At Cambridge

A special space for learning and intellectual explorations in the UK.

= Coursework =


 * M. Phil Outline

Experience
Over the course of ten months, from late September 2010 to early 2011, Zachary McCune enjoyed living, studying, and socializing at the University of Cambridge as a member of Selwyn College in the city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. While there, Zack learned to love Rowing and Cricket, and completed a dissertation On Instagram. Zack also took time to travel around the city, the country (especially the incomparable London), and Europe itself stopping in Berlin, Rome, and Barcelona (twice!). Now returned to the US, it seems only fitting to complete this section of information and reflection on learning and living abroad for nearly a year.

Ideas

 * Digital Media Production Ecologies


 * Sociology of the DJ


 * The Pursuit of 'Appiness


 * Sports Media & National Identities


 * Final Substantive Paper - Network Imperialism


 * News of Note Feb & March 2011


 * Data Culture in the News


 * Relevant Web Articles for M. Phil

= Dissertation =


 * On Instagram
 * Instagram Research Methodology
 * Broader Instagram Context
 * Instagram Draft Thoughts

= Reading =

Being in part, the summary and analysis of these texts.

Easter Term

 * Useful Work versus Useless Toil - William Morris
 * On Photography - Susan Sontag
 * Making is Connecting - David Gauntlett

Week of 5/15

 * Sources on Instant Photography - Histories of Kodak, Polaroid, etc.
 * Sources on Digital Photography Culture - Flickr, Camera Phones, Photoshop
 * Sources on Mobile Access Patterns - Pew Studies Mostly
 * Sources on Apps & Instagram - For third part of context of On Instagram
 * Sources on Interface Criticism - From the world of aesthetics

Week of 5/22

 * Summary Findings of Instagram Surveys
 * Social Network Ethnography Work - Mostly from Papacharissi

Week of 5/29

 * Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book - M.R. James
 * Bowling Alone - Robert Putnam
 * The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood

Week of 1/16 including Vacation Readings

 * The Master Switch - Tim Wu
 * The Wealth of Networks - Yochai Benkler
 * The YouTube Reader - Various
 * Information: A Very Short Introduction - Luciano Fiordi
 * McLuhan on Photography from Understanding Media: Extensions of Man
 * Introduction to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - James Agee
 * Theory of Film - Photography Chapter - Siegfried Kracauer

Week of 1/23

 * The Interpretation of Cultures - Clifford Geertz
 * The Field of Cultural Production - Bourdieu
 * The Networked Self - Various

Week of 2/13

 * Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction - Charles Townshend
 * The Changing Face of War - Martin van Creveld

Week of 2/20

 * The New American Militarism - Andrew Bacevich
 * The Gulf War Did Not Take Place - Jean Baudrillard
 * Culture & Imperialism - Edward Said
 * Colossus: The Rise and Fall of American Empire - Niall Ferguson
 * The New Imperialism - David Harvey
 * Empire & Communications - Harold Innis
 * Imperialism: A Study - Hobson
 * Inside Cyber Warfare - Jeffrey Carr
 * Cyber-Threats, Information Warfare, and Critical Infrastructure Protection - Anthony Cordesman
 * Empire (Theory) - Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri

Week of 3/13

 * Dark Fiber - Geert Lovink
 * Decorative Sociology: Towards a Critique of the cultural turn - Chris Rojek & Bryan Turner
 * Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work - Douglas Coupland
 * Counterblast 1954 - Marshall McLuhan
 * The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan
 * The Gutenberg Galaxy - Marshall McLuhan

Week of 3/27

 * The Craftsman (Lecture) - Richard Sennet
 * Crafters of the Beauty of Life Itself - Ángel Gabilondo

Michaelmas Term

 * Cognitive Surplus - Clay Shirky
 * "The Web is Dead" - Chris Anderson


 * Key Sociologists: The Frankfurt School - Routledge - Tom Bottomore
 * Sociology: A Very Short Introduction - Oxford - Steve Bruce

Week of 10/25

 * The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life - Lev Manovich
 * Against the Machine - Lee Siegel
 * Intellectual Craftsmanship - C. Wright Mills
 * Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship - danah boyd
 * HT 06, Tagging Paper, Taxonomy, Flickr, Academic Article, To Read - danah boyd et. al.
 * Growth of the Flickr Social Network - Alan Mislove et al.
 * The Changing Place of Cultural Production - Gina Neff

Week of 10/31

 * Youtube: Digital Media & Society - Jean Burgess & Joshua Green
 * The New Visibility - John B. Thompson
 * Why Youth Heart Social Networks - danah boyd
 * In The Field - Robert Burgess
 * Internet Inquiry - Annette Markham
 * The Research Act - Denzin
 * Ethnography - Martyn Hammersley

Week of 11/6

 * Statement on Ethical Practice (BSA) - British Sociological Association

Week of 11/13

 * The Revolt of the Elites - Christopher Lasch
 * Homo Academicus - Pierre Bourdieu

Week of 11/21

 * The Future of the Internet - Jonathan Zittrain
 * The Wisdom of Crowds - James Surowiecki
 * The Cult of the Amateur - Andrew Keen
 * The Long Tail - Chris Anderson
 * Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change - Clayton Christensen & Michael Overdorf

Week of 11/28

 * Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History - Daniel Dayan & Elihu Katz
 * Collected China, Media, Basketball vs. Ping Pong Readings - Assorted News Sources
 * Public Religions in the Modern World - Jose Casanova
 * The Question of Cultural Identity - Stuart Hall
 * Media boom: Television & Internet in China - Liu Kang
 * Physical Culture, Sports, and the Olympics - Susan Brownell
 * Public Service Broadcasting & Modern Public Life - Paddy Scannell

Week of 12/12

 * Collected: India & Basketball

= Social =


 * Cambridge Social Notes
 * Post-Cambridge Career Ideas
 * Selwyn Bar
 * A Night of Music Videos