Harel Barzilai
Sun, 8 Oct 1995 14:07:26 -0700
------------------------------------------------------------------ **COURSE SIGN-UP EXTENDED TO WEEK OF OCT 7th** You *must* get an LBBS account to enroll ------------------------------------------------------------------ LBBS, Left Online (email [EMAIL PROTECTED], or [EMAIL PROTECTED]) proudly offers the third Semester of LOLU, Left Online University (email [EMAIL PROTECTED] for full details, including complete course catalog) ------------------------------------------------------------------ *NOTE*: YOU MUST JOIN LBBS (one time $20 fee includes manual, software, 2 hours) to enroll -- sign up now -- email [EMAIL PROTECTED] for full info; then sign up on line ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) or by phone (508-548-9063) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Among the offerings this fall semester (starting Oct 1st) is _Electronic Activism via the Internet_: "The lectures have been useful in that they have been informative and encouraging.. "the basic structure and the topics that are covered are excellent. I enjoy hearing your personal stories. The assignments have taught me about what is on the Net..." "Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! It's obvious that you have a passion for your work, and that it is very good work." --Comments from student Survey during last offering of this course. Course Description: ------------------------------------------------------------------ USING THE INTERNET FOR ELECTRONIC ACTIVISM Taught by Harel Barzilai ------------------------------------------------------------------ In this course, students will use the Internet as a communication and information resource generally, and as a tool for electronic activism in particular. Participants will learn about email, automated email-servers, mailing lists, the UseNet (the worlds largest bulletin board system) ftp, gopher, telnet, the world wide web, and more. Homework exercises (optional) will allow participants to make this as hands-on an experience as they choose. Concrete examples illustrating electronic activism in practice will include anti-Gulf War organizing and recent anti-Contract With America coalitions. We will compare and discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of online activist tools for everything from coalition-building to electronic leafleting, and explore the online culture, especially on the quasi-anarchic UseNet, including how some online projects have provided living proof of the power of cooperative economics. We will discuss the potentials and pitfalls ahead on the information highway from privatization and commercialization, to the great potential of democratizing the airwaves through Internet virtual broadcasting, beaming programs directly into Americas homes. Whether the Internet becomes another Corporate domain, or revolutionizes media, is up to us; course graduates will be in the position to affect the outcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * C o u r s e O u t l i n e * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------ Introduction Overview of Email and using Email for Activism The UseNet ; Using the UseNet for activism; Examples Mailing lists and ListServers ; examples (global; local) of their use IGC (PeaceNet, EcoNet, LaborNet) networks UseNet's misc.activism.progressive (MAP); Remote & Automatic File Retrieval The Future: Democracy through Information-Access? Project: Progressive Student/Community Newspaper (PSN/PCN) Networks More Automation: MAP Today: What We Offer & Automatic-Posting Information Liberation: Various Examples of Online Projects Focus on the GNU Project: Interview with Richard M Stallman The World Wide Web (WWW) Where Does the Left Fit In? (Issues raised by "Hooked and Wired" etc) Commercialization of the InterNet. Dangers? Silver Linings? Virtual Broadcasting: Ending Capital's Monopoly on Radio? Interview with Noam Chomsky; critique; and obstacles ahead Roundtable Discussion -- where do we go from here? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Questions? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Email Harel Barzilai, [EMAIL PROTECTED], course instructor or Michael Albert, [EMAIL PROTECTED], head of LBBS/LOLU, and co-Editor of Z Magazine. ------------------------------------------------------------------