Course webpage is here: http://peterasaro.org/courses/2013War.html
Course blog is here: http://digitalwar2013.wordpress.com/
This course examines the complex relationship between digital technologies and warfare, from both the perspective of how wars are conducted, and how conflict is represented in and through media. In the late 1990s the US military committed itself to pursuing Network-Centric Warfare and Full-Spectrum Dominance, which eventually led to the largest military R&D contract in history--the Future Combat Systems program. Several years, two wars, and many billions of dollars later, those digital technologies are finding their way onto the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terror. This course focuses on exploring the technologies and media that are having the greatest impact on the way war will be fought in the near future, as well as the cultural meanings of warfare, and the use of digital technologies to organize resistance and bring down political regimes. We explore how these technologies are changing the nature of warfare, and the rhetoric that is used to justify the development and use of these technologies, and how news media both discusses these technologies and is itself increasingly shaped by them. The course critically examines the claims that technologies can produce increasingly risk-free, or even bloodless, wars, and considers how the risks of engaging in armed conflict are being redistributed. We also examine how blogs and other digital tools are transforming war journalism, and how social media are being used in popular uprisings. Topics discussed include: the military's use of video game technology for recruitment, training, and remote interfaces; the use of database systems to manage vast quantities of information in warfare, as well as for data-mining and surveillance; the increasing use of military robotics including armed Predator and Reaper drones, and the development of fully autonomous lethal robots; and the use digital media by independent journalists and of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as cell-phone cameras in the Arab Spring and other popular uprisings and demonstrations.
You are expected to have thoroughly and thoughtfully read the assigned texts, viewed the assigned videos, and to have prepared yourself to contribute meaningfully to the class discussions. For some people, that preparation requires taking copious notes on the assigned readings; for others, it entails supplementing the assigned readings with explanatory texts found in survey textbooks or in online sources; and for others still, it involves reading the texts, ruminating on them afterwards, then discussing those readings with classmates before the class meeting. Whatever method best suits you, I hope you will arrive at class with copies of the assigned reading, ready and willing to make yourself a valued contributor to the discussion, and eager to share your own relevant media experiences and interests. Your participation will be evaluated in terms of both quantity and quality.
As this is a seminar, regular attendance is essential. You will be permitted two excused absences (you must notify me of your inability to attend before class, via email). Any subsequent absences and any un-excused absences will adversely affect your grade.
Each week we will have a student prepare comments and initate discussion on selected reading assignments. Each student is required to do 1 such presentation over the course of the semester. There will be 1 each week, and there will be a sign-up sheet.
The goal of the presentation is to provide a short high-level critical analysis and assessment of the week's readings, followed by the initiation of class discussion. You are free to use visual aids, but elaborate PowerPoint presentations are unnecessary. DO NOT try to exhaustively summarize the readings! Everyone has already read them, it is your responsibility to bring out the key arguments, challenge their claims or conclusions, or otherwise synthesize your own analysis of what conclusions can be drawn or what further questions they raise.
You will be required to make weekly blog entries
commenting on the readings for the week. You will be
required to create an account on WordPress (if you do not already have one),
and send me an email with your LoginID and the EMAIL ADDRESS used to create the
account, so that you can be added as an author for the collective course
blog. Everyone will be posting to a common blog page, and this will be readable
by your classmates. When writing and making comments, you are expected to treat
other students with the same respect and courtesy as you should in the
classroom.
Discussion questions will be posted each week to help stimulate the writing
process. You are also expected to read the posts of your classmates, and
encouraged to comment on other people's posts each week. Posts will not be
graded (they will receive 2, 1 or 0 points based on timely completion), but the
TA and I will read them and occasionally comment on them. There will be 10
posts through the semester, thus 20 points, constituting 20% of your grade.
Comments are strongly encouraged, and you can receive up to 10 points (extra credit) for each substantial comment (paragraph or longer) that you make on someone else's post.
Blog posts will be due before the start of each class. They are time stamped when you post them, and late posts will only receive half credit (1 point). Discussion questions for the next week will be posted shortly after each class.
Research Project Idea Due:
September 26
Length: 300-500 words (approx. 1 page)
Research Project Proposal Due:
October 31
Length: 500-2000 words (approx. 1-4 pages)
Final Project Presentation: December 12
Final Project Due: December
16
Length (media project description): 500-3000 words (approx. 1-10 pages) + Media
Project
Length (research paper option): 3000-5000 words (approx. 10-18 pages)
There will be no final exam. Instead, a final research project will be
required. There are 2 options: Research Paper Option, and Media Project
Option.
