepreneurs regularly reach out to him, perhaps in search of a sense of continuity or
simply out of curiosity about the industry’s origins. The spirit of the [Whole Earth]
catalogue—its irreverence toward institutions, its emphasis on autodidacticism, and its
sunny view of computers as tools for personal liberation––appeals to a younger
generation of technologists. Brand himself has become a regional icon, a sort of human
Venn diagram, celebrated for bridging the hippie counterculture and the nascent
personal-computer industry. In a 2005 commencement address at Stanford, Steve Jobs
described the ‘Whole Earth Catalog’ as ‘Google in paperback form, thirty-five years
before Google came along.’”
What does Steve Jobs mean by this, exactly? In this assignment, I want you to draw
upon lecture content and course readings to think critically about this and how a
“Whole Earth” way of seeing has shaped the optics of Google Earth.
Indeed, Stewart Brand imagines himself (and men like him) “as Gods” – what does this
mean, exactly? Drawing upon assigned readings and discussions from lectures, please
reflect on how this outlook shared by Brand and his Silicon Valley peers have shaped
the design and optics of Google Earth? (Hint: unpack what a “God’s eye view” way of
seeing means. What are the dynamics / hierarchies of power associated with looking
from above down below at life / “mortals” on Earth “as Gods”?). What do you think of
Google Earth’s optics / way of seeing? What are some potential problems / threats /
risks associated with this way of seeing?
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 13
Assignment 2: #activism: Opportunities and Challenges for Activists Organizing
Online
Draft Due: March 17, 2023
Final Due: March 24, 2023
Length:
~4 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least two course readings and at least two outside
texts.
Instructions:
Drawing upon assigned readings and discussions from lectures, please write a short
critical essay reflecting on: (1) the opportunities afforded by social media for building
social movements, and (2) the obstacles / challenges for organizing social movements
online. Please choose one social movement that we have discussed in class (e.g.,
Occupy, Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, NoDAPL) to analyze as a “case
study” and to help you build your essay’s argument.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 14
Final Project: Imagining the Internet Otherwise: Envisioning a New Social Media
Platform for Climate Justice
Final Presentations: March 31, 2023
Final Project Due: April 11, 2023*
*The final project should be submitted through Quercus by one group member on
behalf of the entire group by 10am on April 11th
Length:
~10-12 page double-spaced paper, 12 point font
Please note: You must cite at least four course readings and at least two additional
outside peer-reviewed texts.
The final project will be completed in teams of 5-6 students, all of whom should be
attending the same tutorial section.
For the final project, imagine and propose an “ideal” new social media platform for the
climate justice “community.” This is a chance to be creative and work together with
your peers to imagine how social media could be different and “better” than the current
options.
You will have the chance to work on this project with your group during three final
project workshops to be held during tutorials on February 17, March 10, and March 24.
These tutorials will give you an opportunity to develop your project and coordinate
tasks between group members, but you will need to finish your group project outside of
class.
You will also need to collaboratively prepare a ~8 minute-long final presentation to be
delivered on March 31 during your last tutorial. The presentation can be delivered by
one person, a handful of group members, or the entire group – you can decide as a
group what you would prefer to do.
Instructions:
Using Project Mushroom’s Manifesto as an example (see below), what would the
values, mission, and vision be for a new climate justice social media platform that you
are collaboratively building as a group?
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 15
Write a 1-2 sentence mission statement, a 1-2 sentence vision statement, and set at
least four values with 3 to 4 paragraph-long explanations for your rationale behind each
value, drawing upon course readings, lecture content, and relevant outside texts.
In addition to detailing the values, mission, and vision please address the following in
your proposal:
• What would your social media platform be called? Briefly explain why you chose
the name / what it represents or connotates.
• What functions / capabilities would the platform feature? Why?
• Do you plan to moderate the content shared on the platform or set rules of
conduct? Why or why not? And how so?
• How would you fund the platform (e.g., would you use an advertiser-based
model, investor or donation-based, public, community-owned/crowd funded,
etc.)? Briefly explain in 3-4 paragraphs why you chose this funding model.
Example: (Clarifying Note: your proposals should be much longer and with more
detail added than the example provided below.)
Project Mushroom's Manifesto https://newsletters.projectmushroom.xyz/about/
The scorched-earth policies of billionaires on a warming planet are undermining
democracy. We are building the world that needs to exist because there is no time to
waste.
MISSION
To cultivate timely and accurate information that supports community resilience and
safety during the climate emergency.
VISION
We help illuminate possible paths toward a liberated, habitable and joyful future for
people and the environment alike.
VALUES
• Community: We work to build strong long-term relationships with people whose
stories we share and those who use our services.
• Justice: We recognize that the climate emergency, and the inequality it reproduces,
is a symptom of capitalism and colonialism and work to help repair these injustices.
• Safety: We amplify community-led systemic change and aim to protect all life,
especially that which has been harmed by oppressive systems and left most
vulnerable to extreme weather impacts.
Social Media and Environmentalism syllabus 16
• Joy: We embrace our role as stewards of the Earth and center joy, first and
foremost, in our reporting and services.
