Honors 298T / Rip, Mix, and Burn: Social Creativity
Online
Spring 2007
Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30-1:45 pm
Anne Arundel Hall 0120
Section 0201
January 25–May 10
Kari M. Kraus, PhD
Office: 1114 Anne Arundel
Hall
Office hrs: Tuesday and
Thursday 3:30-5:00 pm or by appt.
240.997.9759 (C)
University Honors Program
Anne Arundel Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland
Course blog: http://socialcreativity.blogspot.com
When
the British Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his opium-induced
fragment ÒKubla KhanÓ in 1816, he prefaced it with a short note complaining
that the poem remained unfinished because he had been interrupted by a visitor
while composing it, a mysterious Òperson from Porlock.Ó Ever since then
the word ÒPorlockÓ has been used to signify the intrusion of the outside world
into the creative process, and the romantic conception of the artist as a
brooding, solitary figure who spurns the distractions of society remains with
us today. Increasingly, however, the person from Porlock has become not
an obstacle to creativity, but a precondition of it. The internet and
other advanced information technologies have ushered in an era of networked
creativity whose importance is reflected in the proliferating number of terms
we now have to talk about it: Òsocial software,Ó Òsocial media,Ó Òthe creative
commons,Ó ÒWeb 2.0,Ó Òparticipatory culture,Ó Òfolksonomies,Ó and Òp2p
[peer-to-peer] technologies.Ó The purpose of this seminar is to
analyze these collaborative values; explore their relationship with knowledge
production and artistic expression; experiment with the emerging class of
software tools, such as blogs and wikis, that support them; identify the legal
issues that dog them; and study the social behaviors that underpin them:
tagging, linking, texting, modding, and mashing up, for example. We will
look at popular sites such as Wikipedia, MySpace, Flickr, Del.icio.us, and
YouTube; and examine the promise and perils of the unofficial slogan of the Web
2.0 generation: Òrip, mix, and burn.Ó Additional topics will include fan
fiction, the line between fair use and copyright infringement, user-generated
content, geotagging, and machinima (the use of video-game engines to create
animated films).
Over the course of the semester, students will be asked to interact with social
media in a variety of ways, from blogging to social bookmarking to remixing
content in the public domain. Final projects will be designed in close
consultation with the instructor; possibilities include an analysis of
fictional blogs, the development of a third-party tool for Flickr, or the
creation of an artwork that repurposes software or mobile technology for
artistic ends (maybe you want to text message a short story or launch your own
online community art project or virtually tag your physical environment).
Learning Outcomes. At the
end of the semester, students should be able to delineate the significance of
social media and participatory culture; situate their own experiential
knowledge about social media within a larger historical and technological
context; detect historical patterns in the transmission and reception of new
media; describe changing attitudes toward notions of originality and
authorship; articulate the current conflict between remix culture and copyright
law; appreciate the importance of becoming socially conscious and socially
responsible users of Web 2.0 technology; use appropriate tools and technologies
to conduct research on, communicate about, produce, and modify social media;
and critically reflect on and intervene in the processes through which emerging
issues become culturally and institutionally codified.
TEXTS
The following texts are
required and can be purchased through the campus bookstore:
1. Aoki, Keith, James Boyle, and
Jennifer Jenkins. Bound By Law? (Tales from the Public Domain). Center for the Study of the Public Domain, 2006.
2. Jenkins, Henry. Convergence
Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide.
NYU Press, 2006.
3. Johnson, Steven. Everything
Bad is Good for You. 1st edition,
Riverhead Trade, 2006.
4. Lessig, Lawrence. Free
Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity. Reprint edition, Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005.
5. Sterling, Bruce, and Lorraine
Wild. Shaping Things
(Mediaworks Pamphlets). The MIT Press, 2005.
6. Stewart, Sean, and Jordan Weisman. Cathy's
Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233.
Running Press Kids, 2006.
