All Readings for the Course

January 18, 2014 Elliot Heatwole

Here are ALL of the readings for the course. Keep in mind that the “x readings” denotes the class by which the readings should be completed. For example, the week 1.2 readings should be completed by week 1.2, etc.

1.2 Readings

Key Readings:

Smith, M. K. (2001) ‘Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning’, the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm. Last update: May 29, 2012. (PDF copy)

Miles, Adrian. “Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning.” Australian Screen Ed 41 (2006): 66–9. Print. (http://vogmae.net.au/vlog/research/network-literacies/blogs-in-media-education/) (PDF copy)

Bonus Reading:

Mason, John. Researching Your Own Practice: The Discipline of Noticing. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. (PDF copy)

2.1 Readings

Key Readings:

Bosch, Torie. “Sci-Fi Writer Bruce Sterling Explains the Intriguing New Concept of Design Fiction.” Slate. Web. 29 July 2013. (PDF)

Ward,, Matthew. “Design Fiction as Pedagogic Practice.” Medium. Web. 29 July 2013. (PDF)

Bonus Readings:

Grand, Simon, and Martin Wiedmer. “Design Fiction: A Method Toolbox for Design Research in a Complex World.” Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference. 2010. (PDF)

KNUTZ, EVA, THOMAS MARKUSSEN, and POUL RIND CHRISTENSEN. “The Role of Fiction in Experiments Within Design, Art & Architecture.” n. pag. Print. (PDF)

Week 2.2

Key Readings:

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic July 1945. The Atlantic. Web. 19 July 2013. (LINK)

Nelson, Theodor Holm. Literary Machines 91.1: The Report on, and of, Project Xanadu Concerning Word Processing, Electronic Publishing, Hypertext, Thinkertoys, Tomorrow’s Intellectual Revolution, And Certain Other Topics Including Knowledge, Education and Freedom. Sausalito: Mindful Press, 1992. Print. (Apologies for the strange scan, the scanner freaked out a bit – PDF)

Bonus Reading:

Weinberger, David. Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web. New York: Perseus Books, 2002. Print. (PDF)

Week 3.1

Key Readings:

Landow, George. Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. (extracts, PDF)

Bolter, Jay David. Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale (N.J.): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991. Print. (extract, PDF)

Bonus Readings:

Graham, Paul. “The Age of the Essay.” Paul Graham. Sept. 2004. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. (PDF)

Week 3.2

Key Readings:

Extracts from Landow, George. Hypertext 3.0: Critical Theory and New Media in an Era of Globalization. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. (PDF)

Extract from Douglas, J. Yellowlees. The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Print. (PDF)

Bonus Readings:

Extract from Douglas, J. Yellowlees. The End of Books — Or Books Without End?: Reading Interactive Narratives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Print. (PDF)

Extract from Ryan, Marie-Laure. Avatars of Story. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006. Open WorldCat. Web. 15 Aug. 2013. (PDF)

Week 4.1

Key Readings:

Watts, Duncan J. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. London: Vintage, 2003. Print. (Extract, PDF)

Anderson, Chris. “The Long Tail.” Wired. Oct. 2004. Web. 23 Aug. 2013. (PDF)

Week 4.2

Key Readings:

Barabási, Albert-László. “The 80/20 Rule”. Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life. New York, NY: A plume book, 2003. Print. (PDF)

Barabási, Albert-László. “Rich Get Richer”. Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life. New York, NY: A plume book, 2003. Print. (PDF)

Bonus Readings:

Barabási, Albert-László. Extracts Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life. New York, NY: A plume book, 2003. Print. (PDF)

Week 5.1

Key Readings:

Murphie, Andrew, and John Potts. Culture and Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. This is the introduction from this book. Short, very general but lays out some important general ideas and terms. (PDF)

Galloway, Alexander R. Protocol: How Control Exists after Decentralization. The MIT Press, 2006. Print. (PDF).

