C.W. Post Campus Brookville, New York 11548
Interactive Multimedia Arts Masters Program
IMA 505-1
Course Description
IMA 505 Multimedia History, Theory and Criticism
This class will present a historical and critical context within which the field of multimedia and interactivity can be studied. It will develop ways of analyzing the relationship of new interactive work to the rich history of multimedia art forms. Subjects to be introduced will include photography, cinema, radio, television, computers and the Internet, as well as study of the impact of new technologies on the field of cultural studies.
Instructional Procedures
Lectures, demonstrations, and instruction.
Critiques and group discussions.
Criteria outline for papers – three in total.
Mid Term and Final exam
Assignments – Past, Present and Future
A minimum of three papers (one being an extensive final paper) will be assigned. Two papers will be done individually and consist of a major event that has reformed or reshaped the world of interactive media. One final paper can be a group assignment. Group should not be any larger than three people. Each paper will start with a written outline inclusive of objectives and will address specific criteria and contain factual documented information properly annotated.
Paper 1 – Past
Pick an item or individual from the past and do research on it. Then find out how it is used today. Then do more research on how it can be or will be used in the future.
The emphasis of this paper is the Past.
Paper 2 – Present
Pick an item or individual from the present and do research on it. Then find out where it started. Then do more research on how it is being used today.
The emphasis of this paper is the Present.
Paper 3 – Future
Pick an item or individual that is in development and do research on it. Then find out where it came from in the past. Then do more research on how it is being used today.
The emphasis of this paper is the Future.
Example: If an educational or technological development is selected students will be asked to analyze the effect this development had on the world, marketplace and subsequent watershed effects of this development. Paper must contain footnotes and bibliography (style to be discussed).
All assignments must also start with outlines and adequate flowcharting. Subsequent stages of writing and development must be signed off on by instructor.
Evaluation
Final grade will be based on class participation, assigned reading, student progress, tests and evaluation of papers.
More than three absences will result in a failing grade.
Students will need to spend at least three hours per week in the lab (outside of class time) to complete these projects.
Late projects will either not be accepted or will result in a lowered grade. In addition, there will be tutorial assignments worked on in class and a high probability of surprise quizzes. Finally, all students should maintain notes on class lectures, demonstrations and instruction. Class attendance is essential.
Required Reading and Quizzes
on enterFrame – Patrick Aievoli/Whittier Publications/2008
Suggested Reading List
The World is Flat – Thomas Friedman/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2005
Being Digital ~ Nicholas Negroponte / Hardcover / 1995
I Sing the Body Electronic : A Year With Microsoft on the Multimedia Frontier ~ Fred Moody / Paperback / 1996
Telecosm ~George Gilder
Periodical articles – TBA
Sample topics to be covered
History of Communication
Cave walls – Trajan Column – Hieroglyphics
Codex – Books – Illuminated Manuscripts – Book of Kells
Renaissance Advancements DaVinci
19th century Technologists
Mayerbridge – Moving Images
Edison Moving Images
Telegraph – Telephone
Enigma Encryption
First Computing
Early IBM – Punch Cards
Association for Computing Machinery
Computer Museum Boston
Introduction of Personal Computers
Storage Devices – Laser Disc to Orb’s
mHz to Gigabytes
PDA’s to Internet Phones
Organic RAM
BioTechnology Implants
What’s Next?
Weekly Lesson Plan
Class 1: Introductions, administrative stuff, reading syllabus,
discussion of what “multimedia” means, with definitions and
derivations.
Class 2: A history of different media: text, sound, recording,
communications technology, video, audio and film.
Class 3: History of television, broadcasting, and as much as
possible of early computer history.
Class 4: First Quiz
Handing in proposals and reviewing outlines for first paper.
Class viewing of “Triumph of the Nerds”
Class 5: First paper due
The sixties and psychedelia, avant-garde music, performance art that led
up to modern computer history.
Class 6: Guest speaker.
Handing in proposals and reviewing outlines for second paper.
Class 7: Paper 2 Due
Class 8: Internet History and Significance.
Second paper due
Class 9: Discussion of the confluence of factors necessary for
modern “multimedia” to occur.
The beginnings of modern multimedia.
Class 10: Second Quiz on material covered to date.
Viewing of “Pirates of Silicon Valley”
Class 11: Handing in proposals and reviewing outlines for third paper.
Patrick Aievoli – guest speaker. History of Archival Media.
Class 12: Third paper due
“Outside the Box” presentation
Class 13: Guest Speaker
Class 14: Final Review
IMA 505 Lesson Plan
Class One: Introductions, administrative stuff, reading syllabus,
discussion of what “multimedia” means, with definitions and
derivations.
Class Two: A history of different media: text, sound, computing,
communications technology, film.
Handing in outlines for first 7page paper.
Class Three: History of television, broadcasting, and as much as
possible of early computer history.
Test on material covered to date.
Class Four: Class viewing of “Triumph of the Nerds”
Handing in first 7 page paper.
Class Five: Modern computer history and the last installment of
“Triumph of the Nerds”
Handing in outlines for second 7 page paper.
Class Six: The sixties and psychedelic, avant-garde music, performance art.
Guest speaker. Performance Art – i.e., Dada – Hugo Ball to Laurie Anderson
Class Seven: Computer and Internet History and Significance.
