FIG partnering with LIS 201 this Fall

Each year at least one "First-Year Interest Group" or "FIG" partners with LIS 201.  Here's our FIG for this year:

Internet and Society

The main course of this FIG, “Information Literacies in Online Spaces” (LIS 301), explores information and digital literacies needed by today’s online consumers and producers.  Topics include “new literacies,” media education, digital divides, information quality, and online risks. To investigate these issues, we complete four case studies: Wikipedia, blogs, online video, and online video games. Issues to be covered include access (digital divides, power relations in online communities, regulation), analysis (assessing credibility, evaluating risks, analyzing representation) and production (video making, blogging, game making).

The course engages students in key debates and research related to information and digital literacies, relates concepts covered in the other FIG courses to students’ own experiences, and develops digital literacies and production skills. The three courses that comprise this FIG prepare students with reading, writing and analytical skills that will be useful across the humanities and social sciences.  Past students have gone on to major in journalism, communication arts, economics and computer sciences.

Digital Studies Certificate - All three courses on this FIG count toward the Digital Studies Certificate. To qualify for the Certificate, students complete 15 credits that include one Core course and four additional Topical courses. LIS 201 is one of the Core courses, and LIS 301 and Com Arts 346 are Topical courses. By completing this FIG, only two additional courses are needed to qualify students for the Certificate. (Note: one of the additional courses needs to be in the area of visuality in digital design and the other needs to be in either the area of Digital Practices or the area of Digital Information Structures.)  Please see the website for more information about the Certificate: digitalstudies.wisc.edu