Final Project will be due shortly after the last day of class. If that deadline will not work for you, you need to make other arrangements one week in advance, at the latest. We will try to set aside time in the last day(s) of class for presentations of final projects. These will not be graded but will offer an opportunity for feedback before submitting your final project.
Project topics can address any aspect of the topics and materials discussed in class. Projects should include materials beyond what is directly covered in class, as appropriate for your topic. In other words, they should require research. The blog will provide many ideas for projects, as will class discussion. You will be asked to submit a short description of your Project Idea early in the semester, and will receive feedback on it.
Later in the semester you will have to write a more formal Proposal for your project, based on feedback and further research. Project proposals should state the research question, problem, or phenomenon that will be the focus of your research. It should also state your thesis or position on the issue, as well as outline the argument you will use to support your position. This applies to both papers and media projects. You should also indicate the sources and materials you will consult and utilize in making your argument and producing your final project. For the Media Project Option, you should state as clearly as possible what you intend to deliver for the final draft (i.e., video length, style, format, content; website; set of infographics, etc.).
Final Project Presentations will occur on the last day of class. These should be short 5-10 minutes summary of your research paper or project, allowing 5-10 minutes for discussion. Group projects can be presented collectively.
Research Paper Option
This will take the form of a 3000-5000 word (Times New Roman, 12pt font,
double spaced) term paper. You should draw upon sources from the course
readings as well as beyond the course readings. You should cite your sources
properly.
Media Project Option
Media Projects can take the form of film and video pieces, audio
documentaries, websites, interactive media, performance pieces, infographics, a
social media campaign strategy, or other ideas. In addition to the actual media
product, you will need to submit your Idea, Proposal, and a Final short written
piece explaining your project, its motivations, methods and what you did to
realize it.
Group Project Option
Those pursuing the Media Project Option have the further option of
participating in a group research project. For the students pursuing this
option, the process will be much the same, with the Idea being an individual
statement of what you plan to contribute to the group project, and the Proposal
and Final projects being collective efforts to realize the research project. In
addition, each person choosing this option must submit a 1-page self-assessment
of their participation in the group, due at the same time as the Final
project.
For the Group Project Option, the topic will be to
develop social media strategy and/or media content for the International
Committee for Robot Arms Control (www.icrac.net). As a co-founder of this
organization, I will provide guidance to the group. However, it is largely up
to the group to conceive and develop the project. The actual project could
range from a high-level media strategy, to infographics and clickable content,
to a social media campaign, to an audio/video or digital media project, or any
combination of these or other ideas.
Last year's group project included a performance piece (with live drone and
event poster), a short documentary film, and website: www.dronemediaproject.com.
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Papers and written ideas and proposals should be submitted to me in electronic form by email (Word Perfect, MS Word, PDF, HTML and plain TXT are all fine). All assignments are due at 6pm at the start of class on the day they are due. Late final papers will not be accepted, as I must turn in grades shortly thereafter.
In addition to the extra points available for commenting on blog posts, there will be several events during the semester which will allow you to get extra credit points, or make-up for missed (excused) classes.
All readings will be available electronically, via the web, in PDF, MS Word, HTML, or similar format. You are welcome and encouraged to buy any of the books used.
Course Syllabus Overview
Student Introductions
How to create a WordPress Account, and make a Blog Entry
Watch: Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras Interview with Edward Snowden Part I, 12 min., The Guardian, July 9, 2013, and Part II, 7 min., The Guardian, July 8, 2013
Required:
Peter Maass, "How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets," New York Times, August 13, 2013.
Peter Masss, "Q & A: Edward Snowden Talks to Peter Maass," New York Times, August 13, 2013.
Glenn Greenwald, "'Ongoing NSA Work," The Guardian, August 27, 2013.
Shane Harris, "The Cowboy of the NSA," Foreign Policy, September 9, 2013.
Watch:Laura Poitras, "The Program," 8 min., New York Times Op-Doc, August 22, 2013.
Watch:Glenn Greenwald & Amy Goodman, "Greenwald: Snowden "Doing Very Well" in Russia After Sparking "Extraordinary Debate" on NSA, Spying," 29 min., Democracy Now!, August 5, 2013.
Watch:Ladar Levinson & Amy Goodman, "Owner of Snowden’s Email Service on Why He Closed Lavabit Rather Than Comply With Gov’t," 48 min., Democracy Now!, August 13, 2013.