Because it is available
online—free—in its entirety in PDF file format, you are not
required to purchase Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture in print; it is, however, in stock at the campus
bookstore should you prefer to read it in that format.
Additional readings will be
distributed as handouts, accessible on the WWW, or made available through
electronic reserve, designated by an "ER" on the syllabus.
It is your responsibility
to bring hardcopies of the required readings to class on the day we're slated
to discuss them. In the case of electronic texts, softcopies saved locally to
disk are also acceptable—indeed encouraged—for those with laptops.
COURSE
POLICIES AND EVALUATION
Academic
Accommodations. If you have a
documented disability, you should contact Disability Support Services 0126
Shoemaker Hall. Each semester students with documented disabilities
should apply to DSS for accommodation request forms which you can provide to
your professors as proof of your eligibility for accommodations. The
rules for eligibility and the types of accommodations a student may request can
be reviewed on the DSS web site at http://www.counseling.umd.edu/DSS/receiving_serv.html.
Religious Observances. The
University System of Maryland policy provides that students should not be
penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs, students shall be
given an opportunity, whenever feasible, to make up within a reasonable time any
academic assignment that is missed due to individual participation in religious
observances. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the
instructor of any intended absences for religious observances in advance.
Notice should be provided as soon as possible but no later than the end of the
schedule adjustment period. Faculty should further remind students that
prior notification is especially important in connection with final exams,
since failure to reschedule a final exam before the conclusion of the final
examination period may result in loss of credits during the semester. The
problem is especially likely to arise when final exams are scheduled on
Saturdays.
Academic Integrity. The
University of Maryland has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity,
administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for
academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate
students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards
for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the
consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For
more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor
Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html
The
University of Maryland is one of a small number of universities with a
student-administered Honors Code and an Honors Pledge, available on the web at http://www.jpo.umd.edu/aca/honorpledge.html.
The code prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers,
submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization,
buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures.
The University Senate encourages instructors to ask students to write the
following signed statement on each examination or assignment: "I
pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized
assistance on this examination (or assignment).Ó
Late
Work. All assigned work is due on the
date given on the course calendar, unless you have extenuating circumstances
and have made specific prior arrangements with me. Late work will be docked up to one full letter grade. If you
have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations with
me, please let me know as soon as possible.
Attendance. As an honors seminar designed around the concept of
collaboration, Rip, Mix, and Burn: Social Creativity Online allows for far more
student input than a large lecture course would permit: you have a voice in
class discussions and syllabus content, you bring a highly relevant body of
experiential knowledge to bear on those discussions, you cooperate with your
peers on assignments, and your contributions add to our collective knowledge.
If you are absent, you will be missed: the class simply won't function
optimally without you. I will confer with anyone who seems to be having
trouble making it to class regularly, and may ask such persons to drop the
course. Please note that it is your responsibility to contact me about material
you may have missed.
Email. You are welcome to email me to clarify an
assignment, schedule an appointment, notify me about an illness or
university-sanctioned absence, or within limits discuss other course-related
matters. Please do not send
me "what did I miss" emails if you were absent or "why did I get
this grade" emails in response to graded assignments. Questions of this
nature need to be handled in person. Come see me during office hours or
set up an appointment. Additionally, please do not submit assignments to
me via email unless I have specifically requested that you do so.
Assignments. I will collect individual assignments and projects
on the dates specified on the syllabus and return them to you in generally
short order (two weeks or so) with written feedback and a letter grade. All
grading will use the university's plus/minus system. The requirements for the
course, and their weight in determining your final grade, are as follows:
--Participation 30% (class
discussion, blog posts, social bookmarking, Zotero reports, group work).
--Free Culture Remix 20%.
--Second Life Feasibility
Study 20%.
--Research project 30%
(Zotero reports, research proposal, final project).
The structure of your
research project will be determined as part of the course. It may be an 8-10
page paper, or a negotiated submission that includes a visual art work,
computer program, game design, fictional blog, or some other real or virtual
object with supporting analysis and research apparatus.
