EMAC 6300: Introduction to the Study of Emerging Media and Communications

Fall 2010
[DRAFT – SUBJECT TO CHANGE]
Class No. 2557
Meets: W 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm
Location: TBD

Instructor: Kim Knight (email address here)

Office Hours: Wed 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm, and by appointment

Course website: http://kimknight.com

Twitter tag: EMAC6300

Meet Beth. Beth gets up every morning and enjoys a cup of coffee in front of her computer. She
rarely checks her personal email, but nonetheless spends a good portion of each day online. She
communicates with friends via social media sites, works on online crossword and jigsaw puzzles,
and plans her upcoming wedding. At work she uses email and various computer applications to
do her job.

Beth is fairly average in terms of technology usage – neither a technophile, nor a luddite. Yet,
digital media (and their attendant hardware and software) have become so ubiquitous that
middle-of-the-road users like Beth would find it difficult to complete each day’s tasks without
them. Many users don’t think about this ubiquity or its effects on our social condition. This will
be our task in EMAC 6300. We will investigate questions such as “What is the determining
relationship between media and society?”, “How can we define emerging media?” and “How do
contemporary media trends influence our notions of learning/citizenship/art, etc.?” We will
approach these questions through a variety of theoretical readings, engaging with foundational
texts about the impact of technology on culture as well as texts about contemporary media
developments. Our goal is to connect the theoretical readings with “real life” examples of media
and technology that we can approach in a “case study” fashion.

Required Texts

Various chapters and essays, available online or through course reserve.

Bolter, Jay David and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media.
Drahos, Peter and John Braithwaite. Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge
Economy?
Galloway, Alexander and Eugene Thacker. The Exploit: A Theory of Networks.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide.
Levy, Pierre. Collective Intelligence: Mankind’s Emerging World in Cyberspace.
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media.
McLuhan, Marshall. The Medium is the Massage.
Zittrain, Jonathan. The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It.

You will also need the following: an email account which is checked frequently, a Twitter
account, a Wordpress or Blogspot blog.
 Course Policies

Attendance: Some of the most valuable take-away from this course will come out of our class
discussions. Your participation is necessary for our success. It is important that you come to
every class prepared and on time. To be “prepared” means that you have thoughtfully engaged
with the reading and are prepared to discuss it in class. Bring questions, comments,
observations, disagreements, examples, etc.

Because your presence in class is important, more than one absence can negatively affect your
grade. In addition, please try to be as fully present and engaged as possible – silence cell phones,
don’t send or receive texts or emails, etc. Excessive distraction may be counted as an absence.

Email Policy: Please be aware that I respond to most email messages within 24 hours Monday -
Friday. If you send me an email and I do not respond during this timeframe, chances are that I
did not receive it. It is your responsibility to re-send the email or to contact me another way.

Online Etiquette: Our many online assignments will require vigilance to ensure that we are
always preserving an atmosphere of mutual respect. Disagreements may arise and consensus
may not be possible. We can, however, respect each person’s right to an opinion. Name calling
or menacing behavior will not be tolerated.

Academic Honesty: From the UT-D Handbook of Operating Procedures: “The university expects
from its students a high level of responsibility with respect to academic honesty. Because the
value of an academic degree depends on the absolute integrity of the work done by the student
for that degree, it is imperative that a student maintain a high standard of individual honor in his
or her scholastic work. The dean may initiate disciplinary proceedings under subchapter C
against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty upon complaint by a faculty member or a
student.” (http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/graddean/gsPolDishonesty.htm)

Plagiarism will result in a failing grade on the plagiarized assignment and possible disciplinary
action by the university. If you have any questions regarding the proper use of outside sources or
the distinction between sampling and plagiarism, I encourage you to meet with me.

Assignments

Participation – 15%
Participation includes attendance and participation in discussion, both in class and online (blog,
twitter, etc.) To receive full participation credit, you should visit me during office hours at least
once before finals week.

Blogging – 35%
Your discussions of material should extend outside the classroom into a blog that discusses the
course material. In general you should write 500 – 800 words of new material each week. Blog
entries should be completed prior to class meetings.
The purpose of the blog is three-fold: to open discussion in the larger community who is
interested in emerging media, to prepare you for class discussion, and to seed ideas for the final
project.

Contributing to Peer Blogs – 10%

Monologues are no fun. Your experience of this class will be significantly enhanced by
engaging with the community of thinkers who are your peers. Thus you should spend time each
week reading and commenting on the blog posts of your peers. You are not required to read
each blog every week, but do try to make the rounds a few times.

Case Study Presentation(s) – 15%

A lot of our reading is dense theory that can be enhanced by connecting it to “real life” examples
of media objects: hardware, software, websites, art objects, pop culture texts, etc. Each week
one or more students will present “case studies” for the class to discuss in relation to the week’s
reading. These informal presentations should last 10 – 15 minutes and should include an
overview of the object under consideration, as well as a few points of analysis and/or discussion
questions. A brief write up of the overview and critical discussion points should be added to
your blog.

Depending on the number enrolled in the class, you may end up presenting more than once. If
you are stuck for ideas, you are encouraged to meet with me during the week prior to your
presentation date.

