DefendingDemocracyDigitalWorld
This course explores the significance of the public sphere - from pamphlets, newspapers and letters to radio, television, the internet and social media - and its relationship to participatory, democratic society. Moving back and forth between the history of the public sphere and contemporary debates about the tensions between media and democracy, students will learn why democracies prescribe protected roles of the media, how media manipulation plays a role in politics, and how media spaces serve as deliberative spaces.