Undergraduate Lecture Series
This series of lectures offered by the Oxford Internet Institute is aimed at undergraduate students who are interested in learning more about cutting edge social science research relating to the Internet. The series will be particularly relevant to students on degree programmes such as PPE, Human Sciences, Law, Geography and Computer Science, but all are welcome, including those from other universities. The lectures will also be useful for students considering applying to our MSc in Social Science of the Internet.
The lectures offer a general introduction to a range of cultural, economic, political and other social questions relating to the Internet, and outline some of the core theoretical and empirical groundings needed to approach and answer them. The lectures introduce the work undertaken by our multidisciplinary research faculty, and demonstate how Internet research draws on a variety of academic disciplines, such as law, geography, sociology, economics, philosophy, computer sciences, physical and life sciences, etc.
The lectures run from October to March (Michaelmas and Hilary Terms). All students are of course invited to attend our public seminars and events series and make use of the OII library. You can also sign up to the OII's mailing list to keep in touch with what's happening in the department.
Lecture list (2011/2012)
Tuesday 11 October 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Professor William H. Dutton
In the last four decades there have been dramatic changes in who has access to the Internet, and how people use and view it. In this lecture Professor Dutton explores the emergence of a 'New Internet World'.
Tuesday 18 October 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Professor Ralph Schroeder
This lecture will give an overview of different types of shared virtual environments and how people interact in them. This includes virtual worlds like Second Life as well as immersive virtual reality environments.
Tuesday 25 October 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Professor Robert D. Rogers
Professor Rogers will discuss the findings of a new study carried out to investigate the demographics, psychological and clinical characteristics, and health experiences of people who use the Internet to gamble.
Tuesday 1 November 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Professor Pekka Himanen
In this lecture, Professor Himanen will discuss how there has been a cultural shift in which the 'Hacker Ethic' of the Digital Era has superseded Weber's 'Protestant Ethic' of the Industrial Age.
Literacy and the Internet (Society and the Internet Lecture Series, Part 5)
Tuesday 8 November 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Dr Monica Bulger
This lecture will provide an overview of the different stances related to digital literacy, with particular focus on their implications for policy and education.
Tuesday 15 November 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Dr Nic Newman
In this lecture, Nic Newman explains that as mainstream media loses its monopoly of both the creation and distribution of the news, we are entering a new age where professional and amateur version of events vie for attention.
Tuesday 22 November 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Dr Cristobal Cobo
This lecture explores how the expansion of the Internet and a variety of digital devices has influenced the way that information and knowledge is generated, consumed and distributed.
Online Networks and Bottom Up Politics (Society and the Internet Lecture Series, Part 8)
Tuesday 29 November 2011 16:00 - 17:30
Speakers: Dr Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon
This lecture will analyse how online networks unfold over time and how they increase commitment to politically relevant activities.
Last updated on: 24 October 2011
