Schedule

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: 24 January

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?
Post on Forums
Screening: Man with a Movie Camera (start by 3:15pm)

Homework due this week

None

 

Week 2: 31 January

In-class work

Discussion: Manovich, Vertov, terms
Activity: Mapping New Media
Lesson: Reading theory
Lab: OASIS; English department accounts; Basic HTML 1
Assign: Home Page project (Memento as guide)
Screening: first half of Memento (start by 3:20pm)

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
Post on Forums

 

Week 3: 7 February

In-class work

Syllabus Quiz
Activity: Web "homes"
Discussion: Manovich, definitions of new media
Lab: HTML 2, upload, images.
Screening: second half of Memento (start by 3:00)
Discuss Home Page project and Memento

Homework due this week

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

 

Week 4: 14 February

In-class work

Discussion: Cultural interfaces
Talk: Interface metaphors
Lab: Introduce GIMP
Introduce Collaborative Project

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, first half of "Ch2: The Interface" (through page 93)
Post answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Post on Forums

 

Week 5: 21 February

In-class work

Discussion: Barthes
Activity: Image exercise
Screening: La Jetee
Write response to LJ
Assign Memory Archive Project

Homework due this week

Read Barthes, "The Photographic Message", (OASIS Handouts)
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Home Page Project DUE
Firm up ideas about collaborative project
Post on Forums

 

Week 6: 28 February

Discuss La Jetee
Discussion: The Doll Games
Lesson: Benjamin's Arcades Project
Activity: Image search, grab, use
Lab: HTML 2-- Tables, Rollover
Collaborative project discussion: what projects to do?

Homework due this week

Harmon, You Are Here, pages 1-64
Read The Doll Games
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Post on Forums

 

Week 7: 7 March

In-class work

Discuss: McLuhan
Web activity: media messages
HTML Lab: Imagemaps (using NWE help)
Write about, discuss You Are Here
Large-scale project: discuss ideas
Discuss Memory Archive

Homework due this week

McLuhan, "The Medium is the Message", (OASIS Handouts)
Harmon, You Are Here, pages 65-103.
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Work on Memory Archive project
Post on Forums

 

Week 8: 14 March

In-class work

Respond to Memory Archive projects
Deconstructing advertising images
Assign Tactical appropriation
Finalize proposals for large project
Screening: Yes Men (start by 2.45)

Homework due this week

Memory Archive Project due
Post on Forums

 

Week 9: 21 March

In-class work

No Class This Week: Spring Break

Homework due this week

Extra Credit: Harmon, You Are Here, pages 104-192.
Post answers to reading questions (post to forums)

 

Week 10: 28 March

In-class work

Discussion: De Certeau, tactics, appropriation
Talk: Strategies and tactics
Activity: making do
Discussion of tasks, proposals for big project
HTML Lab: review/ questions

Homework due this week

Read de Certeau, "Making Do" (OASIS handouts)
Type answers to reading questions (Post to forums)
Post on Forums
Revisions of Home Page project due

 

Week 11: 4 April

In-class work

Discussion: selection, mixing, compositing
Activity: the operations
Lab: Wiki
Meeting: Sharing progress on project, compose work plan and timeline
Q&A: Adbusters, Tactical Appropriation, see examples

Homework due this week

Read Manovich, "Ch 3, The Operations"
Post answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Peruse Adbusters.org; Read at least two articles
Revisions of memory archive due
Post on Forums

 

Week 12: 11 April

In-class work

Discussion: Monmonier
Talk: Cognitive Mapping
Activity: Mapping New Media
Collaborative Project reports, Q&A

Homework due this week

Read Monmonier, "Blunders that Mislead", (OASIS Handouts)
Project 3: Tactical appropriations due
Work on collaborative project
Post on Forums

 

Week 13: 18 April

In-class work

Discussion: Donald Norman, design, and Affordances
Lab: Accessibility, browser compatibility
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)
Work on collaborative project, post your time/task log
Comment/Discussion on wiki

 

Week 14: 25 April

In-class work

Discussion: "Fragments", database logic
Work on collaborative project
Get tactical appropriation back

Homework due this week

Read "Fragments of the Passagewerk"
Type answers to reading questions (post to forums)
Rough Draft of collaborative project due
Comment/Discussion on wiki

 

Week 15: 2 May

In-class work

Copyright conversation
Finish up final draft
Evaluation Day

Homework due this week

Read Lessig, "Free Culture" excerpt - assigned in class
Be ready to explain to the class a couple key ideas and the main thrust behind the chapter you're reporting on.
Collaborative project final draft due
Revisions of tactical appropriation due
Comment/Discussion on wiki

 

Week 16: 9 May

In-class work

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

Homework due this week

"Galley" Proofed version due
Comment/Discussion on wiki