PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS
25 Aug 04
CTIN 511: Interactive Media Seminar
Professor: Michael Naimark
Semester: Fall 2004
Location: Interactive Media Lab, room CSS G142
Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Plus: IM Faculty Talks, weekly beginning on September 8, 6:00-8:00pm, in the ZML
Description
This course will focus on fundamentals, current developments, and future projections of Interactive Media Art and Technology. Emphasis will be on comprehension of fundamental principles and understanding the underlying production processes involved in making works of interactivity in stand-alone, immersive, and networked environments. It is hoped that through these cultural, scholarly, and technical intersections, MFA students will be aided in the achievement of a stronger focus and clearer vision for their careers in the field of interactive media.
The course is organized around the major themes addressed by the IM Division: Games, Immersion, and Mobile Media, as well as critical thinking skills for understanding Interactive Media as an emerging discipline. This organization is based on weekly IM faculty lectures taking place after each class, open to the entire IM community. Each week we will focus on a particular topic, related to the faculty presentation.
Becoming familiar with the histories and practices of the IM faculty community serves several complementary functions: 1) it familiarizes students with basic concepts and issues surrounding Interactive Media, 2) it orients the students around the core people, values, and practices of the IM Division, 3) it enlivens the faculty presentations with informed questions and discussion.
Grading Structure
This is a credit/no credit class based on 1) attendance and participation, 2) weekly commentary posted on their individual blogs, and 3) two short presentations through the course of the semester based on the weekly topic.
Course Requirements
Open to (and required of) second year, first semester MFA Interactive Media students only.
Schedule
Week 1: Introductions, course overview, a look at the past 25 years
Week 2: (Scott)
Weeks 3-15: Topics to be determined to coincide with IM Faculty presentations
Suggested Readings
- Shaw, J & Weibel, P, Eds., Future Cinema (MIT Press, 2003)
- Galloway, A, Protocol (MIT Press 2004)
- Card, O.S., Ender’s Game (Doherty/Tor, 1977)
- Coyne, D., Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age (MIT Press, 1995)
- Dodsworth, Clark, Ed. Digital Illusion: Entertaining the Future with High Technology (Addison-Wesley, 1998)
- Druckery, T. ed., Electronic Culture: Technology and Visual Representation (Aperture, 1996)
- Heim, Michael Virtual Realism (Oxford University Press, 1998)
- Krueger, Myron Artificial Reality II (Addison-Wesley 1991)
- Laurel, B. The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design (Addison-Wesley, 1990)
- Manovich, Lev, The Language of New Media (MIT Press, 2001)
- Moser A. and D. MacLeod ed., Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments (MIT Press, 1996)
- Murray, Janet, Hamlet on the Holodeck: The future of narrative in Cyberspace (Simon & Shuster, 1997)
- Negroponte, N., Being Digital (Knopf, 1995)
- Ohta, Yoichi, Tamura, Hideyuki, eds. Mixed Reality, (Ohmsha / Springer-Verlag 1999).
- Raby, Fiona & Anthony Dunne, Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (Birkhauser, 2001)
- Rheingold, H., Virtual Reality (Summit Books, 1991)
- Rheingold, H., The Virtual Community (Addison-Wesley, 1993)
- Rheingold, H., Smart Mobs (Perseus Books, 2002)
- Singhal, S. and Zyda, M, Networked Virtual Environments, (Addison Wesley 1999)
- Sherman, W. and Craig, A. Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface Application and Design (Morgan Kauffman, 2003)
- Sommerer, C & Mignonneau, L, , eds. Art @ Science (Springer Verlag, 1998)
- Stephenson, N., The Diamond Age (Bantam, 1995)
- Wardrip-Fruin, Noah, The New Media Reader (MIT Press, 2003)
- Wilson, Stephen, Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology (MIT Press, 2001)
Periodicals
- Presence (MIT Press)
- ID magazine
- Axis Magazine (Japan)
- Game Developer
- IEEE Computer Graphics
- IEEE MultiMedia
- Wired (duh)
Missing an Exam, Incompletes
Though this is a pass/no pass class, USC standards still hold: The only acceptable excuses for taking an incomplete in the course are personal illnesses or a family emergency. Students must inform the professor before the exam and present verifiable evidence in order for a make-up to be scheduled. Students who with to take incompletes must also present documentation of the problem to the instructor before final grades are due.
Academic Integrity
The School of Cinema-Television expects the highest standards of academic excellence and ethical performance from USC students. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism, cheating on exams, submitting a paper to more than one instructor, or submitting a paper authored by anyone other than yourself. Violations of this policy will result in a failing grade and be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. If you have any doubts or questions about these policies, consult “SCAMPUS” and/or confer with the Professor or Department Chair.
Students with Disabilities
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure that the letter is delivered to the Professor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30am – 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.