Online Ethnography

This blog accompanies the course “Literature and Technology: Online Ethnography” at Rutgers University.  The course explores writing about and for networked digital media through a combination of workshop and seminar sessions. We will analyze how ethnographers, fiction writers, and scholars in science and technology studies have approached the novelty of the internet, the significance of on-line connections, and the intimacy of online experiences. Consideration of broader social, economic and political contexts will enable us to critically examine the assumptions that inform conventions of “writing” and “reading” in online mailing lists, weblogs, wikis, virtual worlds, and social network platforms.

Class discussions and assignments will draw on students’ existing interests to develop skills necessary for successful qualitative research online. Proposed topics include: making and sustaining relationships online; immersing in online interactions; exploring how online interactions may be connected with offline social contexts; and understanding ethical responsibilities that new forms of online relationships and online research may require. Hands-on exercises at the Writers House will provide a basis to discuss project design, selection of research sites, methods of collecting information from informants, research ethics, and the use of online research materials in publications and blogs. The assignments will include weekly blog entries; peer review of student work; and a research paper on a topic of student’s choice related to digital media.

This blog is intended as a discussion space for students enrolled in the class.  You need to be enrolled in the class and log in before you can post your comments or read other students’ posts.

If you have questions about this website or the course, please e-mail the instructor, Jelena Karanovic, at jelena@karanovic.org.