Jump to today

This course meets each Tuesday from 1:00 until 4:50pm. While we might not use the full alotted time every week, we will do so most of the time. Plan to be present for four hours each week. I start class on time, so be there right at 1:00—missing twenty minutes at the beginning will make the business of the course difficult to conduct.

Week 1: 7 September

In-class work

Introduce syllabus
Short writing: what is new media?
Talk: arc of the course
Get to know one another
Discussion: what is new media?
Screening: Man with a Movie Camera (start by 3:30pm)

Homework due this week

None

 

Week 2: 14 September

In-class work

Discussion: Manovich, Vertov, terms
Talk: Mapping New Media
Lesson: Reading theory
Lab: OASIS; English department accounts; Basic HTML 1
Assign Project 1: Home (Memento as guide)
Screening: first half of Memento (start by 3:45pm)

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, "Prologue: Vertov's Dataset," "Introduction"
Type answers to reading questions, post to forums
Get OASIS account in order, email Brendan
Pay attention to your reading habits

 

Week 3: 21 September

In-class work

Syllabus Quiz
Discussion: Manovich, definitions of new media
Activity: Web "homes"
Lab: ftp, file upload, passwords, AUP.
Screening: second half of Memento

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, "Ch1: What is New Media?"
Type answers to reading questions (post on Forums)
Download and play with NVU. Start making web pages.
Read Syllabus carefully (There will be a quiz!)

 

Week 4: 28 September

In-class work

Discussion: McLuhan
Web activity: media messages
Discuss Memento
Lab: Introduce GIMP
Collaborative Project

Homework due this week

McLuhan, "The Medium is the Message", (OASIS Handouts)
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Work on Project 1

 

Week 5: 5 October

In-class work

Discussion: Cultural interfaces
Share project 1 web
Talk: Interface metaphors
Assign Project 2: Web Portal
Post blogs
Lab: HTML 2-- Tables, Rollover
Screening: Blade Runner (clip), Myst (clip/demo?)
Collaborative project discussion: what projects to do?

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, first half of "Ch2: The Interface" (through page 93)
Type answers to reading questions (post to the forums)
Project 1: Home DUE

 

Week 6: 12 October

Exploring web communities: blogs
Discuss blogs we found
Activity: blogs vs bboards
HTML Lab: Frames
Large-scale project: discuss proposals, divide writing tasks

Homework due this week

Read one articles from Into the Blogosphere
Read through two blogs from the list to get a sense of "community"
Post your response on the forums
Firm up ideas about collaborative project

 

Week 7: 19 October

In-class work

Review projects w/ one another
Discussion: Manovich, Operations
Screening: Monty Python's Flying Circus
Discussion: Monty Python, selection, mixing, compositing
Screening: Starship Troopers (clips)
Talk: Interactivity

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, "Ch 3, The Operations"
Post answers to reading questions (email or print to turn in)
Work on Project 2: Web Portal
Proposals for collaborative project due

 

Week 8: 26 October

In-class work

Reflect on Web portals
Peruse Adbusters.org; Read at least two articles
Discussion: De Certeau, tactics, appropriation, Adbusters
Talk: Strategies and tactics
Discussion of tasks, proposals for big project
Screening: La Jetee

Homework due this week

Read de Certeau, "Making Do", (OASIS handouts)
Type answers to reading questions (Post to forums)
Project 2: Web Portal

 

Week 9: 2 November

In-class work

Discussion: Barthes
Talk: images, denotation, connotation
Image exercise
Discussion: The Doll Games
Screening: Yes Men
-Assign Project 3: Tactical appropriation
Collaborative project

Homework due this week

Read Barthes, "The Photographic Message", (OASIS Handouts)
Read The Doll Games

 

Week 10: 9 November

In-class work

Discussion: Manovich, database logic, La Jetee
Lab: site structure, navigation
Share project 3 ideas
Talk: metaphors of navigation
Meeting: Sharing progress on project

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, "Ch5: The Forms"
Type answers to reading questions (Post on the forums)

 

Week 11: 16 November

In-class work

Discussion: Donald Norman, design, and Affordances
Lab: Accessibility, browser compatibility
Discuss Tactical Appropriation
Collaborative Project reports, Q&A
Assign Rough Draft

Homework due this week

Read Norman articles:
- "Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better"
- "Affordances and Design"
- "Affordance, Conventions and Design (Part 2)"
- "Gratuitous Graphics and Human-Centered Website Design"
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Working draft of Collaborative project due

 

Week 12: 23 November

In-class work

No Class This Week
Work on collaborative project

Homework due this week

Project 3: Tactical appropriations due
Revisions for Projects 1 or 2 due
Post individual project update

 

Week 13: 30 November

In-class work

Finalize Rough Drafts
Discussion: Monmonier, de Certeau
Talk: Cognitive Mapping
Peer Review
Make plans for final drafts

Homework due this week

Read either Monmonier, "Blunders that Mislead", (OASIS Handouts)
orRead de Certeau, "Walking in the City", (OASIS Handouts)
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Rough Draft of collaborative project due

 

Week 14: 7 December

In-class work

Copyright conversation
Finish up final draft
Evaluation Day

Homework due this week

Collaborative project final Draft due

 

Week 15: 14 December

In-class work

In-class writing: self-evaluation essay
Update projects, fix errors.

Homework due this week

"Galley" Proofed version due
Revisions of project three due