First-Year Research Seminar: The Digital Commons

Semester and Year	SP 2013
Course Number	FIRST-UG742
Section	001
Instructor	Cecily Swanson
Days	Tue,Thu
Time	11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Notes/Restrictions

Open to Gallatin first-year students only.

Description

This course examines how artists, writers, and activists have used both physical and digital resources to transmit ideas about the world and to the world. What is the future of writing, reading, and thinking in an era where the Internet has become, in Jennifer Egan’s words, “th hum tht nevr gOs away”? The “commons” traditionally refers to the cultural and social goods shared by a public; we examine how the “digital commons” have transformed our understanding of public participation. What does it mean to be an audience in a digital environment that favors user interaction and what sorts of users do online communities reward (and discourage)? How should we best participate within these shared, but virtual, spaces? In examining the relationship between material collections (of books, paintings, or film footage) and information available on the Internet, we consider how written language informs digital text, how blogs interact with traditional journalism, how political movements take shape through both old and new media, and how technology alters aesthetic expression. Through this investigation, students develop strategies for effective research both on and offline. Readings include excerpts from Mcluhan’s Understanding Media ; Moretti’s Graphs, Maps, Trees ; Gitelman’s Always Already New: Media, History, and the Data of Culture ; Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad ; Crystal’s, Txting: The Gr8 Db8te ; and online materials. Students participate in a workshop at NYU’s Digital Studio, create and maintain a public blog, write two short analytic papers, a longer research paper, and a final reflective essay.

Syllabus

FIRST-UG742

Course Type

First-Year Program: Research Seminars (FIRST-UG)