Recomended:
Wikipedia, "National Security Agency"
Wikipedia, "PRISM (surveillance program)"
Aliya Sternstein, "NSA's Big Dig," Government Executive, August 1, 2013.
Required:
Jayson Harsin, "Wikileaks’ Lessons For Media Theory and Politics," Flow, January 15, 2011.
Wikileaks, "Response to Today’s Bradley Manning Statement," Wikileaks.org, August 14, 2013.
Peter Ludlow, "The Banality of Systematic Evil," Op-ed, New York Times, September 15, 2013.
Watch: Jouneyman Pictures, "Mega Man - New Zealand," March 4, 2013, YouTube, 20 min.
Watch: 3 News, New Zealand, "Kim Dotcom Addresses NZ Parliament," July 3, 2013, YouTube, 18 min.
Watch: 3 News, New Zealand, "Kim Dotcom: Leaks by Snowden," July 3, 2013, YouTube, 7 min.
Watch: Frontline (2011) WikiSecrets, PBS, 60 min.
Watch: Amy Goodman, "Full Extended Interview With Manning’s Attorney After 35-Year Sentence," 57 min., Democracy Now!, August 22, 2013, 57 min.
Recommended:
Watch: Kyle Broom, "Prevention of Injury" (2011), 21 min.
Watch: Alex Gibney, "We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks" (2013), 130 min.
Watch: Democracy Now! (2011) Special: "Conversation w/ Assange & Zizek," 120 min.
Watch: Democracy Now! (2012) "Julian Assange on WikiLeaks," Nov. 29, 2012, 55 min.
Watch: "Collateral Murder," Wikileaks, April 5, 2010.
Wikipedia, "Anonynous (group)"
Cocktails at 6:30 pm
Discussion at 7:00 pm
Bard's MBA for Sustainable Business
1150 Sixth Ave. 5th floor, NYC
Required:
Watch: DocZone, (2011) Remote Control War, CBC, 45 min. Watch AVI here (540MB).
Watch: Frontline (2009) Taking out the Taliban: Home for Dinner, PBS, 15 min.
Watch: Nova (2013) Rise of the Drones, January 23, 2013, PBS, 53 min.
Watch: Omer Fast (2011) 5,000 Feet is the Best, 30 min. [select from "Online Preview" menu]
Edward Wong, "Hacking U.S. Secrets, China Pushes for Drones," New York Times, September 20, 2013.
Recommended:
Watch: Alex Rivera (2008) Sleep Dealer, Likely Story, 90 min.
Watch: Neill Blomkamp (2007) Tetra Vaal, Spy Films, 2 min.
Required:
"U.N. warns against extrajudicial killings," UPI, Oct. 21, 2011.
Grégoire Chamayou (2011) "The Manhunt Doctrine," Radical Philosophy, Volume 169, Sep/Oct 2011.
Mark Isikoff, "Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans," NBC News, February 4, 2013. Also: Full Memo
Gregory D. Johnsen, "Did an 8-Year-Old Spy for America?" The Atlantic Monthly, August 14, 2013.
Wajahat Ali, "Drone victim: U.S. strikes boost al-Qaida recruitment," Salon, May 2, 2013.
Watch: Frontline (2011) Kill/Capture, PBS, 60 min.
Explore: LivingUnderDrones.org website
Explore: Bureau of Investigative Journalism "Covert Drone War" website
Explore: Pitch Interactive Visualization of BIJ Drone Strike Data
Recommended:
Explore: New America Foundation (2012) "The Year of the Drone: Analysis of US Drone Strikes in Pakistan"
Christina Bonnington and Spencer Ackerman (2012) "Apple Rejects App That Tracks U.S. Drone Strikes," Wired DangerRoom Blog, August 30, 2012.
Two Lectures of interest at Columbia University
"Should
We Fear the Proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles?" by Andrea
Gilli,moderated by Stephanie Neuman
12:15pm - 2:00pm
Columbia
University Morningside Campus International Affairs Building, Room 1302
"Snowden
and the Future" Lecture by Eben Moglen
4:30 - 5:30pm
Jerome
Greene Hall, Columbia Law School, Room 101
Mary Ellen O'Connell, "Lawful Use of Combat Drones," United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Hearing: Rise of the Drones II: Examining the Legality of Unmanned Targeting, April 28, 2010.
Mark Isikoff, "Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Drone Strikes on Americans," NBC News, February 4, 2013. Also: Full Memo
Gregory D. Johnsen, "Did an 8-Year-Old Spy for America?" The Atlantic Monthly, August 14, 2013.
