New Media, Spring 2019
| 20160 | NMAC 4460.01 | WM 9:30-10:45 | CoAS-120 | Spring, 2019 |
|---|
This seminar explores our inexorable movement from atoms to bits — from the centralized media landscape of the twentieth century, to that of the current bazaar of networked digital cultures. What does it mean to be citizens of a digital world? Do we invent our technologies, or do they invent us? Welcome to New Media.
New Media represents a paradigm shift in the ways we produce and consume culture, and these shifts are, in turn, changing us. This course examines the theories of media: from those based on the physical (record players, tape recorders, VCRs, newspapers, books, records) to those based on digital information (computers, VR, DVRs, MP3s, etexts, video-on-demand). Both the theoretical and practical will fall under the purview of this course: not only will we consider the art and business of “new media,” but we will extend our digital fingers and participate in the discussion.
Introduction
Welcome to NMAC 4460, your Senior Seminar in New Media. The document you’re reading is your syllabus. Everything you need for this class is on this page or linked off of it. Bookmark it now and return here if you get lost or confused.
Please read this document and those it links to carefully at the beginning of the semester. There is much information to process, and it can be somewhat daunting — especially if you read cursorily. If you are confused, do your best to work through it by (re)reading this document carefully and completely, searching this site, or consulting the FAQ. I promise, there is an answer to your question. If all else fails, you may contact me. Trust yourself to follow directions and find the answers. Be careful and deliberate.
Since you are seniors in the New Media and Communications program, I expect that you are all veteran users of new media. I’m assuming, since you’re taking this course, that you are comfortable with working by yourself and have a basic Internet fluency. Much of what we do in this course will involve using digital media, but also challenging our conventional uses and attitudes toward them. Please enter with an open mind. NMAC 4460 is also designed to let you — the students — discover and create your own knowledge using the powerful digital devices we all have access to. You will learn more about my approach shortly. If you’re curious to know more right now, you might want to read my teaching philosophy and peruse the articles under HackEdu.
Again, read this syllabus through carefully before beginning. You might want to take notes as you go, jotting down questions you have. I bet they are answered by the time you’re ready to begin the first lesson. Again, welcome.
Course Information
| Prerequisite | At least a “C” in ENGL 1102 |
| Description | This is a survey of new media theories and praxis. It positions new media in relation to the humanities and traditional media. |
| Classroom Hours | Three per week. |
Instructor Information
Instructor Information
| Gerald R. Lucas | |
|---|---|
| Office | CoAS-117 (Macon campus), Department of Media, Culture & the Arts |
| Office Hours | See Contact |
| gerald.lucas [at] mga [dot] edu | |
I try to make myself as available as much as possible during the first couple weeks of a semester, including evenings and weekends. If you need to chat with me, email me and we’ll arrange a video conference via Skype (or similar service), if necessary. Please do not expect a response after 5pm on weekdays or anytime during the weekend. I may be available, but I also need some down time. Thanks for your understanding.
Goals
With a successful completion of the NMAC 4460, students will understand:
- the influence of networked digital technologies on communication, art, and culture in a global context;
- the unique properties of new media;
- the historical and cultural contexts of new media from theory to praxis;
- the legal and intellectual property concerns that new media challenges, particularly in the proprietary and open source communities;
- the political responsibilities of new media use;
- the distinction between various theoretical approaches to new media in cultural and academic contexts;
- how new media affects the evolution of the “human.”
Materials
Required Texts
- Murray, Janet H. (1997). Hamlet on the Holodeck: the Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Negroponte, Nicholas (1996). Being Digital. New York: Vintage.
- Wardrip-Fruin, Noah; Montfort, Nick, eds. (2003). The New Media Reader. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
- Various Links and PDFs
Recommended Texts
- Kurzweil, Ray (1999). The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. New York: Viking Penguin.
- Lessig, Lawrence (2008). Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. New York: Penguin.
- McLuhan, Marshall (1964). Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man. New York: Routledge.
Your course book(s) or readings should always accompany you to class, as we will make heavy use of them in our daily discussions. Please do not come to class without it: we need the texts for class activities, in-class writing, and all aspects of our study. PDFs must be printed if they are used in class—this includes exams. Failure to do so will earn you an absence .
You should also bring an ink interface of some sort, as well as dead trees on which to take notes. Notes should not only reflect good listening skills, but individual interest in every topic discussed in class.
Supplementary Documents
At several points throughout the semester, your reading assignments will entail essays that are not in the above texts. These additional readings will be made available to you as PDFs via D2L or links. You will need to download them, print them (or put them on your device), and bring them on the day we are covering them in class. Failure to do so will earn you an absence.
Requirements
This course has three requirements: exams, research project, and participation.
