This year’s CyberOne course began with empathic argument and programming from scratch, and has segued into a series of working groups positioned to work on the forefront of important issues central to cyberspace, especially issues of digital freedom, open online education, and restorative justice. These projects, and their manifestation in digital space, are being built using open tools in an open Internet space. Check out our aggregated class blog for more information, or visit the blog pages of each individual working group.

RIAA v. Tenenbaum

Prof. Charles Nesson, with the assistance of his working group, is representing Joel Tenenbaum against the organized file-sharing litigation campaign orchestrated by the RIAA.

FreeRice

FreeRice is a revolutionary, open, and charitable educational platform which offers significant promise as a teaching tool for learners of all ages and backgrounds.

Poker

Poker is a quintessentially American game of skill that offers insight into life and a valuable metaphor in rhetorical space. This working group seeks to legitimate it as a teaching tool.

Marijuana

Marijuana and its decriminalization offer the opportunity to engage the public on issues of freedom and fairness, and to empower it through the historic right of jury independence.

Jamaica

The Jamaica group seeks to further restorative justice and reconstitution for the people of Jamaica through its support of constitutional reform.

If we do say so ourselves, the course will be unlike any that has ever been taught. It is a course in persuasive, empathic argument in the Internet space. Throughout the course we will be studying many different media technologies to understand how their inherent characteristics and modes of distribution affect the arguments that are made using them. Students will be immersed in this study through project-based assignments in which they will be using these technologies to make their own arguments. For a good introduction to the class, watch this video of a discussion with Charlie and Rebecca hosted by the Berkman Center.

Our brief trailer video gives an A/V description of the CyberOne experience.

As a Harvard Law Student

Only Harvard Law students can register for the law school version of this course. Students at other schools of Harvard may enroll by cross-registering according to the rules of their home school.

Photo by: Bad Glacier

As a Harvard Extension Student

Enrollment to the Harvard Extension School is open to the public. Extension students will experience portions of the class through a virtual world, known as Second Life. Videos, discussions, lectures, and office hours will all take place on Berkman Island. Students from anywhere in the world will be able to interact with one another, in real time.

Photo by: Pathfinder Linden

As an Internet User “At Large”

All of our videos and lecture materials will be freely available to anyone with an Internet connection. We’ll also be broadcasting select video on Cambridge Community Television, for residents of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Photo by: Colin Gregory Palmer