COURSE DESCRIPTION

• The Contours of Cyberspace is an examination of the online world as exemplified in its highest form, the Internet. With an estimated twenty to thirty million users, the Internet is nothing less than a revolutionary change in the way that humans (not computers) organize and convey information.

• This course, despite its official division into four parts, is actually two-pronged. Since Cyberspace is not intuitive, the first part of the course is directed toward providing participants with the technical expertise that is necessary to using the Internet in an effective and efficient manner. Cyberspace, like driving, is an interactive experience, and the more adept you are at understanding the tools of Internet navigation , the better your ability to make sense of a strange new world .

• The second thrust of the course is toward examining the implications of Cyberspace -- it's relationship to real space and the impact it is likely to have on a society that is increasingly information driven.

• The Contours of Cyberspace has the normal array of exams and discussions. The readings are relatively heavy (some of the technical considerations are not inherently easy, but these are balanced by other readings that are sheer enjoyment). It also has a weekly lab -- something that is not usually associated with a course outside the sciences. The labs are important since they are an opportunity for guidance in pursuit of the culminating course "Project." The project is a World Wide Web page (usually pages) that will be both unique (something never before done) and meaningful, which is to say that it presents information that serious information consumers will find useful. The project is not academic in the sense that it lacks real world implications. The pages produced by the class will be available to users of the Internet.