Schedule

“What does a scanner see? he asked himself. I mean, really see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does a passive infrared scanner like they used to use or a cube-type holo-scanner like they use these days, the latest thing, see into me - into us - clearly or darkly? I hope it does, he thought, see clearly, because I can’t any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone’s sake, the scanners do better. Because, he thought, if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we’ll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.” (Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly )

Doing the reading

First-year seminars tend to read about 25 pages per day. That number is an average - which means some days we read more and other days we read less. There will be days of class for which we need to read closer to 50 pages, and days of class where the entire reading is half a page. It’s hard to have anything to say (or to write) if a person doesn’t read very much. Good ideas come from the way we process the ideas of others, and this a list of readings that will give you new ideas to make your own ideas and writing original and interesting to other people and to yourself.

It is not possible to do well in this class without doing the reading.

Our detailed schedule of readings is below. Any reading that is not hyperlinked is available in Blackboard - so you should go there and download it.

Supplementary readings are optional and you are not required to read them, though you are encouraged to!

Assignments

All assignments are posted here (click). Remember you can only access that page with your @drake.edu email account. The expectations of the assignments are described on the ‘Grading’ page. Check that page often and make sure to submit on time!

Detailed Schedule

Aug 26 | Topic: Welcome to Drake! Reading for this day: (Do the readings for the next meeting)

Aug 28 | Topic: What is Aesthetics? & Aesthetics of the Everyday

Readings for this day: Brummett - Rhetoric of Machine Aesthetics Ch. 1 Wikipedia: Everyday Aesthetics

Viewing for this day (please do not watch the entire 4.5 hour loop): Solarpunk aesthetic, Machine fabrication, Coding, Hacking, Cybercore

Supplementary: Stanford Encyclopedia: Everyday Aesthetics CARI - Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute

Sept 2 | NO CLASS - LABOR DAY

Sept 4 | Topic: Aesthetic Theory Reading for this day: Susan Sontag - Against Interpretation Supplementary: SEP - Heidegger’s Phenomenological Approach to Art

Sept 9 | Topic: Aesthetics and the Unconscious Reading for this day: Daniel Kahneman - Systems 1 and 2 Perceived randomness (Apophenia) Supplementary: Zenil, Soler-Toscano, Gauvrit - </i>Aesthetic Preferences</i>

Sept 11 | Topic: Aesthetics and the Unconscious Reading for this day: Slavoj Zizek - section on antisemitism from The Sublime Object of Ideology Supplementary: Bill Livant - The Hole in Hegel’s Bagel

Sept 16 | Topic: Machine Aesthetics Reading for this day: Brummett - Rhetoric of Machine Aesthetics, Ch. 2 (Mechtech), Bauhaus Viewing for this Day: Howl’s Moving Castle, Steam engine, Anime steampunk aesthetic, Massive machines, Supplementary: (WARNING: pretty weird, uncanny, sexual themes, etc. - not required) H.R. Giger Le Corbusier’s Machines for Living

Sept 18 | Topic: Electronic Aesthetics Reading for this day: Brummett - Rhetoric of Machine Aesthetics, Ch. 3 (Electrotech) Viewing for this day: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Control Room, A circuit, Circuit diagram, 2001: A Space Odyssey Trailer

Sept 23 | Topic: Computers Themselves Reading for this day: Abigail Cain - What Steve Jobs Learned from the Bauhaus Viewing for this day: Vetroo K1 Pangolin Tower Case, Kanto mATX, HYTE Y70 ATX Mid-Tower Case, Windows 95 Ad, Apple vs PC, Supplementary:

Sept 25 | Topic: Theory of Computation Viewing for this day: Why theory of computation?, the P vs NP Problem, the Halting Problem, Note: You do NOT need to comprehend the mathematics of these ideas. Focus on the big picture and getting the main ideas: “the limits” of computation, programs that read other programs, “how solvable” a problem is, etc.!

Sept 30 | Topic: Cyberpunk Reading for this day: Neuromancer Chs. 1 - 10

THIS EVENING AT 5:00 PM we’ll be screening Blade Runner (1982) at Sussman Theater for the Dystopia and Tech learning community. See you there!
***

Supplementary: Donna Haraway - Cyborg Manifesto

Oct 2 | Topic: Cyberpunk Viewing for this day: Watch the movie Ghost in the Shell Viewing for this day: Ghost in the Shell 1, Ghost in the Shell2

NO CLASS

Since you had to make time outside of class to watch Blade Runner (1982) with our learning community, we will cancel this class meeting.

However, I will be in the classroom and if you want to stop by, I am happy to talk about whatever you like, look at your writing, etc.

