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There will be weekly readings. The number of readings assigned is low, but difficulty level of most readings is high.  You will be asked to deal with material that is often quite challenging in its language and theoretical positions. You should expect to read about 20-50 pages a week, and write a brief summary/comment on each text you read. You are responsible for not only reading all the material assigned to you, but engaging with it before class in a way that prepares you to participate in class discussion. .  In order to do this, you will need to read most articles two or three times slowly, take careful reading notes, and review your notes before each class.  The readings shall be used not only for class discussion, but also to support your arguments on the mid-term exam, presentation, and final exam.

All texts are available online as PDF documents, through this Web site and the NCSU library online reserves. A few new ones may will be also available on the Web. However, you should not rely on Internet connection.

Warning: Download/print all texts at the beggining of the semester so you can have them with you ahead of time. I won't accept late blog posts due to internet problems.

Note: All students must regurlary check e-mails, as well as the class Website, for messages and readings from this course.

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Required Readings:

Aarseth, E. (2003). Nonlinearity and literary theory. In N. Wardrip-Fruin & N. Montfort (Eds.), The new media reader (pp. 761-780). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Originally published at: G. Landow (1994). Hyper/Text/Theory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Abbate, J. (1999). Popularizing the Internet. In Inventing the Internet (pp. 181-220). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Briggs, A. & Burke, P. (2002). Processes and patterns [part 1] [part 2]. In A social history of the media: From Gutenberg to the Internet (pp. 121-187). Cambridge, UK: Polity; Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Briggs, A. & Burke, P. (2002). Information, Education, Entertainment. In A social history of the media: From Gutenberg to the Internet (pp. 216-265). Cambridge, UK: Polity; Malden, MA: Blackwell. [THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ON ONLINE RESERVES. THE BOOK IS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY]

Farley, T. (2005). Mobile telephone history. Telektronikk, 3 (4), 22-34.

Hayles, N. K. (1999). The condition of virtuality. In P. Lunenfeld (Ed.). The digital dialectic: New essays on new media (pp. 68-94). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Hobart, M., & Schiffman, Z. (1988). Printing and the rupture of classification. In Information ages: Literacy, numeracy, and the computer revolution (pp. 87-111). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Interactive audiences? The "collective intelligence" of media fans". In Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture (pp. 134-151). New York: New York University Press.

Kellerman, A. (2006). Technologies. In Personal mobilities (pp. 72-108). London, New York: Routledge.

Manovich, L. (2001). What's new media? In The language of new media (pp. 18-61). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. [THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ON ONLINE RESERVES. THE BOOK IS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY]

Manovich, L. (2001). The interface. In The language of new media (pp. 62-93). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. [THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ON ONLINE RESERVES. THE BOOK IS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY]

Manovich, L. (2001). The forms: The database. In The language of new media (pp. 218-233). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. [THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ON ONLINE RESERVES. THE BOOK IS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY]

Manovich, L. (2001). The forms: Navigable space [part 1] [part 2]. In The language of new media (pp. 244-285). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Nielsen, S. E., Smith, J. H., & Tosca, S. P. (2008). History [part 1] [part 2]. In Understading video games: The essential introduction (pp. 45-96). New York: Routledge.