All readings will be posted here, on our class website.
To access password-protected readings, you’ll be prompted to enter the user name <___> and password <___>. Not so secret, eh?
A few notes about the weekly readings/screenings/listening exercises:
- I think we can better appreciate the complexity, relevance, and resonance of each of our weekly themes by approaching them from multiple theoretical, historical, practical, and creative directions. That’s why, for each week, I’ve put together a mini “anthology” rather than assigning a single definitive text. Yes, sometimes those reading lists might look intimidatingly long – but the total number of pages hardly ever exceeds 150 (and a lot of those pages are illustrated!), which is a more-than-reasonable workload for a graduate student. Plus, each text on that list is there because it has the potential to add a distinctive voice to our conversation.
- That said, my selection of a particular text does not constitute an endorsement of it. Sometimes I choose texts that trouble me, or with which I disagree, for a few reasons: because they’re widely cited and I think it’d behoove you to be aware of them, because I want to allow you to exercise your own judgment, and because I’m pretty sure they’ll make for good conversation. In short: you’re not compelled to agree with everything you read!
- We will not address all the readings in our in-class discussions. Some readings are primarily factual, some are self-explanatory, some simply present interesting illustrations or case studies; we needn’t discuss these sorts of texts in-depth – but they’re still worth your time! They provide valuable nuance and color that will inform our discussions, shape your own understanding, and, ideally, inspire ideas for your own projects.
- And some weeks, rather than discussing the readings, we’ll design things with the ideas explored in those texts, or we’ll go on field trips to see them manifested in the world. Please remember that discussion isn’t the only way to engage critically and creatively with the concepts central to our course 🙂
I’ll also post relevant links — re: smart cities, media spaces, logistics, etc. — on my Pinboard.
And here’s a list of shared resources relevant to our final projects. You’re welcome to add!