MDST110-1 (Schedule
#
93859)
University of Virginia
Fall 2004
MW 2:00-3:15 :: 108 Clark Hall
Mr. David Golumbia
Office: 304B Bryan
Fall 2004 Office Hours: T 1-2, W 12-2
Weds Sep 01. Introduction to the Course
No reading assignment
Mon Sep 06. Lecture 1. Introduction to Digital Media Studies
Required reading: Marshall McLuhan, "The Medium Is the Message"; Gary Chapman, "Making Sense out of Nonsense"
Wed Sep 08. Lecture 2. The Idea of the Computer and Its Logical Foundations (pre-1800)
Required reading: Martin Davis, Engines of Logic, Chapter 1: "Leibniz's Dream"
Recommended reading: Martin Davis, Engines of Logic, Chapter 2: "Boole Turns Logic Into Algebra"
Mon Sep 13. Lecture 3. The "Early Industrial History" of the Computer (1800-1900)
Required reading: Computer, Chapters 1 and 3
Wed Sep 15. Lecture 4. The First Computers: From Colossus to UNIVAC (1900-1950)
Required reading: Computer, Chapters 2 and 4; Martin Davis, Engines of Logic, Chapter 8: "Making the First Universal Computers"
Recommended reading: Martin Davis, Engines of Logic, Chapter 7: "Turing Conceives of the All-Purpose Computer"
Mon Sep 20. Lecture 5. The Rise of Mainframe Computing (1950-1970)
Required reading: Computer, Chapters 5 and 6
Recommended reading: Computer, Chapter 7
Wed Sep 22. Lecture 6. Computers on the Desktop: From Workstations to PCs (1970-1990)
Required reading: Computer, Chapters 10 and 11
Recommended reading: Computer, Chapter 9
Mon Sep 27. Lecture 7. The Internet and the World Wide Web (1990 to the present)
Required reading: Computer, Chapter 12; Tim Berners-Lee et. al., "The World Wide Web"
Wed Sep 29. Lecture 8. Alan Turing, John von Neumann, Norbert Wiener
Required reading: Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
Recommended reading: Norbert Wiener, "Men, Machines, and the World About" (toolkit; also in New Media Reader)
Mon Oct 04. Lecture 9. Vannevar Bush, Douglas Engelbart, Ted Nelson
Required reading: Vannevar Bush, "As We May Think"
Recommended reading: Engelbart, "Augmenting Human Intellect" (toolkit; also in New Media Reader)
Wed Oct 06. Lecture 10. Software (Operating Systems, Programs, Languages, and Databases)
Required reading: Computer, Chapter 8
Mon Oct 11. No class. Reading period
Wed Oct 13. Lecture 11. Cyberspace, Cyborgs, and Artificial Intelligence
Required reading: Bill Nichols, "The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems"
Recommended reading: Martin Davis, Engines of Logic, Chapter 9: "Beyond Leibniz's Dream"
Mon Oct 18. Lecture 12. Computers and Commerce
Required reading: Robert McChesney, "So Much for the Magic of Technology and the Free Market "
Wed Oct 20. Midterm Exam. During regular class period; please bring a blue book to the exam. Click here for exam questions.
Mon Oct 25. Lecture 13. Computers and Globalization
Required reading: Oliver Boyd-Barret, "U.S. Global Cyberspace"
Wed Oct 27. Lecture 14. Digital Communication: Email, IM, Bulletin Boards, Wireless
Required reading:
H. Peter Alesso and Craig F. Smith, “Wireless Personal Area Networks”
Mon Nov 01. Lecture 15. Computerized Maps and Geographic Information Systems
No reading assignment
Wed Nov 03. Lecture 16. Digital Communities and the "Digital Divide"
Required reading: Marc Warschauer, "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide"
Mon Nov 08. Lecture 17. Gender in Digital Media
Required reading: Sherry Turkle, "TinySex and Gender Trouble"
Recommended reading: Donna Haraway, "A Cyborg Manifesto" (toolkit; also in New Media Reader)
Wed Nov 10. Lecture 18. Race in Digital Media
Required reading: Lisa Nakamura,"Menu-Driven Identities: Making Race Happen Online"
Recommended reading: Kali Tal, "The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: African-American Critical Theory and Cyberculture" (online)
Mon Nov 15. Lecture 19. Video Games and Computer Games
Required reading: Sherry Turkle, "Video Games and Computer Holding Power"
Wed Nov 17. Lecture 20. Game Genres: FPS, RTS, RPG, MMORPG
Required reading: Gonzalo Frasca, "Sim Sin City: Some Thoughts about Grand Theft Auto 3"
Recommended reading: Mikael Jakobsson and T. L. Taylor, "The Sopranos Meets EverQuest" (toolkit)
Mon Nov 22. Lecture 21. The Digital Self: Blogs, Home Pages, Genealogies, Romances
Required reading: Joseph Weizenbaum, "Introduction"; Sherry Turkle, "Aspects of the Self"
Wed Nov 24. No class. Thanksgiving holiday
Mon Nov 29. Lecture 22. Digital Transformations: "Old" and "New" Media
Required reading: Michael Allen, "The Impact of Digital Technologies on Film Aesthetics"
Wed Dec 01. Lecture 23. Digital Legal Studies: Open Source, Intellectual Property, Spam
Required reading: John Perry Barlow, "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace"
Recommended reading: Lawrence Lessig, "The Architecture of Innovation" (toolkit)
Mon Dec 06. Lecture 24. Hacking, "Cyberterrorism," and Viruses
Required reading: Paul Graham, "Hackers and Painters"
Wed Dec 08. Lecture 25. Simulation and Virtuality
Required reading: Sherry Turkle, "Virtuality and Its Discontents"
Sat Dec 18. Final Exam. 2:00pm-5:00pm (in regular lecture room, 108 Clark Hall). Please bring a blue book to the exam. Click here for exam questions.
Last updated December 5, 2004 .