- From www.edx.org
Theories of Media and Technology
- 14 Sequences
- Introductive Level
- Starts on May 1, 2022
- Ends on August 14, 2022
Course details
Syllabus
Week 1: Seminal Theory
- The origins of media theory, and how these thinkers have influenced contemporary thought
- A brief look at ‘new’ modes of thought that expand on these earlier ones
Week 2: Cybernetics
- The thinking behind cybernetics, and the technological and social implications of this method of thinking
Week 3: Computation
- The origins of computational thinking, how it relates to cybernetic systems, and what implications it has for media production and consumption
Week 4: Interaction/Interface
- How interaction and interfaces has led to new understanding of how people consume, create, and use media
Week 5: Networks
- How interaction and interfaces has led to new understanding of how people consume, create, and use media
Week 6: Control
- The ways in which computational systems can be used as agents of control, implied and explicit
Week 7: Affect Theory
- How theorists understand the self embodied in the machine
Week 8: Actor - Network Theory
- How ANT is not so much a theory as it is a method for understanding the world around us and the relationship between human and non-human objects
Week 9: Cyborg Life
- The boundaries of our bodies in relation to the world of technology we have designed around us, what is permeable, what is fixed?
Week 10: Media Archaeology
- How it’s possible to think about aspects of media through physical artifacts like infrastructure, software, and machines themselves
Week 11: Queer & Feminist Theory
- How thinking about media has been transformed by, and in turn changed, queer and feminist theory
Week 12: Games
- How games provide a rich area for different kinds of media study such as platforms studies, software studies, and media archeology
Week 13: Sound & Image
- How theory has transformed our understanding of ‘traditional’ forms of media like video, sound, and still images
Week 14: Media Now
- Emerging theories surrounding media studies like Object Oriented Ontology and Post-digitalism
Prerequisite
We strongly recommend taking the Integrated Digital Media MicroMasters in the following sequence:
- Creative Coding
- Theories of Media and Technology
- Media Law
- Integrated Digital Media Capstone
Instructors
Scott Fitzgerald
Industry Assistant Professor
New York University
Platform
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