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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, the arts, culture more broadly, and technology as well. To avoid confusion, it may be necessary to stress here that this is a humanities course that requires a substantial amount of reading and analysis, as well as writing. Students who have trouble with humanities courses because they require a lot of analytical reading and coherent writing should not sign up for this course.
This course will
be conducted in WebCT. As soon as possible, log onto the course at
http://webct.njit.edu,
and try out some of the tutorials at the WebCT page. Also, please click
on "Welcome Message" above.
COURSE TEXTS
Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Illuminations. Tr. Harry Zohn. Ed. Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken Books, 1969. (This essay must be downloaded at: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm.)
Chaplin, Charlie. Dir. Modern
Times. [United Artists, 1936.] Warner Home Video, 2003.
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; if necessary, it can be purchased from the NJIT bookstore as a photocopy that is not especially inexpensive; the NJIT bookstore may very well have used copies of the actual book for sale.)
Heidegger, Martin. Poetry, Language, Thought. Tr. Albert Hofstadter. New York: Perennial, 1971, 2001.
Lang, Fritz. Dir. Metropolis. [Universum Film, A.G., 1927.] Restored Authorized Version. Kino Video, 2002, 2003.Perloff, Marjorie. Radical Artifice: Writing Poetry in the Age
of
Media. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991, 1994.
Rutsky, R. L. High Techne: Art and Technology from the Machine Aesthetic to the Posthuman. Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
Humanities Computing Links (various)
Modern Art and Art Movements Links
Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin
Recommended:
Bolter, Jay David, and Diane Gromala. Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003.
Mitchell, William J. The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post Photographic Era. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.
* Midterm and Final examinations, comprehensive, essay in format,
open-book;
the exam question will be sent at a certain time with a deadline for
sending
the essay in response to it..
* A Term Paper Announcement (see below), and a 1000-word end of term
research
paper (see below) that will be analytical in nature (this paper must
draw upon, and
therefore will cite within the paper proper, at least three secondary
sources,
one of them hard copy—for purposes of this assignment, textbooks,
encyclopedias,
dictionaries,
and other reference books can be used as sources but will
not
be
considered as legitimate secondary sources); the research paper topic
must
be approved ahead of time by the instructor prior to submitting
the Term Paper Announcement. The term paper will not receive credit
unless the Term Paper Announcement has been submitted and receives
credit.
* A 1000-word end of term research paper (see below) that will be
polemical,
argumentative and analytical in nature (this paper must draw upon, and
therefore will cite within the paper proper, at least three secondary
sources—for
purposes of this assignment, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other
textbooks
or reference books can be used as sources but will
not
be considered
as legitimate secondary sources); the research paper topic must be
approved
ahead of time by the instructor prior to submitting the Term
Paper
Announcement. The Term Paper will not be accepted unless a Term Paper
Announcment
(see above) has already been submitted and graded.
* 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.
The expectation is that participants in this course will adhere fully
to the NJIT Honor Code (see: http://www.njit.edu/academics/honorcode.php).
Papers
should be submitted in Word for Windows to the instructor via Web CT
e-mail
(do NOT send papers to the instructor's normal NJIT e-mail address).
Term Paper Announcement:
Consists of 1) a descriptive paper title, including a subtitle to show
focus and specificity, 2) a one-sentence focused and polemical thesis
statement (one
sentence only--it can be a very long sentence and can employ one
semicolon) that includes the point of your argument, the breadth of
that argument, and the argument’s significant concepts and details, 3)
a one-paragraph description of the writing strategy to be employed in
your paper (i.e., not what will be in your paper but HOW you will prove
your thesis, make your case), 4) a bibliography in MLA format and
alphabetized. For the purposes of this assignment, use must be made of
at least three secondary research sources (including at least one
non-Internet source, i.e., including at least one hard copy
source--though you may use, say, an article you find on a database,
which was originally in hard copy) excluding textbooks, encyclopedias
and dictionaries.
COURSE SCHEDULE (see Calendar in WebCT for specific dates and
details
of assignments; see also Welcome Message)
Week 1: Introduction to the course.
Week 2: Film by Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times.
Week 3: Film by Fritz Lang, Metropolis (newly restored
and edited version).
Week 4: Benjamin (must be downloaded).
Week 5: Heidegger 17-87.
Week 6: Hardison xi-72.
Week 7: Hardison 73-212.
Week 8: MIDTERM EXAMINATION.
Week 9: Hardison 213-350.
Week 10: Rutsky1-72. Term Paper Announcement (Title and
Subtitle,
Single-Sentence Thesis
Statement, Paragraph Description of Writing Strategy,
MLA-Formatted Bibliography of at least three secondary sources, one of
them hard copy, excluding encyclopedias and textbooks) Due.
Week 11: Rutsky 73-158.
Week 12: Perloff xi-xiv, 1-92. Draft 1 of Term Paper Due.
Week 13: Perloff 93-216.
Week 14: TERM RESEARCH PAPER (DRAFT 2) DUE.
Week 15. FINAL EXAMINATION.
COURSE GRADE
Class participation 30%
Midterm Examination 10%
Term Paper Announcement 5%
End of Term Research Paper 25%
Final Examination 30%
ABBREVIATIONS FOR MARKING PAPERS
Abbreviation Meaning
A
-
Article
Agr
-
Agreement
CS
-
Comma Splice
Dic
-
Diction
Exp
-
Explain
FS
-
Fused Sentences
RO
-
Run On Sentence
SF
-
Sentence Fragment
Sp
-
Spelling
SS
-
Sentence Structure
Syn
-
Syntax or Word Order
Tr
-
Transition
Un
-
Unclear
Uncl
-
Unclear
Us
-
Usage
V
-
Verb
Va
Vague
VF
-
Verb Form
VT
-
Verb Tense
WW
Wrong Word