Month: September 2008

Categories
ComputationalMedia CourseDescriptions

Introduction to Computational Media (2007 Fall)

Instructor: Danny Rozin

What can computation add to human communication? Creating computer applications, instead of just using them, will give you a deeper understanding of the essential possibilities of computation. The course focuses on the fundamentals of programming the computer (variables, conditionals, iteration, functions, and objects) and then touches on some more advanced techniques such as text parsing, image processing, networking, computer vision, and serial communication. The Java-based ‘Processing’ programming environment is the primary vehicle for the class, however at the end of the semester, the course offers a peek behind the Processing curtain and directly into Java. The course is designed for computer programming novices. Although experienced coders can waive this class, some programmers use ICM to acclimatize to the ITP approach and for the opportunity play further with their project ideas. Weekly assignments are required throughout semester. The end of the semester is spent developing an idea for a final project and implementing it using computer programming.

Categories
CourseDescriptions TacticalMedia

Tactical Media: History and Theory (2007 Spring)

Instructor: Marisa Olson

What is the nature of change and how does our understanding of it shift as we examine social change alongside media ‘evolution’ and changes in form (i.e. hacktivism)? Is there a relationship between creating disorder within a technological system and social disorder? And can this disorder be positive, in the case of ‘electronic civil disobedience’? Presupposing a relationship between computer code and social codes calls into question the larger nature and value of systems, and the means by which one might effectively change them. The political, phenomenological, and practical problems raised by this set of issues form the backdrop for this class, in which we survey tactical media works developed since the 1960s, with an emphasis on work since 1995. We look at artists’ use of a variety of media—including the news media, the internet, locative media, surveillance techniques, genetic modification, software viruses, memes, live performance, the audience, and more—to carry out protests. We also visit precursors to tactical media, including that which is typically referred to as ‘protest art’ and important media intervention projects. The relationship between the evolution of communication media and the shift in tactics is among our core concerns. We hear from guest lecturers and read a combination of theoretical texts, seminal curatorial statements, manifestos, and mainstream press response to these interventions. An emphasis on media specificity leads to discussions focused on design questions and other practical considerations, with regard to participants’ own work. Students complete a series of writing exercises throughout the semester before completing a final essay or project.

Categories
CourseDescriptions PhysicalComputing

Introduction to Physical Computing (2007 Spring)

Instructor: Greg Shakar

This course expands the students’ palette for physical interaction design with computational media. We look away from the limitations of the mouse, keyboard and monitor interface of today’s computers, and start instead with the expressive capabilities of the human body. We consider uses of the computer for more than just information retrieval and processing, and at locations other than the home or the office. The platform for the class is a microcontroller, a single-chip computer that can fit in your hand. The core technical concepts include digital, analog and serial input and output. Core interaction design concepts include user observation, affordances, and converting physical action into digital information. Students have weekly lab exercises to build skills with the microcontroller and related tools, and longer assignments in which they apply the principles from weekly labs in creative applications. Both individual work and group work is required.

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CommunicationsLab CourseDescriptions

Communications Lab (2006 Fall)

Instructor: Frank Migliorelli

An introductory course designed to provide students with hands-on experience using various technologies (online communities, digital imaging, audio, video, animation, authoring environments and the World Wide Web.) The forms and uses of new communications technologies are explored in a laboratory context of experimentation and discussion. The technologies are examined as tools that can be employed in a variety of situations and experiences. Principles of interpersonal communications, media theory, and human factors are introduced. Weekly assignments, team and independent projects, and project reports are required.

Categories
Applications CourseDescriptions

Applications of Interactive Technologies (2006 Fall)

Instructor:  Red Burns

This introductory class is designed to allow students to engage in a critical dialogue with leaders drawn from the artistic, non-profit and commercial sectors of the new media field, and to learn the value of collaborative projects by undertaking group presentations in response to issues raised by the guest speakers. Interactive media projects and approaches to the design of new media applications are presented weekly; students are thus exposed to both commercial as well as mission-driven applications by the actual designers and creators of these innovative and experimental projects. By way of this process, all first year students will, for the first and only time in their ITP experience, be together in one room at one time, and will, as a community, encounter, and respond to, the challenges posed by the invited guests. The course at once provides an overview of current developments in this emerging field, and asks students to consider many questions about the state of the art. For example, with the new technologies and applications making their way into almost every phase of the economy and rooting themselves in our day to day lives, what can we learn from both the failures and successes? What are the impacts on our society? What is ubiquitous computing, embedded computing, physical computing? How is cyberspace merging with physical space? Class participation, group presentations, and a final paper are required.