QUESTIONING NEW MEDIA
COURSE SYLLABUS
Fall 2009
CNM 201/IEOR 298-3: Questioning New Media
M 5:30-6:30PM (class), M 7:30-9:00PM for ATC lectures
340 Moffitt Library (the BCNM Commons)
Professor Ken Goldberg
goldberg@ieor.berkeley.edu
TAs:
Alenda Chang
alenda@berkeley.edu
Kris Fallon
krisfallon@berkeley.edu
Course Description:
CNM 201/IEOR
298-3 (cross-listed under Center for New Media & Industrial
Engineering and Operations Research) will be held in conjunction with
the Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium, a monthly lecture series
that brings internationally known speakers to campus to present their
work on advanced topics in new media.
Students will enhance skills in "questioning" new media: how to think critically about advanced topics in new media, how to use new media resources such as the Internet to research pioneering work in new media, how to formulate effective questions about new media, and how to evaluate and create persuasive presentations on topics in new media.
Students will research each speaker and formulate incisive questions regarding each speaker's work. Students will attend each lecture, take careful notes, and ask relevant questions. During the week after each lecture, students and instructors will review and evaluate the strengths (and weaknesses) of the presentation and discuss pertinent advanced topics in new media.
This course is open to graduate students from any department and upper level undergraduates (upon instructor approval).
This course fulfills one of the core course requirements for the Designated Emphasis in New Media.
Requirements:
Students must attend class meetings and every ATC lecture. Please
see the attached course schedule for the specific dates of classes and
lectures. Students must research each speaker and are responsible for
generating discussion and contributing to a course blog. Required readings are available on the course website.
Grading:
This is a 3-credit course. Students will receive a letter grade. To do well in the class, students must come prepared to each class and ATC lecture, contribute to class discussions and the class blog, and develop incisive and relevant questions for each visiting speaker in the ATC lecture series. Attendance is expected: students with more than two unexcused absences will receive a lower grade.
Class Schedule (dates with ATC lectures in bold):
| August 31 | Course Introduction
Introduce Mark Hosler Read: "Did Somebody Say New Media?" (2005); Mark Tribe's Brown wiki "New Media Art - Introduction" |
| September 7 | Academic and Administrative Holiday - NO CLASS |
| September 14 | Present research and questions for Mark Hosler
Read: Art in America review (February 2006); Electronic Musician interview (September 2005) ATC Lecture: Mark Hosler, "Adventures in Art at the Edge of the Law" 7:30-9PM, 160 Kroeber Hall |
| September 21 | Discuss Mark Hosler lecture
Read: Excerpt from Lawrence Lessig's Remix (2008) |
| September 28 | Introduce Camille Utterback
Read: "Unusual Positions - Embodied Interaction with Symbolic Spaces" in First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game; "Action, Reaction, and Phenomenon" (2008) Browse: News and QuickTime documentation of at least three of Utterback's projects, available on her web site |
| October 5 | Present research and questions for Camille Utterback
Optional: "Text Rain: The Digital Experience" in Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency" (2003) ATC Lecture: Camille Utterback, "Luscious Complexity - Transcending the Doohickey," 7:30-9PM, Main Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall |
| October 12 | Discuss Camille Utterback lecture
Introduce Candice Breitz Read: "Candice Breitz: From A to B and Beyond" (2003); "Crazy for You: Candice Breitz on Pop Idols and Portraiture" Interview (2005) Browse: Press and catalogues for at least three of Breitz's projects, available on her web site |
| October 19 | Present research and questions for Candice Breitz
ATC Lecture: Candice Breitz, "From A to B and Back Again," 7:30-9PM, 160 Kroeber Hall |
| October 26 | Discuss Candice Breitz lecture
Introduce Ben Rubin Read: Frieze review "Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin" (2003); "Sound + Vision" (2002) Browse: Press and at least three of Rubin's projects, available on his web site |
| November 2 | Present research and questions for Ben Rubin
ATC Lecture: Ben Rubin, "What's That Ticking Sound?," 7:30-9PM, 160 Kroeber Hall |
| November 9 | Discuss Ben Rubin lecture |
| November 16 | Introduce Mark Tribe
Read: "Photoshop for Democracy: The New Relationship between Politics and Popular Culture" and "Afterword: Reflections on Politics in the Age of YouTube" from Henry Jenkins's Convergence Culture; The Economist Survey: New Media "Among the audience" Browse: Press and at least three of Tribe's exhibitions and art or curatorial projects, available on his web site |
| November 23 | Present research and questions for Mark Tribe
Watch videos from performances about reenactment, media, and art: RE:akt! Antonio Caronia and RE:akt! Domenico Quaranta Optional: "Once More... With Feeling: Reenactment in Contemporary Art and Culture" from Art Journal Spring 2007 ATC Lecture: Mark Tribe, "Mediation, Performance, and the Public Sphere," 7:30-9PM, 160 Kroeber Hall |
| November 30 | Introduce David Harrington
Read: "Navigating a Single Note" Watch: Kronos Quartet at Brooklyn's Prospect Park (2009) |
| December 7 | Reading/Review/Recitation Period
Optional final class and wrap-up Present research and questions for David Harrington ATC Lecture: David Harrington, "Sonic Immersion: An Exploration of Eclectic and Unusual Sounds and Musics," 7:30-9PM, 160 Kroeber Hall |