English 312 Cinema and Digital Culture for DAC conceptual credit

Wow, check this course out for the Spring, For DAC conceptual credit elective.
  
English 312: Topics in Film Studies
Cinema and Digital Culture
Spring 2011

Instructor: Tami Williams
Office: Curtin 474 (by appt.) or our D2L site “Questions” forum.
E-mail: tamiw@uwm.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

From the kinetoscope to the iPhone, moving image culture has never stopped reinventing or making itself anew. We will examine the nature of "new media" from a wide variety of perspectives: technological, economic, and particularly cultural and aesthetic. We will look at how new media, such as digital photography, video games, virtual reality, and the World Wide Web, refashion earlier media forms, such as cinema, as well as how the latter is itself influenced by emerging media. In addition to the shifts and changes effected by digital technologies in contemporary society, we will consider the place of the Self within the context of new media. To this end, in addition to reading critical texts, students will have opportunities to explore these questions on a personal and practical level, from blogging to video gaming. Class discussions will focus on weekly readings, film viewings and web visits.

There are no prerequisites for this course and you are not required to have any prior knowledge of media studies. However, you are expected to treat the material as a legitimate object of study. We will begin with the premise that film, and digital media offer much more than “entertainment” and, accordingly, a study of these forms is a serious undertaking that requires rigor and diligence.

ENG 417 Procedure and Play for DAC practicum credit

An awesome course that can be substituted for DAC Practicum credits.

Who Should Take This Class:

The class is intended for creative writers and students of literature who are interested in formal experiments in language and media, both current incarnations and historical foundations. While not addressed specifically to digital game culture, this class does stake out the intersection of language and play, where the line between text and game evaporates. An interest in games and interactive media is probably a plus; likewise, any commitment to exploration and experiment, or fascination with form.

There are no technical requirements or pre-requisites. This not a class in programming, computer science, or media design (though it will touch all three). You may benefit from previous study of Web technologies (HTML and CSS), but no such background is assumed. You will write some original code in this class, but you will be able to use existing models and templates. If you find it easier to tackle technical challenges collaboratively, you will have an option to work on some assignments in small groups.

About the Instructor

Stuart Moulthrop joined the UWM faculty as Professor of English in the fall of 2010. He has taught previously at Yale, the University of Texas, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Baltimore, where he co-founded the School of Information Arts and Technologies and helped create an undergraduate program in game and simulation design. An award-winning multimedia artist, Moulthrop serves on the board of the Electronic Literature Organization, the first international advocacy group for born-digital, word-based writing.

See preliminary syllabus here.

Conceptual DAC course Spring 2011

English 253 Science Fiction



In 1901, absurdist playwright Alfred Jarry penned what he called a “neo- scientific novel,” The Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, in which he developed the theory of pataphysics – a “science of imaginary solutions.”

Using some simple ideas derived from Jarry, we will explore how novelists, poets, artists and filmmakers of the past century infused concepts of science and technology with imagination and humor in ways that warp, stretch, and rearrange popular expectations of “sci-fi.” We will read a handful of short novels, as well as novel excerpts, scientific essays, articles, manifestos, websites, and short stories (provided in .pdf format on D2L), covering a range of topics: time travel, quantum physics, alternate realities, cyborgs, and bio-engineering to name just a few.

Questions? Contact instructor: Matt Trease CRT 518 mjtrease@uwm.edu

MTAA-Participatory Performance Group at UWM

From DAC-fac, Nathaniel Stern
http://nathanielstern.com

MTAA: a PowerPoint lecture + some other stuff
Wednesday, 12/08/2010, 7:00pm - 8:00PM
Arts Center Lecture Hall, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Part of the Artists Now! Lecture Series
Free and open to the public


Since 1996, Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden have partnered as MTAA, incorporating participatory performances, group installations, aesthetic decision by popular vote and creative collaborations into their worked.
This talk includes a participatory art work!

More info: http://mteww.com/
Sponsored by Peck School of the Arts
Contact: Michael Passmore, passmom@uwm.edu, 414-229-6052