All readings listed below, should be completed before class on the date listed on the schedule. Changes to this schedule may be made during the term, but any alterations will be announced in class in advance. Readings listed below are available in Canvas. Access videos using the links on the schedule.
| Class | Assignments |
|---|---|
| Unit 1: Imitation and Representation | |
| 1 (M 1/18/21) |
MLK Day -- No Class |
| 2 (M 1/25/21) |
Topics: • course introduction • the digital age • theoretical foundations Reading: • Carah and Louw, Media and Society pp. 27-30 • Pacey, "The Culture of Technology" pp. 95-102 Assignments: In-Class #1: Theory of Technology Select show for Blog assignment (in class) |
| 3 (M 2/1/21) |
Topics: • early days of representational technology • art or science? • cultural disruption and new narratives Reading: • Hornung, "Spoilt Negative" (pp. 76-89) • Shelangoskie, "Rethinking Propriety in the Age of the Camera Fiend" (excerpts as marked; approx 14 pgs) Viewing: • Vox, "Was This Famous War Photo Staged?" (8:28 min) • Vox, "Why movies went from 15 minutes to 2 hours" (6:07 min) Assignments: In-Class #2: Physical Limitations of Technology Blog Post 1 due by midnight, Friday 2/5 |
| 4 (M 2/8/21) |
Topics: • representation and reality • artificial intelligence • humans and algorithms • machine learning and dominant cultural discourses Reading: • Hall, "The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media" (pp. 90-92) • Markoff, "How Many Computers to Identify a Cat? 16,000" (approx 4 pages) • Buranyi, "Rise of the Racist Robots – How AI Is Learning All Our Worst Impulses" (approx 8 pages) • Vincent, James. "Twitter Taught Microsoft’s AI Chatbot to Be a Racist Asshole in Less than a Day" (approx 3 pages) Viewing: • Vox, "The First Movie with CGI" (4:57 mins) • Vox, "How Smart Is Today’s Artificial Intelligence?" (7:52 mins) Assignment: In-Class #3: Cognitive Limitations of Technology |
| Unit 2: Communication and Community | |
| 5 (M 2/15/21) |
Topics: • telegraphy and the consequences of instantaneous communication • social effects of innovation • identity narratives in disembodied communication Reading: • Shelangoskie, "Anthony Trollope and the Social Discourse of Telegraphy after Nationalisation" (excerpts as marked; approx 15 pages) • Churchill, "Playing with Fire" (pp. 155-157) • unsigned, "The Romance of a Telegraph Wire" (pp. 202-205) Assignments: In-Class #4: Cultural Discourse Framing (and Taming) New Technologies Blog Post 2 due by midnight, Friday 2/19 |
| 6 (M 2/22/21) |
Topics: • internet and information • social media--identity as data • social media and participation in cultural discourse • digital spaces and discursive practices Reading: • Carah and Louw, Media & Society from Chapter 11 pp. 230-238 (to end of "Customization" section) • Marwick and Boyd, "To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Parctice on Twitter" pp. 525-535 Viewing: • Vox, "How Does the Internet Work?" (19:54 mins) • Vox, "Why You Keep Using Facebook, Even if You Hate It" (5:34 mins) Assignments: In-Class #5: Social Media and Discourse Transformation Topic and Work Plan due by midnight, Wednesday 2/24 |
| 7 (M 3/1/21) |
Topics: • conceptualizing crowd sourcing and crowd funding • crowd sourcing applications • benefits and pitfalls of crowd sourcing Reading: • Schildhauer and Hilger, "Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing in the Sciences" read pp 1-7 (to end of Perspective 2); skim list of crowdsourcing projects; read 12-18 (Landscape of Today's Platforms: Summary through Outlook: What the Future Might Bring) Viewing: • Vox, "Crowdfunding, Explained by Exploding Kittens" (6:59 mins) • Lourdes ENG CBE. ENG 354: Unit 2--Crowdsourcing for the Public Good (14:02 mins) Assignments: In-Class #6: Experiments in Crowd Sourcing Blog Post 3 due by midnight, Friday 3/5 |
