Academics
Fall 2021

Fall 2021

This list is updated regularly. Check back often for the latest updates. Email lara@berkeley.edu with suggestions.

Graduate courses:

NWMEDIA 200, 4 units

History and Theory of New Media

E. Fraser

This graduate seminar is one of the core requirements for the Designated Emphasis in New Media, offered by the Berkeley Center for New Media. This course will provide participants with a foundation in new media studies (major works, authors, historical events, objects, and schools of thought), such that they will be able to compile reading lists for their qualifying exams, bibliographies for their dissertations, and syllabi for their courses on topics related to new media. It will develop participants' skills in analyzing new media texts and artifacts, articulating their insights in speech and writing, and developing individual new media research projects.

NWMEDIA 205, 4 units

Locative Media

C. Wilmott

From postcards and maps to mobile phones, this course considers the history and future of locative media, as technological, situated and navigational ways of expressing and understanding space, place and mobility. Combining theory and praxis, students partake in a series of of lectures and discussion-based seminars as well as research, design and production workshops where they will learn to make a critical locative media project of their own.

NWMEDIA C262, 4 units

(laboratory also required)

Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces

Kimiko Ryokai

This course explores the theory and practice of Tangible User Interfaces, a new approach to Human Computer Interaction that focuses on the physical interaction with computational media. The topics covered in the course include theoretical framework, design examples, enabling technologies, and evaluation of Tangible User Interfaces. Students will design and develop experimental Tangible User Interfaces using physical computing prototyping tools and write a final project report.

ARCH 200A, 5 units

Introduction to Architecture Studio

Staff

Introductory course in architectural design and theories for graduate students. Problems emphasize the major format, spatial, material, tectonic, social, technological, and environmental determinants of building form. Studio work is supplemented by lectures, discussions, readings, and field trips.

ARCH 229, 1-4 units

Special Topics in Digital Design Theories and Methods

M. Gutierrez

Description forthcoming.

ARCH 270-001, 3 units

History of Modern Architecture

G. Castillo

This course examines developments in design, theory, graphic representation, construction technology, and interior programming through case studies of individual buildings. Each lecture will delve deeply into one or sometimes two buildings to examine program, spatial organization, critical building details, and the relationship of the case study building with regard to other parallel works and the architect's overall body of work.

COMPSCI 294-137, 3 units

Immersive Computing and Virtual Reality

B. Hartmann

Description forthcoming.

COMPSCI 294-186, 1-4 units

Equity in Algorithms

R. Abebe

Description forthcoming.

ESPM C252-001, 3 units (also ANTHRO C254-001, HIST C250-001, STS C200-001)

Topics in Science and Technology Studies

Staff

This course provides a strong foundation for graduate work in STS, a multidisciplinary field with a signature capacity to rethink the relationship among science, technology, and political and social life. From climate change to population genomics, access to medicines and the impact of new media, the problems of our time are simultaneously scientific and social, technological and political, ethical and economic.

FILM 240-001, 4 units

Title Forthcoming

J. Gaboury

Description forthcoming.

HIST C250, 3 units

Topics in Science & Technology Studies

A. Wesner

This course provides a strong foundation for graduate work in STS, a multidisciplinary field with a signature capacity to rethink the relationship among science, technology, and political and social life. From climate change to population genomics, access to medicines and the impact of new media, the problems of our time are simultaneously scientific and social, technological and political, ethical and economic.

HUM 295, 2 units

The Human Experience with Art, Technology, and Data

E. Wymore, L. Fleming, G. Niemeyer

What role will the arts and humanities play in the future of our technologically driven world? What does data feel like, how does it touch us, and how do we touch it? Who is influencing our machines with regard to how they see and understand the human experience? Are mediated bodies limited or expanded by technology? This seminar will focus on the project of synthesizing the interdisciplinary fields of visual art, performance, music, digital technologies, applied data science, and critical studies in the humanities to create new opportunities for innovators interested in a post-anthropocentric and a socially and environmentally balanced future. We hope to unearth key questions, resources, and future programmatic formats that develop practical and professional opportunities for humanists, artists, and technologists interested in innovating with technology together. After experiencing shared readings, the course will explore case studies with guests from professional industries, non-profits, and other cultural institutions. The semester concludes with collaborative projects that further develop themes addressed over the semester and will incorporate the expertise of the class participants.

