JAMS 660-003 Seminar in Contemporary Issues in Media Studies: Privacy in the Digital Age
Instructor: Stacy Blasiola
Email: blasiol2@uwm.edu
Course Description: Social Network Sites and digital communication technologies have influenced what we
share, how we share, and the potential audiences for our information. Personal photos, private thoughts, and
networks of friends are articulated to and through such platforms as Facebook, Snapchat, and Tumblr, to name
a few. These disclosure behaviors lead to a number of socio-cultural questions regarding privacy: What is
privacy? Is it true that privacy is dead? Have sharing norms eradicated privacy norms? In addition, these
technologies raise practical questions as well, namely: What do platforms do with the information we provide?
This seminar will investigate online identity formulation, platform politics, and the evolution of privacy theory
and behaviors both before the digital age and in more recent conceptions. Students will develop skills in
research, discussion, writing, and critical thinking as they investigate how online information disclosure
behaviors fit into larger theoretical conceptions of privacy.