Course content
The course is structured into 12 sessions and taught over 6 days. There are 36 teaching hours in total, with ample time for individual feedback and group discussion. Compulsory readings are listed for each session.
Session 1: Introduction
This session welcomes participants to the course, providing an overview of its purpose, structure, learning goals, and assignment . We will reflect on the breadth of the digital transformation and briefly highlight key debates that shape the field, situating the course within the broader context of communication and technology studies. By clarifying expectations and discussing the main themes, this introductory session lays the groundwork for the course.
Session 2: Fundamentals of Digital Communication
This session introduces foundational concepts and historical trajectories of digital communication. We begin by tracing the origins of the Internet and its key philosophical underpinnings. Through this historical lens, we examine early theories of digital communication, including the utopian visions of cyberspace and concerns over disembodiment and virtuality. As digital infrastructures evolved, new paradigms emerged such as Henry Jenkins' participatory culture and the notion of platformization, reshaping how we understand communication flows, media convergence, and audience engagement. The session will give participants a foundational understanding of how digital communication has been theorized over time, setting the stage for the sessions to come.
Sessions 3 and 4: Computer-Mediated Communication
The session builds on the introductory session and the fundamentals of digital communication session by expanding on micro theories, but now looking at digital technologies. Theories of computer-mediated communication (CMC) will be at the center of attention. Here, the communication happens between people – the dynamics are relational and interpersonal – but technology serves as a medium rather than an actor. Cue-filtered out, self-presentation theories and the hyper-personal model are some of the approaches analyzed.
Session 5 and 6: Human-Machine Communication
In this session, we continue the focus on communication theories of the digital but move from CMC to human-machine communication (HMC), where technologies such as social robots, chatbots, and algorithms tend to be more autonomous and can be an actor in themselves. Foundational HMC texts will be discussed that describe the field as well as theories of social presence and the computer are social actors (CASA) paradigm. We will cover fundamental underpinnings, which serves to understand specific applications to technologies such as algorithms, smart speakers and social robots better.
Session 7: Affordances, Sociomateriality, and the Agentic Potential of Technologies
In this session, we will move increasingly towards the meso perspective. We begin with theories that conceptualize technologies themselves. Thus, the literature will be more heavily situated in information systems and organization studies literature, thus acknowledging work-related and organizational contexts, but still with a communicative focus. We will engage with affordances theory and sociomateriality, two key approaches to understand the role of the technology.
Session 8: Mutual Shaping, Science and Technology Studies (STS)
In this session, the interest is on how social and economic realities shape the design and implementation of technologies (rather than how technologies constrain or enable action). Prominent frameworks and theories are discussed, ranging from more constructivist perspectives rooted in STS, to more functional perspectives present in information systems such as the widely used technology-organization-environment framework.
Session 9: Digital Work and Algorithmic Management
In this session, we examine how digital transformation shapes work and management dynamics, both within and outside organizations. Drawing from the sociology of work literature, we explore how digital technologies affect employment relationships, from gig work and crowdwork to remote labor and corporate surveillance practices. A key theme is how digital platforms mediate economic activities, creating new forms of control, precarity, and worker autonomy. We will also discuss the broader implications of automation and AI in professional environments, so-called algorithmic management.
Session 10: Ethical Decision-Making, Design and Digital Policies
This session centers on the ethical and policy dimensions of designing and governing digital technologies, investigating how biases and blind spots can emerge in development and deployment processes. We will look at organizational practices and regulatory frameworks aimed at ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability, with a special focus on algorithmic systems. By examining these considerations, the students will gain insights into how responsible innovation can be effectively steered to balance user autonomy, stakeholder interests, and broader societal wellbeing
Session 11: Datafication and Algorithmic Governance
In this session, we discuss the implications of datafication and algorithmic governance. We will look into how platforms collect, analyze, and monetize user data, thereby shaping communication flows, user behaviors, and institutional practices. Participants will be introduced to concepts such as algorithmic governance, exploring how digital infrastructures create new forms of control, dependency, and inequality. By critically examining the tensions between innovation, user autonomy, and regulatory oversight, the session offers a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in governing data-driven technologies.
Session 12: Synthesis, Conclusion and Outlook
The final session will take an integrative view and end with a future-looking program. First, we will address synthesizing overviews that highlight important developments in theorizing the digital and carve out areas for further theorizing and research. We also discuss the key learnings and impressions from the previous sessions. We will then engage with “the end of theory” discourse that became prominent with a controversial article by Chris Anderson in 2008, taking stock of this debate and deliberating the need for theory around digital topics in an increasingly data-driven world. This leads to a connection of the digital transformation to grand challenges, where we place a particular focus on climate change and the environmental impacts of digital technologies such as large language models and cryptocurrencies. This last session will thus incentivize the participants to engage with forward-looking and bold topics in relation to the digital communication, helping to kickstart the term paper.