Bonus Readings:

Murphie, Andrew, and John Potts. Culture and Technology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Print. “Theoretical Frameworks” (PDF)

Week 5.2

Key Readings:

Manovich, Lev. “Database as Symbolic Form”. Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow. Vesna, Victoria, ed. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2007. Print. 39-60. (PDF)

Bonus Readings:

Seaman, Bill. “Recombinant Poetics and Related Database Aesthetics”. Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow. Vesna, Victoria, ed. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 2007. Print. 121-140. (PDF)

Week 6.1

Key Reading:

Schultz, Pit. Latour, Bruno: On Actor Network Theory: A Few Clarifications 1/2. 11 Jan. 1998. E-mail. (PDF)

Week 6.2

Key Readings:

Dietz, Steve. “Ten Dreams of Technology.” Leonardo 35.5 (2002): 509–522. MIT Press Journals. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. (PDF)

Readings for Wednesday (Week 2.2)

January 10, 2014January 13, 2014 Elliot Heatwole

This week there are two key readings by Vannevar Bush and Ted Nelson, both of which in some way speculate on technological futures by extrapolating the affordances of current technologies. ‘Literary Machines’ is structured in such a way as to emulate hypertext navigation through information, so it will be beneficial to think about how you are absorbing its contents as you read it.

Key Readings

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic July 1945. The Atlantic. Web. 19 July 2013. (Link)

Recommended Reading

The recommended reading comes from David Weinberger and contains some relevant take-away ideas that are applicable to today’s technological landscape. Try thinking about what kind of principles are universally applicable to interactions with types of technology and how these can apply to your own potential futures.

Weinberger, David. Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web. New York: Perseus Books, 2002. Print. (PDF)

Readings for Monday (Week 2.1)

January 8, 2014January 8, 2014 Elliot Heatwole

The readings for the coming class are all about design fiction. Everything you create is designed to participate in a potential future, so logically it stands that being able to anticipate potentialities will inform your approach to both creative and professional practice. The process of envisioning imagined futures and responding to them preemptively is a key concern of design fiction and may be something that our symposium participants may consider looking into before next class.

Essential Readings

Bosch, Torie. “Sci-Fi Writer Bruce Sterling Explains the Intriguing New Concept of Design Fiction.” Slate. Web. 29 July 2013. (PDF)

Ward,, Matthew. “Design Fiction as Pedagogic Practice.” Medium. Web. 29 July 2013. (PDF)

Bonus Readings

Grand, Simon, and Martin Wiedmer. “Design Fiction: A Method Toolbox for Design Research in a Complex World.” Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference. 2010. (PDF)

EVA KNUTZ, THOMAS MARKUSSEN, and POUL RIND CHRISTENSEN. “The Role of Fiction in Experiments Within Design, Art & Architecture.” (PDF)

These are both very dense readings, so for your participation requirement (I know it says both) but you can check the box if you read only one. If you do go for this option I’d like you to have a look at an extra reading that should be completed before class 2.2 a bit earlier. It’s an extraordinarily influential mediation on the role of science both at the time when it was written and speculating on into the future. Written in 1945 by Vannevar Bush (one of the key administrators of the Manhattan project, hence the somewhat melancholic tone) it should give you some indication of the value of design fiction.

Optional Reading (from 2.2)

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think.” The Atlantic July 1945. The Atlantic. Web. 19 July 2013. (PDF)

Welcome to Networked Media Summer Semester

January 6, 2014January 7, 2014 Elliot Heatwole

Hello all and welcome to the 2014 Summer semester for Networked Media. By now you should have all received an email to your student account informing you of how to activate your blog, so just follow the instructions and make sure you activate your spam filter!
As a recommended blog post for after this class I would like you to think about the way you organise your own knowledge. How do you learn? How do you make sense of the information you gather? And how is this related to the way in which you “move” through networked environments?

I will be posting the rest of the readings shortly, but for the moment I would like you to read through these before Wednesday’s class. The first is about Chris Argyris’ concept of double-loop learning, a valuable piece in that it makes explicit the ways in which we try to improve upon process (or frequently don’t).

The second is by John Mason on Researching Your Own Practice, and finally we have RMIT’s own Adrian Miles on the use of blogs in media education, a fantastic read for those of you looking to make the most of your blogging experience both now and into the future.