Topic: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Reading for this day: Scientific American - Google Engineer Claims AI Chatbot Is Sentient: Why That Matters The Uncanny Valley The “uncanny” is the experience of a loss of control Supplementary: NVIDIA - Understanding Aesthetics Using Deep Learning

Oct 14 | FALL BREAK - NO CLASS - NO READING

Oct 16 | Topic: Cybernetics Reading for this day: Stafford Beer - Designing Freedom Ch.1 Viewing for this day: Cybersyn, living plant controls a machete through an industrial robot arm Supplementary: Norbert Wiener - Cybernetics

Oct 21 | Topic: Nostalgia and Retro Reading for this day: Interview V. Mannucci, V. Mattioli, Mark Fisher - Nostalgia and Lost Futures Tech Nostalgia matters because it’s the history of us (skim) Vaporwave Supplementary: old games Is electronic music a threat to culture? Technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms Halt and Catch Fire - 90s Nostalgia

Oct 23 | Topic: Aesthetics of Machine Decay Reading for this day: Brummett - Ch. 4 (Chaotech) Viewing: Abandoned mechtech, Abandoned electrotech - focus on the device, not its environment Listening for this day (you don’t need to listen to the entire album): The Caretaker - All You Are Going to Want to do is Get Back There Supplementary: watch some NieR Automata gameplay footage more

Oct 28 | Topic: Video Games Reading for this day: Dithering Microtransactions

Viewing for this day: How do video game graphics work? Games that don’t fake the space Procedurally generated city Procedurally generated dungeons

Supplementary: How Computer Graphics Work Creating a scene in Unity First generation of console games Video game crash of 1983 Architects react to Elden Ring Architecture Myst

Oct 30 | Topic: Video Games Reading for this day: Kirkpatrick - The Aesthetic Approach [In Videogames] Supplementary:

Nov 4 | Topic: Computer and Electronic Music Reading for this day:
Fisher - Interview w/ Burial Viewing for this day: Wendy Carlos Listening for this day: Burial - Archangel, Sample breakdown of Archangel, (some of) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Nils Frahm - Says Supplementary: Burial - Forgive Ikonika - Please William Basinski - Disintegration Loops oneohtrix Point Never (feat. The Weeknd, Caroline Polachek) - No Nightmares Quarta 330 - Sunset Dub (Documentary) Delia Derbyshire - The Delian Mode

Nov 6 | Topic: Computer and Electronic Music Today: Field trip to the library to research the history of eletronic music MEET IN COWLES LIBRARY ROOM 201

Nov 11 | Topic: Hacker Culture Reading for this day: Hacker, Hacker Culture Viewing for this day: Mr.Robot - ‘I live for this’ Supplementary: Hacker Interview - Gummo

Nov 13 | Topic: Algorithms Reading for this day: Sieve of Eratosthenes Binary Search Viewing for this day: Sieve of Eratosthenes animation Supplementary: Quicksort

Nov 18 | Topic: AI Art and Pixel Art Reading for this day: : (skim) Wikipedia - Artificial Intelligence Art Harvard Gazette - Is Art Generated by AI Real Art? Quiz - Real or AI?

Viewing for this day: Waneela - pixel art landscapes and slice of life
Supplementary:

Nov 20 | Topic: Coding (half-day) Pause for reflection (half-day) Reading for this day: Computer programming Viewing for this day: Machine code, High-level code, More high-level code Supplementary: Drake Computer Science Courses, How to Learn Coding

Nov 25 | NO CLASS (but I’ll be in the room at the usual time if you want to talk) - SPEND TODAY READING AND/OR WRITING

Nov 27 | NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING BREAK

Topic: Analog and Biological Computation

Reading for this day: Matrix Digital Rain

Viewing for this day: Watch the Matrix (required! Will be available for free via Drake - link to be shared later), Computing with Fungi

Listening (and viewing): The Analog Thing audio improv Analog hybrid music - start around 34:00

Supplementary: (WARNING: pretty weird, uncanny, sexual themes, etc. - you don’t have to watch it) Revisiting H.R. Giger, Analog computers, Ancient and analog mechtech - the Antikythera mechanism

Working on papers in class together.

You must come to class this day. We’ll sit down together to look at how your paper’s coming along. Some of your score will come from showing me on this day that you’ve made good progress towards your paper’s completion, that you’ve sharpened your ideas and have a clear concept of what you’re trying to do. Good time to ask me last-minute questions, clarifications, etc. before the due date. Office hours are also a good time for that. I will expect your FINAL versions next week!

9:30 AM - 11:20 AM, final meeting time, C-S 0235 (down the hall from the usual room)

We’ll watch Hackers!