Suggested IMG themes	16 Oct 1996

http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~xinwei/pub/img/img.html
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~xinwei/pub/img/topics.html

Two arcs in the study of computational media

1. Ontological (media-centric) study:  What are the characteritics of computational media? How are computational media different from other media?  How do we shape it?
	Peirce, Saussure, McLuhan, Kittler?, Putnam (and Quine), Ong
	
2. Phenomenological (subject-centric) study:  How do we represent ourselves via computational media?   How do we inhabit computational media?  How do collectivities and  institutions form in computational media?
	Subjectivity
	Identity & transformation
	Social forces in design, formation of institutions
	Husserl, James?, Baudrillard ,Taussig,Maturana & Varela, ???

Roughly put, we could work toward increasing scale-complexity along both dimensions: localizable artifacts, individual responses to artifacts, non-localizable structures, and culture as mediated societies.   Naturally, some technologies, such as email application, that may first appear as localized artifacts, become almost as large as the entire Internet.  In such cases, we can revisit such an artifact when we're ready to take it up in the larger contexts.

Another way to order our exploration is to move from considering media as objects without subjectivity or agency, toward a conception of media that acknowledges more of the libidinal and political values in mediated societies.

Here are some groups of themes, followed by a tentative schedule for negotiation.
Artifacts / Moderators / Readings

1. Pre-digital technologies  and notions about the materiality of the sign 
	There are no canonical theories to describe these phenomena, but we can treat these 	works as points of departure.

	McLuhan:  "Introduction," "The Medium Is the Message," "Media Hot or Cold," chap's 		from Understanding Media (also duplicated  in Essential McLuhan, p. 149-168.) 
	McLuhan:  "Is It Natural That One Medium Should Appropriate and Exploit Another?" p. 		180-188; "Media and Cultural Change," p. 89-96; "Laws of Media," p. 366-388. 		From Essential McLuhan 
	Gouhran: Gesture and Speech
	Baudrillard , Jean. "Fetishism and Ideology: The Semiological Reduction."  For a Critique 		of the Political Economy of the Sign. Trans. Charles Levin. St. Louis: Telos Press, 		1981. p. 88-101.

	Saussure -- Course on General Linguistics
	C.S. Peirce. Writings on Semiotic, (Anthology. See especially: "Questions concerning
		certain faculties claimed for man," "Some consequences of four incapacities," "On 		the nature of signs," "The fixation of belief," "How to make our ideas clear."). 

	Kittler:  Grammaphon, Film, Typewriter essay
	Wellbury: Introduction to Kittler's Discourse Networks
	Lenoir: Introduction to Inscribing Science

	Taussig:  Michael. "Maleficium: State Fetishism."  Fetishism as Cultural Discourse. Ed. 		Emily Apter and William Pietz. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP, 1993. p. 217-247.
	Putnam: chap 4 -- "Mind and body: Parallelism, interactionism, identity."  from Reason, Truth 		and History.  (eg. Ben will supply precise citation(s).)

2. Computer-mediated writing, communication  and visualization
	User interface metaphors: UNIX shell  vs. WIMP.
	Email 
	Mathematica 3.0
	SXW -- from graphs to pointset topology

3. Visualization vs. simulation
	Baudrillard: Simulations and Simulacra
	Tim: Medical imaging, towards the VR body
	SimCity
	SGI et al: Moving Worlds (VRML 1.0 objects)
	URL's

4. Mediated identity and transformation; Mediated societies
	The continuum between cognitive science and generalized economies
	Helgi Schweizer: natural interactivity*
	Maturana & Varela:  Tree of Knowlegde
	MIT Media Lab's Alive
	VRML 2.0 sites
	MUD/MOO/Habitat/ Museums/Theme Parks
	(Niklas Damiris, Spring*)

A provisional calender
Theme
Moderator/date
Artifacts
Readings

Computer-mediated writing, visualization; simulation.  
10/14 Wolfram
Mathematica 3.0

Pre-digital writing tech's and theories: How do we discriminate the differences between media?   What can we say about media in general?
 10/23 ?
?
McLuhan--Essential McLuhan; Gourhan--Gestreu and Speech; Baudrillard--Fetishism and Ideology
Pre-digital writing tech's and theories: What are the elements of a medium?
10/30?
?
Peirce--Writings on Semiotic, selections; Saussure--Course on General Linguistics
Pre-digital writing tech's and theories: since semiotics...
11/6 Tim
?
Kittler--Grammaphon, Film, Typewriter essay; Wellbury--intro to Kittler's Discourse Networks; Lenoir--intro to Inscribing Science
Computer-mediated writing, visualization and communication
11/13 ?
Classical desktop metaphors: window, cursor,
folder, menu, trash; WIMP vs UNIX shell
Coyne--chap 7-8. on metaphor; Husserl?
Computer-mediated writing, visualization and communication
11/20 ?
email; teleconferencing
Taussig; Putnam
Ccomputer-mediated writing, visualization and communication
11/20 XW
Diane's guest?
Mathematica (part 2)
Wolfram, Mathematica ch 1
Visualization and simulation
11/27  XW,Tim
scientific visualization vs modeling
VRML on web, 2
Baudrillard--Simulacra and Simulation; Wolff, Yaeger--Visualization of Natural Phenomena; 

Natural Interactivity ; Visualization and simulation 
12/4 Helgi S.
?
Maturana and Varela: Tree of Knowledge
???
Natural Interactivity; Visualization and simulation 
12/11 Helgi
?
Maturana and Varela--Tree of Knowledge
Discourse@Networks2000
12/11 Egginton

McLuhan--Understanding Media

WINTER

BREAK?
1/8?

Visualization and simulation 
1/15
VRML on web, part 3
SimCity
Baudrillard--Simulacra
Visualization and simulation ?
1/22

1/29

2/5

2/12

2/19

2/26

Virtuality
3/5  Tim, Rotman?

Discrete and continuous media
 3/5, XW
graphs rampant
Janich
Discrete and continuous media
3/12, XW
problems with graphs
Janich
Discrete and continuous media
3/19, XW
VR, 3
Janich
Discrete and continuous media
3/26, XW
QuickTime and QTVR
Janich
Discrete and continuous media
4/2, XW
clay, analog art
Janich

SPRING
	
SPRING
...?

Social capital/liquid spaces
Niklas Damiris