ESTHETICS AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY
STS 348, Spring 2005
Professor Chris Funkhouser
Office: 314 Cullimore Hall
Hours: Tuesday 3-5 & by appointment
Mail: Humanities Department, NJIT, University Heights Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: 973.596.6335
E-Mail: funkhouser@adm.njit.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course aims to lay bare the interrelationships among technology and other human enterprises that shape a society, paying special attention to the arts, and thereby to understand society in terms of its various dynamics. A central activity in the course is the pursuit of certain definitions, with an eye to the human technological enterprise; these definitions--of sublimity, beauty, art and esthetics--shade one into the other, as each helps to comprehend the others and technology as well. This course will be conducted in WebCT (http://webct.njit.edu) and via the WWW as of January 21, 2005.
COURSE BOOKS
Hardison, O. B. Disappearing through the Skylight. New York: Viking Penguin, 1989. (This book is out of print but there are used copies available from various sources; it can be purchased from the NJIT bookstore as a photocopy that is not especially inexpensive.)
Hayles, N. Katherine. Writing Machines. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002. The website that accompanies this book, MEDIAWORK will also be used.
Supplementary *required* materials appear as links below, and will be introduced throughout the course. Every link on the syllabus is a required "text" for the course.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS (Books will be made available at NJIT Library by February 1):
Drucker, Johanna. Figuring the Word: Essays on Books, Writing, and Visual Poetics. New
York: Granary Books, 1998.Perloff, Marjorie. Radical Artifice: Writing Poetry in the Age of Media. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Phillips, Tom. A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel.
Other books may also be recommended and made available at the Library. Links will be added here &/or below.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Weekly contributions (meaning more than one) to, and readings of, WebCT discussion; I will read these postings, in part, as reading responses, so they should be substantive and thoughtful but may also be conversational. Digressions, as long as they somehow relate to the topic at hand, are welcome. Any student may suggest a topic to be added to the WebCT board.
2. Brief (1000 word) midterm essay/project in response to any concepts, idea, or work introduced by Benjamin, Hardison, or other course materials. If you are capable of creating a WWW site, I would prefer that the essay/project is presented online as hypertext; alternatively the assignment can be produced as an audiofile, video, or as a flash animation of comparable effort. Work produced in alternative formats must be accompanied with a thorough explanatory note. A proposal for your essay / project must be submitted by 2/15 (this should consist of a Working Title, Thesis Statement in a single sentence only, Paragraph Summary that describes how you will prove your argument and/or present your work, along with a Bibliography of at least three sources). Please email (funkhouser@adm.njit.edu), send links, or otherwise submit-in-full by Friday, March 11.
3. End of term paper/project. A 2000-word end of term research paper, or equivalent media-based project with a polemical, argumentative and analytical premise, is due on 5/3. The essay or project should vigourously respond to any concept, idea, or work introduced in the course. If you are capable of creating a WWW site, I would prefer that the essay/project is presented online as hypertext; alternatively the assignment can be produced as an audiofile, video, or as a flash animation of comparable effort. Work produced in alternative formats must be accompanied with a thorough explanatory note. A proposal for your essay / project must be submitted for approval and deliberation by 4/1 (this should consist of a Working Title, Thesis Statement in a single sentence only, Paragraph Summary that describes how you will prove your argument and/or present your work, along with a Bibliography of at least three sources). Please email (funkhouser@adm.njit.edu), send links, or otherwise submit-in-full by May 3.
Please note: All papers must be word processed, double-spaced with one inch margins, spell-checked, and to the best of one's ability grammar-checked. If on occasion use is made of the ideas or words of someone else in one's writing, then the source(s) of those ideas and/or words must be cited; that is, when appropriate, papers must be fully documented (you must cite sources--using footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical documentation, which include specific page numbers keyed to particular passages in your text, and complete bibliographical information). PAPERS NOT MEETING ALL OF THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE READ AND WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT. Papers should be submitted by mail or e-mail as.doc attachments.
4. Final brief exam will be conducted via email (5/3-5/5).
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 (by 1/23): Introduction to the course, student introductions.
Week 2 (by 1/30): Read "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin. See, also, the Flash movies that accompany the following iteration of the essay (http://pages.emerson.edu/Courses/spring00/in123/workofart/benjamin.htm) and also the following Powerpoint presentation (http://faculty.washington.edu/barbwarn/cmu404spcmu422/newmediaslides/Benjamin_files/frame.htm#slide0001.htm). Maintain discussion about the essay and ideas presented on WebCT during this and next week.
Week 3 (by 2/6): See/rent early film by Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times. Discuss on WebCT. Review UbuWeb and PennSound links to be added. Note: you should be able to find this video at any major video rental store or via Netflix.
Week 4 (by 2/13): Hardison xi-72. Links to be added.
Week 5 (by 2/20): See/rent film by Fritz Lang, Metropolis (Note: Get the 2002 restored and edited version). Discuss this and previous readings on WebCT.
Week 6 (by 2/27): Hardison 73-212. Links to be added.
Week 7 (by 3/6): Hardison 213-350.
Week 8: MIDTERM ESSAY / PROJECT DUE 3/11
Week 9 (by 3/20): Hayles 4-45.
Week 10 (by 3/27): Hayles 46-64. Other online works for viewing will be posted.
Week 11 (by 4/3): Hayles 64-99. See, also, if possible, Drucker, Johanna, Figuring the Word: A Century of Artist's Books (on reserve).
Week 12 (by 4/10): Hayles 100-143.
Week 13 (by 4/17): Aarseth, Espen. Online essay, Introduction to Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Other WWW viewings to be posted.
Week 14 (by 4/24): WWW viewings to be posted.
Week 15 (ends 5/3). END OF TERM PAPER / PROJECT DUE BY 5/3. FINAL EXAM WILL BE SENT OUT 5/3, DUE back 5/5.
COURSE GRADING
Class participation (i.e. WebCT) 30%
Midterm Essay / Project 20%
End of Term Research Paper/Project 30%
Final Examination 20%