Fall 2007

NMEA20H Introduction to New Media in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Lecture topic: What are new media?

Instructor
Leslie Chan
Room B570
chan@utsc.utoronto.ca

Teaching Assistant
Stephen Tracy


 

What is "new" about "new media"?
What are the characteristics, both technical and social, of new media?
How does new media transform and "remediate" earlier media practices?

We will examine the definition of new media as outline by Lev Manovich in The Language of New Media , focusing on the key differences between old and new media in terms of the principles developed by Manovich: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. Examples of how these principles apply to new cultural objects are discussed. In particular, we will try to understand how the computer's interface, it's logic and ontology, interact with the production, distribution, and consumption of new media objects.

Readings:
Madeleine Sorapure (2003) Five Principles of New Media: Or, Playing Lev Manovich.
http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/8.2/binder2.html?coverweb/sorapure/index.htm

Concepts
Communication
Media
Representation
Digital
Networked
Transformation
Genealogy of media technology
Social shaping of technology

Web sites:

Lev Manovich's homepage
http://www.manovich.net/

 

Leslie Chan's home page | Site Map | last updated on August 31, 2006