| 8 (M 3/8/21) |
Topics: Presentation 1: video game debate Reading: All: Ivory, "A Brief History of Video Games" pp. 1-21 Group A: Coulson and Ferguson, "The Influence of Digital Games on Aggression and Violent Crime" pp. 54-73 Group B: Dale and Green, "Video Games and Cognitive Performance" pp. 131-152 Group C: Griffiths, "Gaming Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder" pp. 74-89 Group D: Kowert, "Social Outcomes: Online Game Play, Social Currency, and Social Ability" pp. 94-115 Assignment: Design Plan due by midnight, Friday 3/12 |
| Unit 3: Law and Order | |
| 9 (M 3/15/21) |
Topics: • historical cases of technology and the law • technology used to circumvent or outstrip the law • technology used to catch criminals • development of discourse about technology and order/disruption Reading: • Slack and Wise, "Luddism" from Culture and Technology pp. 68-72 • Head, "The Electric Telegraph" from Stokers and Pokers pp. 129 (start with "In cases where...") - 132 (end with "...that hung John Tawell!") • "The Government and the Telegraphs." London Daily News, 29 Jan. 1870 (approx 1/4 Victorian newspaper column) • "Spirit Photographs." The St. James’s Chronicle, 3 Feb. 1863 (approx 1 Victorian newspaper column) • "Spirit Photographs." The Tewkesbury Register, and Agricultural Gazette, 22 May 1869 (approx 1 Victorian newspaper column) Assignments: In-Class #7: Technology in the News: Analyzing the Discourse of Disruption Blog Post 4 due by midnight, Friday 3/19 |
| 10 (M 3/22/21) |
Topics: • manipulating digital representation: doctored images and deep fakes • internet fraud • misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation • protection--the example of DMARC Reading: • Biagioli, "Before and After Photoshop: Recursive Fraud in the Age of Digital Reproducibility" (2 pages) • Yamaoka-Enkerlin, Anna. "Disrupting Disinformation: Deepfakes and the Law." pp. 725-734 to end of "The Risks" section; pp. 748-749, "Conclusion" section Viewing: • Vox, "Why Coronavirus Scammers Can Send Fake Emails from the WHO" (8:30 mins) • NBC News, "Deep Fakes: How They’re Made And How They Can Be Detected" (4:30 mins) • BuzzFeedVideo. You Won’t Believe What Obama Says In This Video! 😉 (1:13 mins) • BBC. How the Obama / Jordan Peele DEEPFAKE Actually Works (3:13 mins) Assignments: In-Class #8: Deepfake Discourse Annotated Bibliography due by midnight, Frida 3/26 |
| 11 (M 3/29/21) |
Topics: • the balance between privacy and security • explicit and implicit surveillance • old and new forms of disciplinary watching • technology narratives and anxiety Reading: • Louw and Carah, Media & Society from Ch 11 pp. 240-244 (end just before the "Participation and Public Life" section) • Lipschultz, Social Media Communication from Ch 8 pp. 150-155 (start at "Big Data and Privacy") • Lynskey, "'Alexa, Are You Invading My Privacy?' – the Dark Side of Our Voice Assistants" (approx. 8 pages) Viewing • Vox, "How Job Surveillance Is Changing Trucking in America" (9:35 mins) • Vox, "How Ads Follow You around the Internet" (6:56 mins) • Vox, "Why Advertisers Are Tracking Your Emojis 😱" (4:16 mins) Assignments: In-Class #9: Personal Privacy Inventory* Blog Post 5 due by midnight, Wednesday 3/31 |
| 12 (M 4/5/21) |
Video Assignment Work Day Draft due by midnight, Wednesday 4/7 |
| Unit 4: Nature, Nurture, and Narrative | |
| 13 (M 4/12/21) |
Assignments: In-Class #10: Discussion--Nature, Nurture, and Narrative Blog Post 6 due by midnight, Friday 4/16 |
| 14 (M 4/19/21) |
Assignments: Presentation 2: Final Project Film Festival Presentation 3: Series Blog Schedule individual meetings for Week 15 |
| 15 (M 4/26/21) |
Work Day -- individual meetings |
| Exam Week | Technology and Cultural Discourse Video Assignment due Wednesday, 5/5/21 by midnight in Canvas *late final projects cannot be accepted |