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Module Content:Ìý

Information and data are not neutral, and never have been. This module will introduce students to the complexities of information in practice and why it matters. It will be taught through a series of case studies and special topics spread across time and space, that cover a range of important ethical, legal, and informational debates. A broad chronological theme with a wide geographic coverage builds awareness that information and the challenges it presents are neither new, nor limited to Western culture. Ìý

This is an opportunity for students to think not just what information can do, but the ethics and legal implications of its use and who wins or loses when information is applied to a problem. This module will enable students to consider international debates, conflict, change and synergies of information use and abuse, including the need to consider decolonisation narratives.  Ìý

A humanities-focused module early in the degree provides an opportunity to hone writing and communication skills through essay-based assignments grounded in library research, and seminar-style discussions. Ìý

Each week will include a range of examples or a detailed case study involving applying information to a perceived problem. The lecture will introduce the context and some of the ethical and/or legal concerns surrounding the approach. Students will convene in seminars to discuss and debate the case study.  Ìý

Case studies and topics may include but are not limited to: the Domesday survey of 1086 and its role as a tool of Norman power; how sharing knowledge helped communities advance socially and technologically, as well as who benefited from that sharing; how data were used in 18th century London to improve public health; how Indigenous communities are reclaiming ‘Traditional Knowledge’ in the digital age; the privacy implications the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal in the 2010s, or conversations around Vaccine Passports in the 2020s, the information strategies around the global climate crisis, as well as debates around personal data and what rights of privacy an individual should be entitled to, censorship, rights to memory, the rise of artificial intelligence and what that means for boundaries between human and machine rights, how we legislate and protect societies from cyber warfare, and how regulation places limits on the use of information in various ways. Ìý

Some case studies may be quite specific and tangible, while others may be broad or more theoretical. Ìý

Learning Outcomes:Ìý

On successful completion of this module, students will:

• Be able to identify how and where information operates in complex social systems and how they relate to theories of information Ìý
• Be able to evaluate and navigate ethical issues, legal issues, stakeholder relationships, and power implications surrounding the use of information in a range of contexts. Ìý
• Establish transferrable writing, research, and oral communication skills that will be used throughout the degree.Ìý

Delivery Method:Ìý

This module will take a blended learning approach with asynchronous lecture and learning material available remotely coupled within in person discussion seminars and workshops. Some synchronous remote group project work may be incorporated into preparation for in person seminars. The independent study element will require engagement with readings and related study materials.Ìý

Additional Information:Ìý

Group presentation (term 1) on themes relevant to Assessment to gain informal feedback and to encourage students to start researching early.Ìý

Brief overview of indicative readings:Ìý

• Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a post-truth era Nicole A. Cooke (ed.) (ALA, 2018).Ìý
• Killick, Lynn, Hazel Hall, Alistair S. Duff, Mark Deakin, ‘The Census as an Information Source in Public Policy-Making’ Journal of Information Science 42, 3 (2016), 386-395.Ìý
• Lu, Yiyi, ‘Negotiating the Right to Information: Citizen-Government Interactions in the Implementation of the Regulations on Open Government Information in China’ Europe-Asia Studies 73, 1 (2021), 81-100.Ìý
• Luby, Brittany, Damned: The Politics of Loss and Survival in Anishinaabe Territory (Manitoba, 20MacMillan, Margaret, Uses and Abuses of History (Profile, 2009).Ìý
• O’Neil, Cathy, Weapons of Math Destruction (Penguin, 2016).Ìý