WEEK BY WEEK COURSE DESCRIPTION (tentative schedule, subject to revision; any changes will be announced in class)
|
week 1 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
thursday 25 january |
introduction; course
questionnaire |
|
|
blogger
accounts and course questionnaires |
|
week 2 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 30 january |
"You" |
|
*Time's Person of the Year: You |
|
|
thursday 1 february |
tools and tagging: zotero |
|
del.icio.us
tags |
tools assignment:
download and install zotero, register for del.icio.us |
|
week 3 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 6 february |
* what is an author? |
|
*Anne Fadiman,
"Nothing New Under the Sun" (ER) |
|
|
thursday 8 february |
intellectual property
and creativity |
|
Aoki, Boyle, and
Jenkins, Tales from the Public Domain: Bound by Law? |
free culture remix due:
thursday 15 february |
|
week 4 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 13 february |
intellectual property
and creativity |
|
Lawrence Lessig Free
Culture (choose
a format )
(http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/)
|
|
|
thursday 15 february |
intellectual property
and creativity |
|
Spider Robinson, "Melancholy Elephants" |
|
|
week 5 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 20 february |
MMRPGs: Second
Life |
free culture remix |
TBA |
|
|
thursday 22 february |
Second Life |
|
TBA |
hosting Rip, Mix, and
Burn in Second Life: feasibility study |
|
week 6 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 27 february |
anti- and pro-media
biases: some historical patterns |
|
*Steven Johnson,
Preface and "Introduction: The Sleeper Curve," in Everything
Bad is Good for You |
|
|
thursday 1 march |
anti- and pro-media
biases: some historical patterns |
|
Steven Johnson, Everything
Bad is Good for You 17-62, 116-124,
166-196 |
|
|
week 7 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 6 march |
the blending of
online/offline culture |
|
Bruce Sterling, Shaping
Things |
devise reading/link
list for MySpace and YouTube; due: tuesday 13 march |
|
thursday 8 march |
discussion about
proposals for final projects |
|
|
proposal for final
projects |
|
week 8 |
ovcrview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 13 march |
writing workshop |
reading/link proposals
for MySpace/YouTube |
|
|
|
thursday 15 march |
writing workshop |
|
|
|
|
week 9 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 20 march |
Spring Break! |
|
|
|
|
thursday 22 march |
Spring Break! |
|
|
|
|
week 10 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 27 march |
DIY, the long tail, and
micro-publishing |
|
Chris Anderson, "The Long Tail" |
|
|
thursday 29 march |
Second Life
presentations |
Second Life feasibility
study |
|
|
|
week 11 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 3 april |
transmedia storytelling |
|
Henry Jenkins, Convergence
Culture |
|
|
thursday 5 april |
fan fiction |
final project proposal |
Henry Jenkins, Convergence
Culture |
|
|
week 12 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 10 april |
transmedia and
ARGs |
|
Cathy's Book |
|
|
thursday 12 april |
transmedia and
ARGs |
|
Cathy's Book |
|
|
week 13 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 17 april |
social media: Wikipedia |
|
Browse
the Wikipedia pages |
|
|
thursday 19 april |
social media: flickr |
|
flickr |
|
|
week 14 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 24 april |
social media: MySpace |
|
MySpace: you select the
readings/links |
|
|
thursday 26 april |
social media: YouTube |
|
YouTube: you select the
readings/links |
|
|
week 15 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 1 may |
cool hunting |
|
Cool Roundup (anime music
videos, google poetry, spam poetry, text messaging novels, blog novels,
machinima) |
|
|
thursday 3 may |
final projects due |
final projects due |
|
|
|
week 16 |
overview |
due |
readings |
assignments |
|
tuesday 8 may |
TBA |
|
|
|
|
thursday 10 may |
last class: wrap-up! |
|
|
|