(same as RUSS 4820; cross-leveled with FRENCH 7820, GERMAN 7820, RUSS 7820). Innovative interdisciplinary course addresses issues of access to international news and specific cultural context working in cross-disciplinary teams. Students in journalism, foreign language, international studies, political science and various other disciplines track cultural developments and information on non-US Web sites, blogs and digital social networks along with exploring various historical forms of communication that preceded the digital era of the Web. Students analyze the potential and limitations/ effects of blogs and the web in specific contemporary cultural contexts and as part of the broader historical evolution of the web. The course is taught in English. The goal of this course is two-fold; students learn the particulars of web blogging, explore various features of the contemporary social network landscape while focusing on the concept of culture, in particular the cultures of Europe and the US. Questions asked are: what is culture? What is common or popular right now in other cultures? And how do new social networks amplify or alter certain features or culture across national and international contests? Prerequisites: sophomore standing required.