CS3750 Spring 2015
NOTE: Syllabus subject to change
Section: PMWA
Course Time: Tuesday, Thursday | 2:30pm – 3:45pm
Instructor: Anderson Evans
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: By Appointment
Course Blog: https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/newmedia2015
This version of the syllabus is tentative (in regards to hw listings). I reserve
the right to change this syllabus until February 10th. The score distribution,
rules regarding plagiarism, the midterm proposal expectations, and final project
will not change.
Homework: 30 pts
Attendance: 15 pts
Mid-Term Proposal: 25 pts
Final Project: 30 pts
Course Description:
“This course presents an intensive survey of Web 2.0 technologies–social networking, blogs, wikis, microblogging, virtual communities, video sharing, social bookmarking, recommendation systems, etc.–and their impact on both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Topics covered include the history of and major influences on today’s social media; convergence of technology; trends toward increased democratization and globalization; recommendation systems; crowdsourcing; concerns relating to privacy and confidentiality; and the implications for business in today’s highly interconnected world. The use of social media technologies in the service of organizational learning will be explored in depth.” –from official course catalog.
I will add that we will be framing this class as a class that examines software. In both my New Media course and Social Media course I am interested in giving you tools with which you can engage in these media spaces moving forward with higher level deliverables and a more cogent understanding of the networks through which one engages when deploying media over networks (most of which can, and should, be considered social).
Every Tuesday we will discuss assigned texts and assigned video. Every Thursday I will demonstrate the use of various open source software packages that will be used for the midterm proposal, the final project, and beyond.
You are not expected to know any programming, or even any markup (HTML/XML/MD, etc). You will be expected to know very rudimentary aspects of HTML, as well as a basic understanding of the software demonstrated by the end of this course. By the time you are working on your final you should have all the tools to continue a move toward proficiency with at least one of the major software packages demonstrated.
Plagiarism:
The Baruch Policy on Academic Honesty [available at: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html] defines plagiarism as “the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writing as your own.” If plagiarism is detected, I will have to take action which would include failing and reporting to the college. For a full rundown on what constitutes plagiarism, visit http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/tutorials/plagiarism/summary.htm.
I take this very seriously. While I will encourage the use of open source code/markup for purposes of function, stealing blog posts and rewording wikipedia entries (this is especially true in regards to your midterm and your final) will result in a failing grade. We will go over the differences of cutting and pasting code that has been designed with the intention of free use, the cutting and pasting of research and writing without proper citation is as serious an offense as there is in academia, and I will treat it as such.
Midterm Proposal:
Prop A:
You will create an html document composed of six blog posts, with minimal styling and images.
In 3 of these posts you will describe your use of one piece of software demoed in class that you are most interested in utilizing in your final. You are expected to write these in clear English and use citations when necessary. If you have difficulty with written English, you can exceed technical expectations.
In the other 3 posts you will speak directly to goals you have for your final project. What are you worried about,
what you are excited about, and how you plan to challenge yourself.
Prop B:
If you are not happy with your score in Prop A you will have the opportunity to make suggested changes and your Prop B grade will be averaged with your Prop A grade.
Final Project:
You will accomplish goals laid out in the midterm proposal. You will take 15 to 20 screenshots of your process and
include with your final deliverable an explanation these screenshots and your techniques.
Some examples of past student final projects:
* A 5 minute video documentary about the comic book character Deadpool
* Using Project Gutenberg for a javascript enhanced ebook
* A report describing the history of the Duke Nukem video game franchise
* A blog with video and animated gifs about living in the US after being raised in Africa
NOTE: More explicit homework assignments will be found week to week on the course blog
and the following should be seen as an outline. I reserve the right to add, remove,
and alter topics if I so choose.
Week 1:
Introduction to free and open source media software
Week 2:
Syllabus Overview | Understanding Open Source & Open Access | What is New Media
Using Atom | Introduction to VOCAT
Week 3:
Historical Contexts and Present Day Disruptions
Introduction to Gimp
Week 4:
Napster and Millennial Tech Disruption
Film: Downloaded
Gimp and Atom | Introduction to HTML styling
Week 5:
From Film to Digital Video & New/Social Media Narrative Techniques
Film: All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace | The Loving Trap
Blender, VLC, and Gimp: Creating The Animated Gif
Week 6:
Open Source/Creative Commons Content and The Internet Archive
Film: Remix
Content Deployment from Github to Tumblr
Week 7:
Midterm Review
Week 8:
Non-Linear Editing and Law of Accelerating Returns
Blender: Video Production
Week 9:
Gamergate and Feminist Critique of Game Industry
Videos: Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency
DOSBox: ZZT, Autodesk Animator, etc | Digital Archeology
Week 10:
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Blender + Unity
Week 11:
Youtube PewDiePie Media Virality
Chroma-keying | Green screen in Gimp
Week 12:
Readings TBA
Screencasting
Week 13:
Final Project Review
Week 14:
Video: Black Mirror – The Waldo Moment