Exams
A cumulative midterm and final exam will be given that will test your knowledge of the subject matter (texts, research, and vocabulary), your ability to synthesize this material, and your creativity in going beyond the assigned materials. The final exam will include vocabulary, identification, and interpretation. All exam grades will be based upon objective knowledge of the material, thoroughness, depth of insight, precision, and originality.
Research Project
This formal research project combines any aspects of the course concerns into a well-researched, focused, and original project. This project could be a research paper, a significant Wikipedia contribution(s), or an approved multimedia approach to a topic. A proposal for this project will be due before midterm and require some sort of written submission followed by a conference with me to discuss your direction and work so far (if necessary).
Participation
Since this is a seminar class, regular class attendance and active participation are necessary for its success. Your participation in group activities and your preparation for class will be weighed heavily in evaluation: participation, effort, and attitude will count significantly. Quizzes and other class activities not explicitly outlined on this document will be factored into your final class participation grade.
Policies
Students are held accountable for knowing and practicing each of the following course policies. Consider them like the law: the excuse “I didn’t know” will carry no weight. In addition, students are responsible for reading, understanding, and adhering to all Middle Georgia State University student policies, including those linked on the Syllabus Policy page.[1]
Students may withdraw from the course and earn a grade of “W” up to and including the midterm date. After midterm, students who withdraw will receive a grade of “WF.” Students are encouraged to read the withdrawal policy before dropping/withdrawing from class.
Assignments and Deadlines
Assignments and Deadlines
Your work represents you. Everything you turn in for evaluation should exemplify the very best of your professional self. Late work is unacceptable and will receive a zero. Technical problems do not excuse late work. Plan ahead and turn in your work on time. Last-minute work submissions are ineligible for revision for a higher grade.
Attendance
Attendance
Poor attendance will negatively affect your grade. You must endeavor to attend every class, and it is your responsibility to ask a fellow classmate what you missed; in-class assignments, like quizzes, cannot be made up. Too many absences will constitute class failure. Please read the attendance policy carefully.
Communication
Communication
Communication is integral to success, no matter what we’re talking about. In a digital world, these literacies are particularly important. Not only should you develop and perfect your communication skills while in college, you need to use those skills everyday with your peers and professors.
Evaluation
Evaluation
Evaluation depends on overall student performance: on the successful completion of all requirements, regular participation, and positive attitude. Some requirements are weighed heavier in evaluation, but all are essential to successfully complete the class. Letter grades are based upon a traditional ten-point scale. Grades for this class will be based on the point system.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is serious academic misconduct. Willful or accidental plagiarism—including using AI tools to generate assignments—will result in assignment failures, potential class failure, and will be pursued to incite the utmost penalty for such dishonesty.
Research
Research
All writing in this course should be supported with both primary (readings I assign you) and secondary (sources you find yourself) texts. All suppositions must be supported with evidence, whether they appear on a forum post, a blog post, a Wikipedia article, or class discussion. In other words: research is an integral component of everything you do in this course. Any ideas that are not supported might as well not be written.
Schedule
Schedule
This schedule represents the ideal outline for our study this semester. Yet, like all best-laid plans, we may not be able to keep up with our agenda. Please be flexible and try to look and read ahead whenever possible. We will do our best to stick by this schedule, but I will inform you verbally whenever there is a change in or an addition to an assignment. Getting these updates is solely your responsibility. Therefore, this schedule is tentative and subject to change contingent upon the needs of the students and the professor, and dictated by time and other constraints which may affect the course. This schedule reflects only an overview of the assigned reading and other major course assignments. It may not indicate specific class session assignments or activities. Specific assignments are often given in class.
Syllabus Table
| 1 | 01/07 | — |
| 01/09 | Class Begins • Introduction | |
| 2 | 01/14 | |
| 01/16 | ||
| 3 | 01/21 | No class today — MLK Holiday |
| 01/23 | ||
| 4 | 01/28 | |
| 01/30 | ||
| 5 | 02/04 | |
| 02/06 | ||
| 6 | 02/11 | |
| 02/13 | ||
| 7 | 02/18 | |
| 02/20 | ||
| 8 | 02/25 | |
| 02/27[2] | ||
| 9 | 03/04 | |
| 03/06 | ||
| 10 | 03/11 | |
| 03/13 | ||
| 11 | 03/18 | |
| 03/20 | ||
| 12 | 03/25 | |
| 03/27 | ||
| 13 | 04/01 | |
| 04/03 | ||
| 14 | 04/08 | |
| 04/10 | ||
| 15 | 04/15 | |
| 04/17 | ||
| 16 | 04/22 | |
| 04/24 | ||
| 17 | 04/29 | |
| 05/01 |
Notes
- ↑ See the MGA website's Syllabus Policy Page the policies linked thereon.
- ↑ Midterm Grades Due
