The Business of Attention

(3 Credits)

What will command human attention in the future, and who will control it? In an era of infinite content, algorithmic feeds, AI-generated media, and constant digital distraction, attention has become one of our most valuable, contested resources. This course examines how entertainment, media, technology, sports, advertising, and social platforms compete to capture, shape, and monetize human attention. Drawing from business, psychology, and cultural studies, we explore how audiences discover and assign meaning to content in a fragmented marketplace. Through fieldwork in Abu Dhabi, students will study how algorithms shape culture and taste, and how societies balance global media influences with local traditions, and why some stories, brands, and creators break through while others struggle to be seen. Examining examples from global sports leagues, social media creators, and gaming to emerging cultural institutions across the Gulf, we ask: in a world of infinite choice, what continues to earn human attention and trust? If we are what we pay attention to, attention may be the defining currency of modern life, shaping how we understand ourselves and the future.