Formation/Cours

This course explores how digital technologies and society shape each other over time through a range of topics. Digital technologies have transformed our lives, everyday practices, relationships and the ways institutions are governed. People are not passive recipients of these technologies: they adopt, use and reshape them in diverse ways. Through various sessions, students will be introduced to digital sociology starting with theory and structure, then moving on to identity, resistance, global and ecological issues, and finally, critical futures.

Each session will begin with student presentations (either individually or in groups depending on the class size). Students will present a case study related to the topic of the week and discuss it in connection with the assigned readings for approximately 30 minutes, followed by reflections and discussion from their peers. In the second half of the lecture, the lecturer will present an additional case study and integrate relevant theories for that week.

By the end of the course, students will have a strong theoretical foundation in digital sociology and will have learned how to connect theory with case studies and relate digital technologies to everyday life, societal issues and forms of power, agency and resistance.

Week 1 – Introduction to digital sociology

Week 2 – Digital inclusion and inequalities

Week 3 – Big data, platforms and algorithmic governance

Week 4 – AI and society

Week 5 – Labour and capitalism in digital economy

Week 6 – Youth, digital cultures and education

Week 7 – Gender and sexuality in digital spheres

Week 8 – Immigrants, diaspora and digital belonging

Week 9 – Activism and social movements

Week 10 – Digital war and peace

Week 11 – Digital ecologies and the environment

Week 12 – Digital futures and ethics