INFO 202, 2 units

Information Organization and Retrieval

M. Hearst

Organization, representation, and access to information. Categorization, indexing, and content analysis. Data structures. Design and maintenance of databases, indexes, classification schemes, and thesauri. Use of codes, formats, and standards. Analysis and evaluation of search and navigation techniques.

INFO 213-001, 4 units

User Interface Design and Development

Staff

User interface design and human-computer interaction. Examination of alternative design. Tools and methods for design and development. Human computer interaction. Methods for measuring and evaluating interface quality.

INFO 217A-001, 3 units

Human Computer Interaction Research

N. Salehi

This course is a graduate-level introduction to HCI research. Students will learn to conduct original HCI research by reading and discussing research papers while collaborating on a semester-long research project. Each week the class will focus on a theme of HCI research and review foundational and cutting-edge research relevant to that theme. The class will focus on the following areas of HCI research: ubiquitous computing, social computing, critical theory, and human-AI interaction. In addition to these research topics, the class will introduce common qualitative and quantitative methodologies in HCI research.

INFO 256, 3 units

Applied Natural Language Processing

D. Bamman

This course examines the state-of-the-art in applied Natural Language Processing (also known as content analysis and language engineering), with an emphasis on how well existing algorithms perform and how they can be used (or not) in applications. Topics include part-of-speech tagging, shallow parsing, text classification, information extraction, incorporation of lexicons and ontologies into text analysis, and question answering. Students will apply and extend existing software tools to text-processing problems.

INFO 271B, 3 units

Quantitative Research Methods for Information Systems and Management

C. Cheshire

Introduction to many different types of quantitative research methods, with an emphasis on linking quantitative statistical techniques to real-world research methods. Introductory and intermediate topics include: defining research problems, theory testing, causal inference, probability, and univariate statistics. Research design and methodology topics include: primary/secondary survey data analysis, experimental designs, and coding qualitative data for quantitative analysis.

INFO 272, 3 units

Qualitative Research Methods for Information Systems and Management

Staff

Theory and practice of naturalistic inquiry. Grounded theory. Ethnographic methods including interviews, focus groups, naturalistic observation. Case studies. Analysis of qualitative data. Issues of validity and generalizability in qualitative research.

INFO 290-001, 1-4 units

Product Design Studio

J. Reffell

Description forthcoming.

INFO 290-07, 1-4 units

Intro to Data Science

K. Chapple, I. Castro

Description forthcoming.

JOURN 216, 2-3 units

Multimedia Reporting

J. Rue, K. Hernandez

For journalists, the World Wide Web opens a powerful way to tell stories by combining text, video, audio, still photos, graphics, and interactivity. Students learn multimedia-reporting basics, how the web is changing journalism, and its relationship to democracy and community. Students use storyboarding techniques to construct nonlinear stories; they research, report, edit, and assemble two story projects.

JOURN 233, 3 units

Advanced Coding Interactive Stories

J. Rue

This course teaches students code literacy. Beyond the specific skills they learn, students will have a more well-rounded understanding of crucial technologies that in influence the news industry in innumerable ways. They become better decision makers when working with technologists, and will help to forge the future of the journalism industry. This class covers prototypical object-oriented programming, an important component in many web coding languages. Topics covered include variables, typecasting, arrays, for-loops, conditional statements, comparison operators, functions, enclosures and cross-domain data requesting. This course will also cover popular data libraries like D3 and Pandas.

