Course info

This course explores how social media and other new technologies are profoundly reshaping the world, impacting democratic institutions, social cohesion, and conflict. Participants will learn how technology offers new tools for organizing social movements and creates new opportunities for both digital peacebuilding as well as digital terror. The course provides two comprehensive frameworks for analyzing violent extremism and technology. Participants will learn through case studies and examples of best practices for using social media to support peacebuilding. Participants will engage in interactive exercises to explore how the profit model driving these new technologies often seems to thrive on spreading disinformation and hate. Participants will learn skills for “digital peacebuilding” to help people respond online to digital disinformation, hate speech, and polarizing comments. Participants will learn about and participate in exciting peace tech innovations. Participants will experiment in designing “digital peacebuilding” programs to use in their own context. This online course will include weekly lectures, case studies, group discussions, films, and class exercises.