My fall seminar, "Field Site as Network: Ethnographies of the Digital" is complete! This was my first time solo teaching & it was a joy. I'm so grateful to my brilliant students & the authors whose work we discussed, esp. those who zoom-visited us for Q&A. Here's what we read:

We started out with methods focused pieces by @jennaburrell, @karen_ec_levy, @npseaver, @yarimarbonilla & @DrJonathanRosa to help us think about what ethnography looks like in a digital context. We returned to these throughout the semester.

Next, we considered "Devices and their Meanings" with pieces by @morgangames, @merylalper, @bentkach & @AprylW that covered the use of laptops, iPads, & mobile phones in Paraguay, the U.S., & the Democratic Republic of Congo for leisure, learning, communication, & safety.

Week 4, we expanded our understanding of "Surveillance, Control, and Privacy" w/ articles by @dude_crooks, @karen_ec_levy, @slouching_mags, @PSovannaroth, & Nicola Dell looking at urban schools, truck-driving, & Facebook.

For wk5, "Coming Out, Turning On," we explored queer communities & connections in virtual & physical spaces w/ chapters from "Virtual Intimacies" by @shakaz23, "Queer Latinidad" by @RadioRodriguez, and "Out in the Country" by @marylgray.

Wk6, "Entrepreneurialism & State Visions" took up the myriad ideologies and strategies animating tech projects that seek to further state goals, with chapters from @gleemie's "Chasing Innovation," @tressiemcphd's "Lower Ed", and Anita Say Chan's "Networking Peripheries."

We did two weeks on "Work" b/c there's so much there! First, articles by @SareetaAmrute, @AngeleChristin, Lindsey D. Cameron, & @perhaxis, @kileysobel, & @danielarosner on precarious labor, agency, algorithmic management, and how workers feel about emerging tech.

Then, we reflected on pieces by @wishcrys & @ForrestDStuart on influencers, intimacy, and fame, and a chapter from @ubiquity75's book "Behind the Screen," thinking about how legacies of dispossession and discrimination shape how work is classified and valued.

In wk9, "Games," we discussed two articles by @KishonnaGray on identity, community, deviance, racism, and the limits of anonymity in digital gaming + one by Natasha Dow Schüll about how online professional poker players develop rituals to deal with uncertainty.

Wk 10 focused on "Breakdown, Maintenance, and Repair" of sociotechnical systems with chapters from @jennaburrell's "Invisible Users" on 419 scams & electronic waste and "If it Rains, Ask Grandma to Disconnect the Nano" by @michaelannedye, @DavidNemer, @nehakumar, & @asbruckman.

Wk11 we looked at "Tracking" through @marika_louise & @thebigfiveone's duoethnography of fitness tracking, @tamigraph's take on digital estate planning, & @mitalithakor's analysis of racialized digital lures made to entrap potential sexual predators.

Wk12 entered into the complications of digital "Movements" with @mitalithakor & @zephoria's take on anti-trafficking efforts, "In Search of Black Italia," by @camillahawth, & a chapter from @schradie's "The Revolution that Wasn't" on right-wing "digital evangelism."

Wk13 was Learner's Choice! Students chose to read & talk about scholarship by @BostonJoan @xrw @nehakumar @JovanLewis @jean__hardy @ravenmaragh @mawnikr @pinkydigital & more.

I love all these readings and each one sparked interesting conversation. There were many more I wanted to include but didn't have space for! I tried to prioritize including a diversity of sites, formats, disciplines, & methodological approaches (under the ethnography umbrella).

I share all this in case it is helpful to others planning similar courses - happy to email the full syllabus upon request! My students were from several different graduate programs and disciplinary backgrounds and overall this arrangement seemed to work well for them.