MUSIC 201A, 4 units

Proseminar in Computer Music

Staff

Overview of the field of computer music and its application to music composition. Practices, procedures, and aesthetics related to the application of newer technologies to music composition will be covered in tandem with contemporary research topics in computer music. Recent computer music repertoire with its related technologies will be examined. Students in this proseminar must have advanced musical training and knowledge of the history and repertoire of electro-acoustic music.

MUSIC 207, 4 units

Advanced Projects in Computer Music

Staff

Designed for graduate students in music composition, but open to graduate students in related disciplines who can demonstrate thorough knowledge of the history of electro-acoustic music as well as significant experience with computer music practice and research. All projects are subject to approval of the instructor.

MUSIC 208A, 4 units

Advanced Music Perception and Cognition

Staff

Experimental studies in Music Perception and Cognition. Research projects required.

Undergraduate courses:

ANTHRO 196-004, 4 units

Urban Heritage Landscapes

W. White

Description forthcoming.

ART 26-001, 4 units

Moving Image: Foundations

A. Kazmi

A practical and critical introduction to moving image media, focusing primarily on independent and experimental film and video art. Students learn video production and post-production and are introduced to key moments and concepts in moving image history and criticism. Course instruction includes basic camera operations, sound recording, and lighting, as well as basic editing, compression, and dissemination formats. Solo and group assignments are completed, and group critiques of class projects train students to recognize and discuss the formal, technical, critical and historical dimensions of their works. Weekly readings in philosophy, critical theory, artist statements and literature are assigned.

ART 171-001, 4 units

Video Projects

G. Niemeyer

This course develops more advanced technical and conceptual skills, with focused attention on the pre- and post-production practices of writing and production design as well as image and sound editing. Class meetings include technical workshops, studio work, individual and class critique, and discussion of readings and screened course materials. Course projects vary in focus depending upon instructor: areas of emphasis may include: video in performance practices; video for sculptural installation; and social activist video.

COMPSCI 10, 4 units

The Beauty and Joy of Computing

M. Ball

An introduction to the beauty and joy of computing. The history, social implications, great principles, and future of computing. Beautiful applications that have changed the world. How computing empowers discovery and progress in other fields. Relevance of computing to the student and society will be emphasized. Students will learn the joy of programming a computer using a friendly, graphical language, and will complete a substantial team programming project related to their interests.

COMPSCI 188, 4 units

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

A. Dragan

Basic ideas and techniques underlying the design of intelligent computer systems. Topics include heuristic search, problem solving, game playing, knowledge representation, logical inference, planning, reasoning under uncertainty, expert systems, learning, perception, language understanding.

COMPSCI 195-001, 1 unit

Social Implications of Computer Technology

J. Hug

Topics include electronic community; the changing nature of work; technological risks; the information economy; intellectual property; privacy; artificial intelligence and the sense of self; pornography and censorship; professional ethics. Students will lead discussions on additional topics.

DESINV 22, 3 units

Prototyping & Fabrication

Staff

This course teaches concepts, skills and methods required to design, prototype, and fabricate physical objects. Each week relevant techniques in 2D and 3D modeling and fabrication are presented, along with basic electronics. Topics include a range of prototyping and fabrication techniques including laser-cutting, 3D modeling and 3D printing, soldering, and basic circuits. This course may be used to fulfill undergraduate technical elective requirements for some College of Engineering majors; students should refer to their Engineering Student Services advisors for more details.

DESINV 95, 1 unit

Design Innovation Lecture Series

Staff

In this one semester, P/NP course, students will attend the weekly Design Field Notes speaker series, which features local design practitioners who share real-world stories about their projects, practices, and perspectives. Talks are scheduled most weeks during the semester; during any off weeks, students will engage in facilitated discussions.

DESINV 190-001, 1-4 units

Electric Mobility Engineering

S. Moura, S. Woo

Description forthcoming.

