Suggested IMG themes	24 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

Classes of Artifacts:
	Writing technologies
	Visualization
	Simulations
	Societies

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: Mind, Language and Reality. (Ben will supply 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 ?	Gulf War in newsprint, TV, CD ROM, videogame, WWW	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?	Gulf War in newsprint, TV, CD ROM, videogame, WWW	Peirce--Writings on Semiotic, selections; Saussure--Course on General Linguistics	
Pre-digital writing tech's and theories: since semiotics...	11/6 Tim	Gulf War in newsprint, TV, CD ROM, videogame, WWW	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