Handing in second 7 page paper.
Class Eight: Mid Term on material covered to date.
“Pirates of Silicon Alley”
Handing in outlines for third 7 page paper.
Class Nine: Discussion of the confluence of factors necessary for
modern “multimedia” to occur. The beginnings of modern multimedia.
Class Ten: Discussion of Digital Video and Digital Audio
Guest speaker. History of the Digital Video i.e. Naim June Paik
Handing in third 7 page paper.
Class Eleven: Discussion of Archival Media and Distribution advancements – Web, Internet.
Guest speaker. History of the Archival Media i.e. CD-ROM.
Class Twelve: Spring break
Class Thirteen: Discussion of Future Technologies – Internet 2 – Bandwidth – ATM
Class Fourteen: Discussion of Future Technologies con’t. – Internet 2 – Bandwidth – ATM
Guest speaker. Future Technologies – Information Architecture
Class Fifteen: Review of course
Information Architecture
Jakob Nielsen
http://www.webreference.com/new/011011.html
http://www.useit.com/about/nographics.html
http://www.digital-web.com/interviews/interview_2002-11.shtml
Usability and Information
http://www.websitetips.com/design/usability.shtml
People of the Web
http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/pioneers2a.html
Art & Design
daVinci and the Internet
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,57401,00.html
Josef Muller Brockman
http://www.papress.com/books/1568980620.html
International Typographic Style
http://webpages.marshall.edu/~bruggemann1/international_typographic_style1.htm
Visual Design Timeline
http://www.rit.edu/~rrrfad/timel1.html
Seven Deadly Sins of Web Design
http://wp.netscape.com/computing/webbuilding/studio/feature19980729-1.html
The Grid
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/791173.html
http://dev1.epsb.edmonton.ab.ca/math14_Jim/math7/strand2/2102.htm
http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.47/aid.37529/column.htm
http://www.utexas.edu/coc/journalism/SOURCE/J395smF0/readings/luptotx1.html
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/people/dace/portfoli/thesis/in-prog/schem/schmdia1.html
http://www.snap-dragon.com/robert_hughes.htm
David Carson
http://www.davidcarsondesign.com
http://www.kramberger-uran.com/dcworkshop02/interview.php
Roger Black
http://www.businessweek.com/cgi-bin/ebiz/ebiz_frame.pl?url=/ebiz/9905/em0512.htm
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/media/columns/medialife/1588/
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/feb01/feb05/1_mon/news3monday.html
http://www.adobe.com/web/features/rblack/main.html
http://www.linezine.com/3.1/features/rbbmtlzli.htm
Animation
History of Animation
http://www-viz.tamu.edu/courses/viza615/97spring/pjames/history/main.html
Winsor McCay
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay
Max Fleischer
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/archive/innovators/fleischer.html
Flash
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/events/john_gay/page02.html
Director
http://www.lingoworkshop.com/articles/article2.asp
Chronology of Animation
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/chronst.html
The Future of User Interface Design
Interactive and Multimedia Arts
Early Days
F. T. Marinetti
http://www.todayinliterature.com/biography/f.t.marinetti.asp
Morton Heilig
http://www.ipo.tue.nl/homepages/mrauterb/presentations/HCI-history/sld060.htm
Laurie Anderson
http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/mus127s/Puppet.html
Ed Emshwiller
http://emsh.calarts.edu/emshwiller.html
Alan Kaprow
http://creativetechnology.salford.ac.uk/fuchs/modules/input_output/Happening/happening_kaprow.htm
Billy Kluver
http://www.asci.org/BellLabs/kluver.html
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1248/6_90/87023016/p1/article.jhtml
Robert Rauschenberg
Merce Cunningham
John Cage
Roy Ascott
Myron Krueger
Philip Glass
Robert Wilson
Nam June Paik
Bill Viola
Lynn Hershman
Peter Gabriel
http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/mus127s/gabriel00.html
http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/impact/w95/HTML/cdrom/martha.cdrom.html
New Net Artists
Mark Napier
Lisa Jevbratt
John Maeda
Benjamin Fry
Digital Video
Early History
Motion Picture Technology
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhist.html
http://www.filmsite.org/filmh.html
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recording/notes.html#cylinder
http://et.sdsu.edu/sphares/videowebpage/history.htm
Early Video Technology
http://208.55.137.252/periodicals.html
VHS v. Beta
http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/sprg_98/chase/front.htm
http://www.tvhandbook.com/History/History_recording.htm
Programming
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/3938/history.htm
http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~leavens/ComS541Fall97/hw-pages/history/
http://www.an.psu.edu/ojj/courses/ist-240/reports/spring2001/fa-cb-bc-kf/historyindex.html
History of the Internet and Distribution Vehicles
History of the WWW
http://www.w3.org/History.html
Interactive CD-Rom’s
http://www.disc-masters.com.au/interact.htm
http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/callforhelp/projects/story/0,3650,2186431,00.html
http://www.sony.com/SCA/press/march.27.1998.html
http://www.sony.com/SCA/press/jan.5.1998.html
DVD
Early history of the DVD
http://members.spree.com/sip/playpal/history.htm
http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/dvdrecording/overview/history/#top
http://www.wired4music.com/DVD.htm#a
http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~c9811533/HISTORY.HTM
DVD In General