EDUC W140A, 4 units (also EDUC 140AC)

The Art of Making Meaning: Educational
Perspectives on Literacy and Learning in a
Global World

G. Hull

This course combines theory and practice in the study of literacy and development. It will introduce sociocultural educational theory and research focused especially on literacy teaching and learning, and this literature will be examined in practice through participation in after-school programs. In addition, the course will contribute to an understanding of how literacy is reflected in race, culture, and ethnicity in the United States and how these symbolic systems shift in a digital world.

ENVDES 1, 3 units

Introduction to Environmental Design

Staff

This course will teach anyone how to start to be a designer, not just of drawings and objects, but also buildings, landscapes, and urban spaces. And not just in isolation, but in the complex web of ecological and man-made systems which makes up our shifting environment. You will take from the course first-hand experience of drawing, measuring, and design which form the basis of the professions of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning and which culminate in a final design project in the course. The course is open to all undergraduate students.

FILM 20, 4 units

Film and Media Theory

Staff

This course is intended to introduce undergraduates to the study of a range of media, including photography, film, television, video, and print and digital media. The course will focus on questions of medium "specificity" or the key technological/material, formal and aesthetic features of different media and modes of address and representation that define them. Also considered is the relationship of individual media to time and space, how individual media construct their audiences or spectators, and the kinds of looking or viewing they enable or encourage. The course will discuss the ideological effects of various media, particularly around questions of racial and sexual difference, national identity, capitalism, and power.

GEOG 80-001, 4 units

Digital Worlds: An Introduction to Geospatial Technologies

C. Wilmott

An introduction to the increasingly diverse range of geospatial technologies and tools including but not limited to geographical information systems (GIS). Via a mix of lecture and lab-based instruction, students will develop knowledge and skills in web-mapping and GIS. How these tools are used to represent fundamental geographic concepts, and the wider socioeconomic context of these technologies will also be explored.

GWS 102-001, 4 units

Transnational Feminism

M. Moallem

An overview of transnational feminist theories and practices, which address the workings of power that shape our world, and women's practices of resistance within and beyond the U.S. The course engages with genealogies of transnational feminist theories, including analyses of women, gender, sexuality, "race," racism, ethnicity, class, nation; postcoloniality; international relations; post-"development"; globalization; area studies; and cultural studies.

HUM 20, 1 unit

Explorations in Arts + Design at Berkeley

S. Jackson

A+D Mondays @ BAMPFA is a weekly public lecture series organized by the Arts + Design Initiative and co-curated by departments throughout the campus and local and national arts organizations. Through lectures by leading scholars, artists, and public figures, students are introduced to vocabularies, forms, and histories from the many arts, design, humanities, and media disciplines represented at UC Berkeley. Explore cutting-edge thinking and making on topics of current interest to UC Berkeley's creative faculty and national leaders in the cultural and creative arts. Students engage with the lecture series through weekly response papers and a final reflection paper.

INDENG 115-001, 3 units

Industrial and Commercial Data Systems

Staff

Design and implementation of databases, with an emphasis on industrial and commercial applications. Relational algebra, SQL, normalization. Students work in teams with local companies on a database design project. WWW design and queries.

INFO C8, 4 units

Foundations of Data Science

Staff

Foundations of data science from three perspectives: inferential thinking, computational thinking, and real-world relevance. Given data arising from some real-world phenomenon, how does one analyze that data so as to understand that phenomenon? It teaches critical concepts and skills in computer programming and statistical inference, in conjunction with hands-on analysis of real-world datasets, including economic data, document collections, geographical data and social networks. It delves into social and legal issues surrounding data analysis, including issues of privacy and data ownership.

