WEEK 1 // WHAT IS TEXTUAL MEDIA?
Tuesday, August 26
- Introduction to textual media and electronic literature (Slideshow)
- Neil Hennessey, Jabber: The Jabberwocky Engine
- Deena Larsen, Firefly
- Alex Itin, Orson Whales
Thursday, August 28
- N. Katherine Hayles, Electronic Literature, pp. 1-30
- * Blog Response Due (in which you focus on either Jabber, Firefly, or Orson Whales and think through the dynamic between representational meaning and evocative meaning in the work)
WEEK 2 // NARRATIVE AND PLAYFULNESS
Tuesday, September 2
- Marie-Laure Ryan, Narrative as Virtual Reality, pp. 204-224 (Blackboard)
- Stuart Moulthrop, Hegirascope
Thursday, September 4
- Hegirascope Web 2.0, using Trailfire (requires extension), Fleck (requires bookmarklet), or Awesome Highlighter; Also recommended is Firefox with the Web Developer Extension installed
- Choose Your Own Adventure (handout)
WEEK 3 // NARRATIVE AND PLAY
Tuesday, September 9
- Narrative as Virtual Reality, pp. 242-270 (Blackboard)
- Olia Lialina, My Boyfriend Came Back from the War
- Remixes of My Boyfriend Came Back from the War
- Blog Response Due
Thursday, September 11
- Mary Flanagan, [theHouse] (also on E-Lit CD)
- Jason Lewis, Nine
WEEK 4 // INTERACTIVE FICTION
Tuesday, September 16
- Dennis Jerz, Introduction to Interactive Fiction
- Adam Cadre, Photopia (Also see a review of Photopia on Play This Thing!)
- In class: Sam Barlow, Aisle
- In class: Atlas of the European Novel, p. 119 (maps), FeatureLens (word maps), and TextArc (Hamlet word universe)
- Media Inquiry #1 Due
Thursday, September 18
- Nick Montfort, Towards a Theory of Interactive Fiction and Interactive Fiction’s Fourth Era
- Admiral Jota, Lost Pig
- Andrew Plotkin, Shade
- In class: Joseph Weizenbaum, Eliza and Emily Short, Galatea
- Blog Checkpoint (3 posts total)
WEEK 5 // THE BOUNDARIES OF INTERACTIVE FICTION
Tuesday, September 23
Thursday, September 25
- Electronic Literature, pp. 43-59
- Michael Joyce, Afternoon: A Story
WEEK 6 // READING AFTERNOON
Tuesday, September 30
- Afternoon, continued
- Blog Response Due
Thursday, October 2
- Electronic Literature, pp. 59-70
- Michael Joyce, Twelve Blue
WEEK 7 // VISUAL MEDIA
Tuesday, October 7
- Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics, pages 1-137
- Blog Checkpoint (5 posts total)
Thursday, October 9
- Understanding Comics, pages 138-215
- Jason Nelson, The Bomar Gene and game, game, game and again game
- In class, Scott McCloud’s Carl Comics (Flash Version)
- In class, Matt Madden’s Exercises in Style
WEEK 8 // MEDIA THEORY
Tuesday, October 14
- No Class
Thursday, October 16
- Electronic Literature, pp. 71-85
- Marcia Mencia, Birds Singing Other Birds’ Songs (also on E-Lit CD)
- Judd Morrissey, The Jew’s Daughter (also on E-Lit CD)
WEEK 9 // BODIES AND MACHINES
Tuesday, October 21
- Electronic Literature, pp. 87-102
- Shelley Jackson, my body – a wunderkammer
Thursday, October 23
- Electronic Literature, pp. 120-130
- Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, Nippon
- In class: Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, All Fall Down, Traveling to Utopia: With a Brief History of the Technology,
- Media Inquiry #2 Due
WEEK 10 // READING TEXT AS CODE
Tuesday, October 28
- Electronic Literature, pp. 131-145, 155-157
- William Poundstone, Project for Tachistoscope (also on E-Lit CD)
- Millie Niss and Martha Deed, Oulipoems (also on E-Lit CD)
- In class: Queneau’s A Hundred Thousand Billion Poems, Jonathan Harris’s Word Count
Thursday, October 30
- Brian Kim Stefans, Star Wars, one letter at a time (also on E-Lit CD)
- Natalie Bookchin, The Intruder
- Jim Andrews, Arteroids
WEEK 11 // DIGITAL AND GENERATIVE POETRY
Tuesday, November 4
- Introduction to Textual Media Experiment
- Revisiting Jason Nelson, game, game, game and again game and Marcia Mencia, Birds Singing Other Birds’ Songs, and Millie Niss and Martha Deed, Oulipoems
Thursday, November 6
- Talan Memmott, Lexia to Perplexia (also on E-Lit CD)
- Blog Checkpoint (8 posts total)
WEEK 12 // DATABASE MEDIA
Tuesday, November 11
- Lev Manovich, Database as a Genre of New Media
- Jim Andrews, Nio
- Jason Nelson, Weather Visualizer and Conversation
Thursday, November 13
- Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar, We Feel Fine and Lovelines
- Jonathan Harris, The Whale Hunt
- Media Inquiry #3
WEEK 13 // MOBILE LITERATURE AND EPHEMERAL TEXTS
Tuesday, November 18
- Lev Manovich, The Poetics of Augmented Space
- Charles Cumming, The 21 Steps
- Twitter, Twittervision, Twistori, and Other Social Networks
Thursday, November 20
- Nick Montfort and Scott Rettberg, Implementation
WEEK 14 // THANKSGIVING
Tuesday, November 25
- BRB LOL IRL
- Blog Checkpoint (10 posts total)
Thursday, November 27
- Thanksgiving
WEEK 15 // THE LEVIATHAN RETURNS
Tuesday, December 2
- Textual Media Experiment Due
Thursday, December 4
WEEK 16 // FINAL PAPER
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FINAL PAPER DUE ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11