In this course we examine issues of interface and agency from a strongly theoretical perspective. Class is in seminar format, drawing from texts at the intersections of cultural and gender theory, new technology, theories of representation and production, and emergent discourses such as cyborg and virtual systems theories. Readings are continually updated. Students are expected to add their own readings to the list and to coordinate discussion of the issues thus raised. Grading is based on either an essay or a demo. It is expected that the essay will raise issues at the cutting edge of interface and interaction discourse; and that the demo, if chosen, will represent an original contribution to interaction research.
Prerequisites:
Consent of instructor. Knowledge of the
MacIntosh
and Unix operating systems is helpful if you intend to conduct practical
research via the Internet.
Requirements:
1. Attendance at all classes and active participation in discussion.
2. Active use of the Internet and World Wide Web.
3. Successful completion of a semester demo or research paper.
An interactive demo will require time in the lab outside of class time in order to acquire necessary authoring skills, capture your images and data, and assemble the finished product. Expect to spend approximately the same time and effort that you would for a film or video production. You may give periodic updates on your project to the class if this is appropriate. At the end of the semester you will demonstrate the completed demo. You will be expected to submit the script or storyboard and your notes on the project, describing the idea, its theoretical basis, how you broke it down into tasks, and how it changed along the way (as they inevitably do).
A research paper may be on any topic of your choice as long as it addresses issues of interface and interaction as they unfold in class. As you will discover, this makes the acceptable category extremely broad, but please do not fall into the error of assuming that there are no standards because of that breadth (see below).
Required texts:
Course Reader, available at Longhorn Copies, across Guadalupe from the
CMB building. As the semester progresses students will be expected to
suggest texts which they have found useful in their own research and
which reflect on the issues raised in the seminar. Readings distributed
as xeroxes or posted to the ACTLab node as official class readings are
required reading, and you are responsible for them. I judge your
understanding of the readings (and the issues thus raised) during class
discussion.
Grading:
Grading is based on class and net participation and either a final paper
or a final project which becomes the interactive equivalent of a
production students demo reel. The same standards apply with respect to
completion of a demo as in the Production area; i.e., it is expected that
you will finish the project unless there are mitigating circumstances.
Such circumstances, such as computer crashes, unexpected software
incompatabilities, various equipment failures and so forth, will be taken
into consideration. Please be aware that the ACTLab is in process of
developing a history of interesting demos which will then represent the
work of ACTLab students to the world, and consequently spectacular demos
are highly appreciated and are rewarded accordingly.
Class and net participation: 50% of final grade
And (choose either A or B):
A. Final project: 50% of final grade, broken down as follows:
Project description (essay form) 15%
Storyboard or system diagram & progress report 15%
Completed demo 35%
Or:
B. Final paper (maximum 10,000 words) 50%
Total 100%
Classes:
Class Meets Tuesdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and is in seminar format.
The first half of the class is occupied with discussion of the readings,
guest lectures (if any), or demos, followed by a break for refreshments
(and ad hoc discussions). The second half of the class consists of
reading and discussion of students work in progress. We have found it
helpful for the class, if the members wish, to rotate providing more
substantial refreshments than are available from the CMA vending
machines.
Role of the students.
I expect that you have arrived in the
seminar with
ideas of your own and research in your own area of interest already under
way. The seminar then is a place for you to develop your work in light
of the ideas and problems raised during our discussions.
Role of the instructor.
In general I see the role of the
instructor as
facilitator and guide. I provide some structured lectures on theory and
methods of virtual systems research at some time during the first part of
the semester. The rest of the time is devoted to relating those ideas to
your own work.
If you have have read some of my work you will have noted that my methods of representing virtual systems involve the presentation of fragmented accounts or provocations, with a specific subagenda of disrupting attempts at closure on a common theory of virtual interaction. Therefore attempts to draw any sense of closure out of my own presentations is foredoomed. What I look for is resonances -- planes of intensity in Deleuzes words -- between your researches as we discuss them in seminar and between your research and mine. Please do not be misled into assuming that because I oppose closure there are no standards by which work can be judged. There are in fact quite palpable standards, but they may require unaccustomed modes of thought. I value your commitment to your own research, your ability to articulate it, and your willingness to take sides and to risk stakes in the discourse, more than I do your ability to repeat virtual systems theory back to me.
