This course examines the digital public sphere--a virtual social, cultural, and political space of contestation. We will explore the idea of "the public sphere" as signifying a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed, where access is ideally guaranteed to all citizens, and which comes into being in conversations when private individuals come together to form a public body. We will also investigate if the digital sphere offers such democratic potential and how digital media invariably influences the general content, tone, and tenor of social conversation in the actual public sphere. Course readings will include texts that offer examples of social resistance and subversion in the digital sphere--for example, hackers, viruses, cyber feminism, Internet art, and online activism—which are seen as being emblematic of the larger transformations currently taking place within digital culture. We will also explore concepts such as the "digital street" and "virtual art activism." [Tracks C, M]