NCSU Department of Communication

COM257-001::Media History & Theory
Instructor: Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva

 

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Part I: Concepts for the study of (New) Media


 

Weeks Days Topics Readings due Presentations Classroom activities Assignments

0

Th.
01.08

 

course overview        
1
Tu. 01.13

 

Introduction: What is New Media? Manovich, "What's new media?" (pp. 18-61)

 

 
Blog post 01
Th.
01.15
 

Discussion: What is New Media? + concepts

talk about scholarly sources

choose working groups

 
2
Tu. 01.20 Interface Manovich, "The Interface" (pp. 62-93)   - Xerox PARC Blog post 02

Th. 01.22

 

 

 

 

Discussion:
- articles: interface of 21st century
- Jeff Hann demo

 

 

3 Tu. 01.27 Databases Manovich, "The forms: The database" (pp. 218-243)     Blog post 03
Tu. 01.29       Discussion: Memex  
4

Tu. 02.03

Mobility / Speed

 

 

 

 

Kellerman, "Technologies" (pp. 72-108)

 


Blog post 04
Th. 02.05    

 

Discussion

 

 

5
Tu. 02.10 Augmented Spaces

Manovich, "The poetics of augmented spaces"

    Blog post 05
Th. 02.12  

 

 

Presentation 01:
1. Itinerant (Teri Rueb)
2. Amodal Suspension (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer)
3. Loopt

By Derrick Black, Sara Nussbacher, and Faeben Fulford

 

Give questions Mid-term

6
Tu. 02.17 Information / Materiality

 

   

 

 

Mid-term due

 

Th. 02.19   Hayles, "The condition of virtuality" (pp. 68-94)

Presentation 02:
1. Myst (Millers)
2. The ornament of grammar (Andre Kopra)

By Casey Popplin, and Steven Jenkins

 


Blog post 06

 


Part II: "When old technologies were new"

 

7
Tu. 02.24 Book / Print

 

Hobart & Schiffman, "Printing and the rupture of classification" (pp. 87-111)

 

   

Blog post 07

 

Th. 02.26

 

 

 

Presentation 03:
1. Dead Sea Scrolls (150 B.C. - 70 A.D)
2. The Book of Kells (795 - 806 A.D.)
3. 42-line Bible (Gutenberg)

By Matt Bowman, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya, and Gabrielle Bennett

 

Discussion  
8
Tu. 03.03 No class - Spring Break
Th. 03.05 No class - Spring Break
9 Tu.
03.10
19th century technologies (train, telephone, telegraph)

Carey, "Technology and ideology" (pp. 201-230)  

 

 

Blog post 08

Th. 03.12

 

   

Presentation 04:
1. The great train robbery (Edwin S. Porter)
2. The Lonedale Operator (D.W. Griffith)

By Jessica Highsmith, and Marie Basista

 

Discussion

 
10

Tu. 03.17 The Age of Broadcasting (radio and TV) Briggs & Burke, "Information, Education, Entertainment" (pp. 216-233)

Videos:
- Radio Days

Discussion:
Radio articles
Blog post 9

 

 

Th. 03.19  

Briggs & Burke, "Information, Education, Entertainment" (pp. 233-266)

Presentation 05:
1. The War of the Worlds (1938, H.G. Wells)
2. Beat the clock (CBS, 1950-1958)
3. Tonight (CBS, 1957)

By Beth Hopper, Lauren Lopez-Ibaniez, and Jessica Swanner

 


Blog post 10



Part III: How to understand New Media as Media


11

Tu. 03.24

E-text (Hypertext, Cybertext, Technotext)

 

Aarseth, "Nolinearity and literary theory" (pp. 766-776)

    Blog post 11
Th. 03.26  

 

 

Presentation 06:
1. Xanadu (Ted Nelson)
2. Afternoon, A Story (Michael Joyce)
3. Adventure (Crowther & Woods)

By Nicole Moering, Amanda Bergeron, and Julia Whelan

 

   
12

 

Tu. 03.31

Internet

 

 

Abbate, "Popularizing the Internet" (pp. 181-220)

 

   

Blog post 12

Th. 04.02

 

 

 

Presentation 07:
1. Usenet (Tom Truscott & Jim Ellis)
2. BBS (Ward Christensen)
3. Packet Switching

By Hubert Williams, Lauren Leslie, and Ryan Wood

 

 

 

13
Tu.
04.07
Web 2.0

O'Reilly, "What is web 2.0?" (pp. 17-37)

 

 

   

Blog post 13

Th. 04.09

 

 

 

 

Presentation 08:
1. Naspter
2. Open Diary (Brice Ableson)
3. Cyworld

By Josh Andrassy, Charlene Thomas, and Tara Wakeley

 

Discussion

 

 
14
Tu. 04.14 Gaming

MUDs History chart

Games History table

Jull, "Introduction" (pp. 1-22)

 

 

    Blog post 14
Th. 04.16  

 

 

Presentation 09:
1. Senet
2. Dungeons and Dragons (Gygax and Arneson)
3. SpaceWar!
4. Wolfenstein 3D

By Carter Neely, Liz Cervantes, and Will Lamb

 

Discussion

 

 

15

Tu. 04.21 Mobile Media

History of cell phones table

Farley, "Mobile telephone history" (pp. 22-34)

 

 

   

Blog post 15

 

Th. 04.23

Final class discussion       Give questions final exam
16
Finals week
Tu. 04.28 Finals week (no class)      


 

Th. 04.30 Finals week (no class)       Final exam due