There is no canon for virtual systems research at this time, but there is plenty of corollary work which bears on the topic. Depending upon your own approach, you may find yourself part of the canon as it emerges.
Guests will present their work occasionally. In the past, such cutting-edge researchers as Brenda Laurel and Bonnie Johnson of Interval Corporation, and Paco Xander Nathan of Fringeware, have given guest lectures.
ACTLab Fellows -- researchers elsewhere in geographical terms but present in the ACTLab virtual community -- may present their current work (online) and offer advice and assistance with student projects where appropriate.
Readings:
In addition to the scheduled readings, each member of the seminar, on a
rotating basis, will provide readings that bear on their own work, and
may lead the (hopefully) ensuing discussion if they choose. In general,
a master copy of the reading should be either submitted to me for copying
and distribution no later than the Wednesday before the reading is due to
be discussed, or the discussant may xerox enough copies for the class and
provide the finished copies. Readings should be placed in the trays on
the wall inside the ACTLab door, or in individuals' mailboxes if
practicable.
Timeline:
Please submit all demos or papers by Tuesday, May 3. The drop-dead date
is Saturday, May 7. No work will be accepted afterward. Please be aware
that if you wait until zero hour I may not have sufficient time to
properly evaluate your work, so that you run a certain risk of not
receiving a grade at the end of the semester.
The ACTLab
Equipment in the Lab is available for your use 24 hours a day, seven days
a week during the semester. There will usually be volunteers nearby to
help you with problems. The Lab door has a lockbox which contains the
door key and key to the file cabinet which contains the flopticals and
CD-ROMs. The combination is changed weekly. Do not give out the
combination to anyone. Never leave the door open when you leave, even if
you are only going to the bathroom.
The ACTLab server (home.actlab.utexas.edu)
Check the ACTLab Web Forum at least once a day to read and post mail,
messages,
etc. It's no longer necessary to have an account on the server unless
you need one to do a Web- or Net-based project; you can use your basic UT
computer access to reach the ACTLab Web pages.
The ACTLab MOOs
You are encouraged, nay exhorted, to experiment with any of
our multi-user social environments, even if you arent part of a
MOO development team. See a wizard for more info.
Students taking this course may find themselves spending a substantial amount of lab time working with computers. ACTLab facilities are limited, necessitating cooperative scheduling and possibly making use of resources elsewhere. There are excellent computer facilities at a number of locations around campus.
Semester Schedule
Jan 17 Introductions, plan of study, other biz.
Jan 24 Media and Subjectivity
Reading: Stone, Subject formation, perspectivalism,
and the evolution of
multitrack sound recording; 1945-1995 (if completed in time)
Jan 31 Vision and Subjectivity
Reading: from Jonathan Crary, Techniques of the Observer
Feb 7 Origin Myths of the Symbol
Reading: from Rene Girard, Violence and the Sacred
Feb 14 Secret Lives of the Symbol
Reading: from Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden
Feb 21 Narrative, History, and the Real
Reading: from Hayden White, The Content of the Form
Feb 28 Social Production of Fact
Reading: from Bruno Latour, Science In Action
Bruno Latour, (Door closer essay)
Mar 6 Problems in the Production of Agency
Reading: from Manuel de Landa, War In The Age of Intelligent Machines
Mar 13 Sliding Down the Soapy Pole of Representation
Reading: from James Clifford, from The Predicament of Culture,
Donna Haraway, Situated Knowledges
Mar 20 Organization: Self, Ex Nihilo, Whatever
Reading: from Illya Prigogine, Order Out Of Chaos
Rene Clair (something)
Mar 27 Langue Sans Parole
Reading: from Stone, The Vampires Kiss (in packet)
Apr 3 TBA
Apr 10 No class (I will be in Melbourne)
Apr 17 TBA
Apr 24 Final presentations, clean up loose ends, sayonara