Syllabus:

Digital Media Aesthetics

COURSE SCHEDULE (Subject to Revision) 

All unlinked readings and games appear on Canvas. Most (but not all) digital media works we are analyzing in this course are freely accessible online.

We will be using Discord, and not email, for course communication.

Week 1: Media Aesthetics and Medium Specificity in Digital Media

January 10

  • Understanding Media (Marshall McLuhan, “Introduction,” p. 3-6)
  • “Media Aesthetics” (WJT Mitchell, p. 111-123)

January 12

  • Hamlet on the Holodeck (Janet Murray, “Introduction: A Book Lover Longs for Cyberdrama,” p. 9-16, and “Chapter 3: From Additive to Expressive Form,” p. 68-96)
  • Braid (Jonathan Blow, 5-6 hours to complete the entire game, but you are only required to finish World 2 and World 3, try one level in each of the worlds, and watch the final level and epilogue on YouTube)
  • Introduction to Game Analysis (Clara Fernández-Vara, p. 86-116)

Week 2: Interactivity: Forms of Electronic Literature

January 17: NO CLASS MLK Jr. Day

January 19

Week 3: Identity: Identification and Performance

January 24

  • Guest Visit: Amanda Phillips
  • Passage (game, Jason Rohrer, 5 minutes) and Passage Mod (game mod, Mitu Khandaker, 5 minutes)
  • Female Experience Simulator (Twine game, Alyson Macdonald)
  • “Does Anyone Really Identify with Lara Croft?” in Gaming at the Edge (Adrienne Shaw, p. 55-96)
  • “Does Anyone Really Identify with FemShep?” (Amanda Phillips in Gamer Trouble, p. 137-170)
  • “Poetics of Form and Politics of Identity; Or, Games as Cultural Palimpsests” (Soraya Murray, p. 47-87)

January 26

  • Facade (interactive theater, Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern)
  • Gone Home (game, Fulbright)
  • Expressive Processing (Noah Wardrip-Fruin, p. 1-19)

January 28

  • Detroit: Become Human play session in Weston Game Lab

 Week 4: Comparative Media Aesthetics: Film and Video Games

January 31

February 2

  • Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope, 8 hours to complete the entire game, but you are only required to finish approximately 50% for class: precise instructions given in class)
  • “Origins of the First-Person Shooter” in Gaming (Alexander Galloway, p. 39-69)
  • Unpacking (Witch Beam, 3.5 hours)
  • “Game Design as Narrative Architecture” (Henry Jenkins, online)

February 4: CLOSE READING PAPER DUE

 Week 5: Temporality: Slow Games and Phatic Media

February 7

February 9

February 11: FINAL PROJECT ABSTRACT DUE 

Week 6: Spatiality: Navigable Spaces and Environmental Media

February 14

  • Proteus (game, Ed Key and David Kanaga)
  • Last Days In a Lonely Place (Machinima, Phil Solomon)
  • “Navigable Space” (Lev Manovich in The Language of New Media, p. 213-243)
  • “Immersion” (Janet Murray in Hamlet on the Holodeck, p. 98-122) 

February 15

  • Special Session at Weston Game Lab: Stardew Valley Coop

February 16

  • Phone Story (Molleindustria)
  • “Entropy” (Alenda Chang, Playing Nature, p. 145-186)

Week 7: Relationality and Network Aesthetics

February  21

February 23

  • Kind Words (networked experience)
  • This Discord Has Ghosts in It (Discord game)
  • “Participatory Aesthetics: Network Games” (Patrick Jagoda from Network Aesthetics)

Week 8: Netprov and Improvisation

February 28

March 2

  • Terrarium and ECHO short documentaries
  • “Alternate Reality Games: Transmedia Aesthetics and Other Virtualities” (Marc Downie and Patrick Jagoda)

Week 9: Tactical Media and Oppositional Aesthetics for Web 3.0

March 7

  • “Introduction” to Tactical Media (Rita Raley, Introduction, p. 1-30)
  • “We Become What We Behold” (Nicky Case game)
  • “Wait, then Give Up: Lethargy and the Reticence of Digital Art” (Tung-Hui Hu)
  • “Clicks” from Modeling Big Data (video of artwork, Katherine Behar)
  • “Black Data,” (Shaka McGlotten, No Tea, No Shade: New Writing in Black Queer Studies, p. 262-286)
  • “Facial Weaponization Communiqué” (video of artwork, Zach Blas).

March 9

March 11: Final Due

*****

GRADING

  • Attendance, Discussion in Class, and Participation in Stardew Valley sessions: 20%
  • Blog Posts (3 Entries): 20%
  • Close Reading Paper (3 pages): 15%
  • Final Paper Abstract (300 words): 5%
  • Final Research Paper (12-15 pages): 40%

ASSIGNMENTS

Blog Posts and Responses: Over the course of the quarter, you will contribute to a class blog (located on this site) through original posts and responses to your peers. These short posts are intended to influence and extend the conversations we have during our shared meetings. You are required to post at least 3 entries over the course of the quarter. Each entry should respond to that week’s media or theoretical reading, expand substantively on an ongoing topic of class discussion (without simply reproducing or documenting an exchange), or call our attention to articles or media about related phenomena. The 3 minimum entries can be posted anytime over the course of the quarter but you may post no more than one post a week for credit (so plan ahead!). Each post must also comment on a topic from the week in which it is posted (so you can’t, for instance, return to a topic from Week 2 on Week 8 unless it is in some way related to a current discussion). While the content of these entries can be wide-ranging and a touch less formal than an academic essay, you should observe formal citation standards and be mindful of your prose. You are also required to read posts by your classmates and respond briefly to at least one entry per week.

Close Reading Paper (3 pages): For this short paper, you will conduct a close reading of one of the media objects that we analyzed together between weeks 1 and 4. The emphasis here is less on a theoretical framework (though that will matter for your final paper or project), and more on an original and argument-driven interpretation of your selected media work.

Final Paper Abstract (about 300 words): About a month before the final essay is due, you will turn in a brief abstract. You can adjust your topic during the research process, but it’s useful to have a starting point — a working fiction, if you will — well in advance of the deadline. The abstract should succinctly state your argument, name your key work or object of analysis, explain the way you’re positioning your intervention in the broader scholarly field, and demonstrate why a reader would care about the argument that you’re making. The abstract should also comment upon the type of research that will be necessary to complete your work in the final month of the quarter. You can include a bibliography. Also, this exercise will connect to the final mock conference. So write the abstract as if you are submitting it to an actual conference and include the name of the conference to which you are submitting. We will play the part of a conference organizer and either accept or reject your proposed paper. 

Final Mock Conference (5 Minutes): About a week before the final research paper is due, you’ll have a chance to present a shorter version of your paper in class. You should present your argument and its implications in a clear and persuasive manner. You should also prepare the presentation, in advance, so that it fits within the allotted slot (you will be timed). Visual aids (such as PowerPoints, images, or videos) will certainly strengthen your presentation. The primary purpose of the assignment is to prepare you for conference presentations and to give you useful feedback that will help you with your final set of revisions. After your presentation, we will have a short question and answer period.

Final Paper or Creative Project (10-15 Pages): Your 10-15 page final paper can be related to any aspect of the material covered in the course. To clarify, you need not necessarily write about one of the primary texts we cover in class. For this assignment, you will work up to your final essay through an abstract and a conference presentation. If you choose to make a creative project (such as a digital game), it has to be accompanied by an artist statement that contextualizes the piece within the aesthetic categories and theoretical considerations of the term.