Final Project – 25%

The final project can consist of either a 6-8 page final paper, or a creative media project
accompanied by a shorter (4-5 page) paper. Neither of these types of projects requires
significant additional research. Instead, draw upon the texts we’ve read, the discussions we’ve
had, the case-study presentations, and the blog posts you’ve written. Both types of projects
should include critical analysis and construct an argument in relation to one of the class’s larger
questions, media objects, etc.

The final project requires that a brief project proposal (no more than 500 words) be submitted to
me no later than Wednesday, November 10.

Schedule of Readings

The Role of Technology in Society

Week One (August 25): Introduction

- Syllabus Overview
- Vannevar Bush “As We May Think” (in class handout)
- Alan Turing “Computing Machines and Intelligence” (in class handout)

Week Two (September 1): Technological / Social Determinism

 ‐ Martin Heidegger “The Question Concerning Technology”
(http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~xinwei/classes/readings/Heidegger/heidegger_techquestion2
.pdf)
‐ Herbert Marcuse “Some Social Implications of Modern Technology”
(http:users.ipfw.edu/tankel/PDF/Marcuse.pdf)

Week Three (September 8): The Effects of Technology

‐ Plato – Phaedrus (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html)
‐ Villem Flusser - “On Memory: Electronic or Otherwise” Leonardo, Volume 23.4 (1990):
397- 399 (JStor)
‐ M.T. Clanchy - “Introduction” to From Memory to Written Record: England 1066 –
1307” (Google books)

Week Four (September 15): Content vs. Form

‐ W. Terrence Gordon - “Introduction to the Critical Edition” from Understanding Media:
The Extensions of Man (TBD)
‐ Marshall McLuhan – “The Medium is the Message” from Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man (http://kimknight.com/readings/mcluhan_medium.pdf)
‐ Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage
Week Five (September 22): Our Connection to Media
- Walter Benjamin - “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
(http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm)
- Bill Nichols - “The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems”
(http://kimknight.com/readings/nichols_excerpt.pdf)

Defining and Approaching Media

Week Six (September 29) – Media Past and Present

‐ Jay David Bolter & Richard Grusin – Remediation
‐ John Guillory - “Genesis of the Media Concept.” Critical Inquiry. 36.2 (2010): 321 –
362 (LION or JStor)
Week Seven (October 6) – The “New” in New Media
‐ Lev Manovich - The Language of New Media
‐ N. Katherine Hayles – “Media Specific Analysis” (TBD)

Shifting Models

Week Eight (October 13) – Defining Networks

‐ Alexander Galloway and Eugene Thacker – The Exploit: A Theory of Networks
‐ Manuel Castells - “Why Networks Matter”
(www.kirkarts.com/wiki/images/5/51/Castells_Why_Networks_Matter.pdf)

Week Nine (October 20) - Shifting Models of Ownership

‐ Peter Drahos and John Braithwaite – Information Feudalism: Who Owns the Knowledge
Economy?
‐ Film: Steal This Film II (http://www.stealthisfilm.com/Part2/index.php)
Week Ten (October 27) - Shifting Models of Knowledge & Learning, I
‐ Pierre Levy - Collective Intelligence
‐ Jaron Lanier - “Digital Maoism: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism”
(http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html)

Week Eleven (November 3) - Shifting Models of Knowledge & Learning, II

‐ N. Katherine Hayles, “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive
Modes” (http://media08.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/my-article-on-hyper-and-deep-
attention/)
‐ Video: “May I Have Your Attention, Please? Linda Stone – SIME 09”
(http://vimeo.com/7551900)

Week Twelve (November 10) – Shifting Models of Creation / Participation: Art & Pop culture
(Project Proposals Due)
‐ Henry Jenkins – Convergence Culture
‐ Film: Rip! A Remix Manifesto (Netflix or screening)

Week Thirteen (November 17) - Shifting Models of Creation / Participation: Politics

‐ Introduction to Digital Media and Democracy
(http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11464&mode=toc)
‐ Michel De Certeau – “General Introduction” to The Practice of Everyday Life
(http://www.ubu.com/papers/de_certeau.html)
‐ Film - Us Now (http://www.usnowfilm.com/)

Week Fourteen (November 24) - Shifting Models of Public / Private

‐ Wendy Chun – “Introduction” from Control and Freedom
(http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10606&mode=toc)
‐ Wendy Chun - “Why Cyberspace?” from Control and Freedom (TBD)
‐ Kurt Opsahl - “A Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users”
(http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/bill-privacy-rights-social-network-users)
‐ Andrew J. Blumberg and Peter Eckersley - “On Locational Privacy and How to Avoid
Losing It Forever” (http://www.eff.org/wp/locational-privacy)
‐ Aspen Baker - “Social Media ≠ Public Exposure: Lessons in Private Networking for
Social Change” (http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2010/04/guest-post-by-aspen-baker-
social-media-public-exposure-lessons-in-private-networking-for-social-chan.html)

Week Fifteen (December 1) – Wrap Up

‐ Zittrain – The Future of the Internet-- And How to Stop It

Final Papers are due December 15 by 12:00 pm in my office.