This seminar by Jonathan Piron tackles the issues raised by digital technologies for political institutions, politics and policies, and more broadly for the evolution of what we call “democracy“.

This seminar tackles the issues raised by digital technologies for political institutions, politics and policies, and more broadly for the evolution of what we call “democracy“. It also addresses the interaction between all things political and the digitalization of society. Themes of discussion include, but are not limited to: social media politics, algorithms and filter bubbles, digital divide, civic tech and online participation tools, blockchain and other governance technologies, Internet privacy and data collection, online tools for political education…

Teaching methods This seminar is conceived to be interactive and participative, and relies on the idea of learning by doing. Students will then be encouraged to speak instead of only listen, to write instead of only read, to create instead of only attend. They will have to work on their own projects and share their findings and reflections during collective sessions—which will establish important concepts for studying and shaping democracy in the digital age.

Evaluation methods The evaluation is continuous and ends before the exams’ session. The final grade (from 0 to 20 points) is composed of two parts:

the contribution to the course dynamics (including active and regular participation in class and the preparation of the seminar’s sessions); the production of a personal critical analysis on a case study related to a challenge for democracy at the digital age.