JAPAN 181: 4 units

Reframing Disasters: Fukushima, Before and
After

D.C. O’Neill

The course considers the different literary, social and ethical formations that arise or are destroyed in disaster. It explores how Japanese literature and media, before and after 3:11, attempt to translate the un-representable, and in so doing, to create a new type of literacy about 1) trauma and the temporality of disaster, 2) precarity, community and the public sphere and 3) sustainability and ecological scale. The course will pay particular attention to a range of works that explicitly or obliquely reframe iconic or popular representations of disasters in cinema, literature, photography and social media, taking into account of the readiness with which certain cultural forms lend themselves to vistas of disaster. Prerequisites: None.

LEGALST 149-001, 4 units

Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship

S. Katyal

Entrepreneurship plays an increasingly essential role in today's global economy. New companies and startups play valuable roles in the formation of new industry, also spurring established incumbent compasnies towards further growth. This course is designed to explore the role of law in facilitating the development of entrepreneurial enterprises, paying special attention to the complex interaction between innovation and regulation. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a thorough foundation of understanding the role that law plays in the construction and growth of entrepreneurial enterprises.

LS 25, 3 units

Thinking Through Art and Design @Berkeley

G. Niemeyer

This course introduces students to key vocabularies, forms, and histories from the many arts and design disciplines represented at UC Berkeley. It is conceived each year around a central theme that responds to significant works and events on the campus, providing an introduction to the many art and design resources available to students on campus. Students will compare practices from across the fields of visual art, film, dance, theater, music, architecture, graphic design, new media, and creative writing, and explore how different artists respond formally to the central themes of the course, considering how similar questions and arguments are differently addressed in visual, material, embodied, sonic, spatial, and linguistic forms.

MEDIAST 104D, 3 units

Privacy in the Digital Age

G. King

This course examines issues of privacy in contemporary society, with an emphasis on how privacy is affected by technological change. After an introduction to features of the American legal system and the theoretical underpinnings of privacy law, we will consider privacy in the context of law enforcement and national security investigations; government records and databases; commercial enterprises; and the freedoms of speech and press.

MUSIC 29, 4 units

Music Now

Staff

This course explores the basic materials and models that set the boundaries for various present-day musical experiences. Students are exposed to terminology and modes of engagement with the aim of inspiring new paradigms of listening (e.g., listening to silence, noise, space, and timbre). Composers and musicians of today continue to explore new ways of defining and organizing sounds into music. The course focuses on the most adventurous music of our time, but the concepts learned can be applied to any style of music. The course is designed to enrich and deepen the students' musical abilities through direct involvement with musical materials. Direct engagement through listening and participatory learning is accomplished in part with software created at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies. The course does not require students to be able to read music nor to own a personal computer.

MUSIC 109-001, 3 units

Music Cognition: Mind Behind the Musical Ear

Staff

The goal of this class is to interrogate and make explicit the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. What is the nature of the knowledge that is guiding these intuitions? How does this knowledge develop in ordinary and extraordinary ways? To approach these questions, small composition-like projects aided by a specially designed computer music environment will function as a workplace. You will explore, experiment, question, and reflect on how and what you know how to do as you generate the musical coherence that you seem simply to find.

RHETORIC 107, 4 units

Rhetoric of Scientific Discourse

N. Zakariya

Examination of the characteristic functions of discourse in and about the natural sciences; with particular examination of the ways in which scientific language both guarantees, and at the same time, obscures the expression of social norms in scientific facts.

SOCIOL 160, 4 units

Sociology of Culture

J. Blakehorn

This survey course studies human meaning systems, particularly as manifested in art, literature, music, and other media. It includes study of the production, reception, and aesthetic experience of cultural forms.

SOCIOL 167, 4 units

Virtual Communities/ Social Media

J. Blakehorn

With the advent of virtual communities and online social networks, old questions about the meaning of human social behavior have taken on renewed significance. Using a variety of online social media simultaneously, and drawing upon theoretical literature in a variety of disciplines, this course delves into discourse about community across disciplines. This course will enable students to establish both theoretical and experiential foundations for making decisions and judgments regarding the relations between mediated communication and human community.