This course will foster a deeper appreciation of digital media and technologies through analyzing popular works, the platforms on which they are distributed, and the technologies used to create them. We will examine the ways in which people express themselves through digital media and what that media has to say about the culture that created and elevated it. We will be engaging with a variety of mediums including audio, video, games, and readings. Lectures and discussion sections are designed to fully integrate the different aspects of the course.

A brief overview of topics covered include: theorycrafting/knowledge-making in online fan communities, experimental digital art, game analysis/game studies, movement from the analog to the digital, algorithmic recommendations.

Course Requirements:

This course requires regular participation in lectures and discussion sections, as well as the timely completion of short and long-form writing assignments. Students will write a series of short response papers and develop two longer papers in multiple drafts: a rhetorical analysis essay (7-8 pages) and a final research paper (10-12 pages). No mid-term, no final exam.

Intended Audience:

This course is accessible to all undergraduate students at all levels. Students who are interested in learning more about digital media fan/production communities and Internet art are encouraged to take this class, as well as those who are interested in a deeper appreciation of games, internet video, and internet-based music genres such as chiptune and vaporwave.