Wajahat Ali, "Drone Victim: U.S. Strikes Boost al-Qaida Recruitment," Salon, May 2, 2013.
Robert Sparrow (2007) "Killer Robots," Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24 (1), pp. 62-77.
Malise Ruthven, "Terror: The Hidden Source," New York Review of Books, October 24, 2013.
Recommended:
Required:
Recommended:
Watch: Daniel Suarez (2013) The Kill Decision Shouldn't Belong to a Robot, TED Talks, 14 min.
Watch: Noel Sharkey (2013) Toy Soldiers to Killer Robots, TEDxSheffield 2013, 18 min.
Watch: J.J. Palomo (2013) Keloid Trailer, 3 min.
"The Killer Robot Debate," Global Defence Technology, Issue 31, September 2013.
Reaching Critical Will, "Fully Autonomous Weapons Fact Sheet," 2013.
There will be a sign-up sheet for those interested in volunteering as facilitators, you will also need Passes to enter the UN (which will require passports).
"The State of Surveillance: Legal, Cultural, and Technological Perspectives"
6:30 PM
NYU Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life
238 Thompson Street, C-95 Lecture Hall (concourse level)
Required:
Smedly Butler (1921) War is a Racket.
Nick Turse (2009) The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, Metropolitan Books.
Watch: President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1961) Farwell Speech, 15 min.
Watch: Veterans Today (2011) VFW Speech by Smedly Butler, 9 min.
Watch: Frontline (2010) Digital Nation, Waging War: Immersion Training, PBS, 15 min.
Recommended:
Seymour Melman (1970) Pentagon Capitalism: The Political Economy of War, New York, NY: McGraw Hill, pp. 1-138.
Watch: Eugene Jarecki (2005) Why We Fight, 98 min.
Watch: Robert Greenwald (2006) Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, 75 min.
Required:
David Ropeik (2011) "Risk Perception," Nature, SoapboxScience Blog, May 11, 2011.
Recommended:
Christopher Coker (2009) War in an Age of Risk, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Watch: Peter Davis (1974) Hearts and Minds, 112 min.
Watch: Frontline (2011) Top Secret America, PBS, 54 min.
Watch: Rick Rowley (2013) Dirty Wars, 87 min.
Required:
Recommended:
Watch: Mary Wareham and Brian Liu (2005) Disarm, 67 min.
Required:
Ciar Byrne, (2003) "War reporting 'changed forever' says BBC," The Gaurdian, March 31, 2003
Donald Matheson and Stuart Allan (2009) Digital War Reporting, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Recommended:
Explore: Witness.org website
Watch: Errol Morris (2008) Standard Operating Procedure, Sony Classics,116 min.
Watch: John Pilger (2010) The War You Don't See, BBC, 120 min., YouTube link
Required:
Jim Boumelha (2010) "US must deliver justice on friendly fire," The Gaurdian, April 10, 2010.
Huw Lemmey (2012) "Devastation in Meatspace," The New Inquiry, November 28, 2012.
Oliver Woods (2012) "Israel's Social War: Strategy & Tactics," The Big Picture, Nov 18, 2012.
Morgan Weiland, "Protecting Journalism in the Digital Era," Stanford Lawyer, Nov. 8, 2013.
Watch: Excerpt on U.S. Strike on Al Jazeera Office, Control Room, 2004. IMBD
Watch: "Israel: Unlawful Attacks on Palestinian Media," Human Rights Watch, 2012.
Recommended:
Israeli Defense Forces_Spokesperson's_Unit
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Media Activity
Required:
Hannah Arendt, (1968) On Violence, New York: Harvest Books.
Huw Lemmey (2012) "Devastation in Meatspace," The New Inquiry, November 28, 2012.
Oliver Woods (2012) "Israel's Social War: Strategy & Tactics," The Big Picture, Nov 18, 2012.
Recommended:
Watch: Frontline (2011) Revolution in Cairo, PBS, 60 min.
Philip N. Howard (2011) "Digital media and the Arab spring," Reuters, February 16, 2011.
Required:
Evgeny Morozov (2011) "Political Repression 2.0," New York Times, September 1, 2011.
Watch: Fault Lines (2010) Cyberwar, Al Jazeera English, 24 min.
Recommended:
Wikipedia, "U.S. Cyber Command"
United States Army Field Manual on Electronic Warfare (2012)
United States Department of Defense, "Cyber Strategy"